IPL 2023: Rating all the 10 teams based on their squads
Teams went all out during the IPL 2023 auction to assemble a competitive lineup to strive for the best results in the tournament. Some teams succeeded, and some fell short of their targets in this auction. During the IPL 2023 auction, teams were able to acquire 87 players in total, with 80 of them being taken up by franchises and the remaining seven being left unclaimed. Sam Curran, Cameron Green, and Ben Stokes were the most expensive acquisitions in the event, with all three of them commanding high prices.
During the IPL 2023 auction, teams had to carefully consider their strategies to obtain the players they wanted and build up a strong squad. Some teams were ultimately successful and reaped the rewards of careful planning, while others did not meet their expectations. The teams in the IPL are ranked according to their overall player ratings.
To calculate these rankings, the benchmark players in each category – such as openers, middle order, finishers, all-rounders, pacers, and spinners – are used to compare individual players against them. Additionally, each player is also given a rating based on their performance from the previous three years in the IPL and their current domestic or international form.
Here we rate all the 10 IPL teams based on their final squads:
Lucknow Super Giants (5/10)
The Lucknow outfit had its second appearance in the auction this year after having a successful run in the previous edition of the profitable tournament. The top order of the franchise was the main source of runs, but the lack of spark in the middle order prevented them from gaining an advantage by scoring big.
Looking ahead to the new season, the management acquired players from the auction who they believed had the potential to make an impact and lead them to success in the upcoming season. By adding Nicholas Pooran to their squad at the auction for INR 16 crores, the franchise has seemingly improved its chances of success in the upcoming season. However, Lucknow Super Giants is not a match for the other teams this season and which is why they are placed 10th on the list.
During the auction, the Lucknow outfit signed veteran Amit Mishra at his base price of INR 50 Lakh and roped in experienced pacer Jaydev Unadkat to add a veteran presence to the team. They expect their experience to help them have a successful season. The experienced duo of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock will be a great asset to the Lucknow franchise, giving them a much-needed advantage in the 2023 season.
Mohsin Khan, Avesh Khan, and Krunal Pandya performed well in their bowling options, and Mark Wood’s availability will also help them. The middle order, though, lacked consistency and strength for the club. For example, Ayush Badoni and Marcus Stoinis lacked the consistency needed to give LSG a strong flair.
Lucknow Super Giants Full Squad:
KL Rahul, Ayush Badoni, Karan Sharma, Manan Vohra, Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Mark Wood, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Nicholas Pooran, Jaydev Unadkat, Yash Thakur, Romario Shepherd, Daniel Sams, Amit Mishra, Prerak Mankad, Swapnil Singh, Naveen ul Haq, Yudhvir Charak
Punjab Kings (5/10)
At the IPL 2023 mini-auction, the Punjab Kings made history by signing English all-rounder Sam Curran for a record INR 18.50 crore – making him the most expensive player in IPL history. After the bidding had climbed above INR 11 crore, the Punjab Kings swooped in and won the bid against Mumbai Indians with their final offer.
As anticipated, the Punjab Kings made the first bid for their former captain Mayank Agarwal but were outmatched in the bidding war by the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Nonetheless, they managed to acquire star Zimbabwean all-rounder Sikandar Raza at his base price of INR 50 lakh. PBKS also showed strong interest in uncapped pacer Mukesh Kumar but unfortunately lost out to Delhi Capitals, who successfully bagged him for INR 5.5 crore.
Going into the IPL 2023 auction, the Punjab Kings had a purse of INR 32.2 crore – the second highest amongst all teams – after letting go of nine players, including their captain Mayank Agarwal. Before the auction, they had 16 players on their roster, five of which were overseas cricketers. They also released Caribbean all-rounder Odean Smith and needed direct replacements for both Mayank and Odean.
Unfortunately, the Punjab Kings had a disappointing mini-auction, resulting in them standing at the 9th spot on this list. They do not have any backups for Arshdeep Singh or a quality replacement for Rahul Chahar, who did not meet expectations in the last season.
Even though the Punjab Kings splashed a record amount of 18.5 Crore on Sam Curran, their other bids were not quite enough to fill out the gaps present in the team to fulfill those voids. Nevertheless, PBKS made a good signing in the name of youngster Vidwath Kaverappa who had a fantastic performance in the 2022 domestic season.
Punjab Kings Full Squad:
Arshdeep Singh, Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Rahul Chahar, Liam Livingstone, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Baltej Dhanda, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohit Rathe, Shivam Singh
Royal Challengers Bangalore (6/10)
The team led by Faf du Plessis was successful in securing a playoff spot in the IPL 2022. But, due to inconsistencies in all departments, they were unsuccessful in the Eliminator. Yet, for the 2023 season, management also had faith in most of the players.
Only two prominent franchise picks were available on the auction table. Royal Challengers Bangalore made wise acquisitions in English bowler Reece Topley and batsman Will Jacks. On the other hand, the other five picks have never participated in the IPL and are more likely to serve as bench warmers.
Harshal Patel and Mohammed Siraj were a little odd in the previous season, but Josh Hazlewood and Wanindu Hasaranga impressed. RCB should have searched for someone like Manish Pandey to bolster their batting at number five. Mahipal Lomror appears to be set to bat in that position as of right now.
The Bangalore-based team, which has one of cricket’s most devoted fan following, entered the auction with a purse worth 8.75 crores. While other well-known teams, including Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, made headlines for their high-profile purchases of Ben Stokes and Cameron Green, respectively, RCB was rather quiet during the earlier rounds of the auction.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Full Squad:
Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammad Siraj, Faf Du Plessis, Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dinesh Karthik, Shahbaz Ahmad, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Akash Deep, Josh Hazlewood, Mahipal Lomror, Finn Allen, Suyash Prabhudessai, Karn Sharma, Siddharth Kaul, David Willey, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Will Jacks, Manoj Bhandage, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Sonu Yadav
Sunrisers Hyderabad (6.5/10)
Before the auction, Sunrisers Hyderabad released a significant number of players to assemble a balanced squad ahead of the 2023 season. While they already had a strong bowling lineup, they needed to add great batsmen and fast-bowling all-rounders in particular. The franchise entered the mini-auction with the most money in the bank, INR 42.25 crore, of any of the teams.
The Sunrisers and Rajasthan Royals engaged in a tense bidding war for the young English batter, Harry Brook. In the end, the Sunrisers emerged victorious and secured Brook for a whopping INR 13.25 Crores – making him their most expensive player to date and the most expensive specialist batter ever sold at a mini-auction, surpassing Shimron Hetmyer (INR 7.75 crore by Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2020 season).
The three players in the starting eleven who have demonstrated their abilities are Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, and T Natarajan. SRH is a contender for the trophy, thanks to the addition of Aiden Markram, Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tripathi, and Abhishek Sharma.
Sunrisers Hyderabad Full Squad:
Abdul Samad, Umran Malik, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Kartik Tyagi, T Natarajan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Aiden Markram, Marco Jansen, Glenn Phillips, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Harry Brook, Mayank Agarwal, Heinrich Klaasen, Adil Rashid, Mayank Markande, Vivrant Sharma, Samarth Vyas, Sanvir Singh, Upendra Singh Yadav, Mayank Dagar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Akeal Hosein, Anmolpreet Singh
Kolkata Knight Riders (7/10)
Kolkata Knight Riders have managed to gather a decent side, but the possible exemption of skipper Shreyas Iyer from IPL 2023 puts them on the back foot. However, we are yet to know the gravity of Shreyas Iyer’s injury. Iyer was ruled out of India’s 3rd Test match and also from their ODI series against Australia.
Kolkata Knight Riders must reassemble the batting order from scratch after releasing a large number of top and middle-order batters. Rahmanullah Gurbaz, N Jagadeeshan, and Litton Das are three excellent top-order alternatives for the team for IPL 2023. Nitish Rana and Shreyas Iyer also give the squad solidity.
KKR also has seasoned all-rounders like David Wiese, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell, who may be replaced similarly. Moreover, the bowling unit’s Shardul Thakur, Umesh Yadav, and Tim Southee are excellent choices on the Eden Gardens ground.
Before heading to the 2023 mini-auction, KKR had 11 player slots (eight Indian and three overseas players) with a purse of INR 7.05 crore. The team had released most of their players beforehand, including Pat Cummins (who made himself unavailable to focus on national duties), Sam Billings (backed out from the auction), Aman Khan, Shivam Mavi, Mohammad Nabi, Chamika Karunaratne, Aaron Finch, Alex Hales, Abhijeet Tomar, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Sharma, Baba Indrajith, Pratham Singh, Ramesh Kumar, Rasikh Salam, and Sheldon Jackson.
Kolkata Knight Riders Full Squad:
Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Narayan Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Weise, Kulwant Khejrolia, Mandeep Singh, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan.
Delhi Capitals (7.5/10)
Despite being led by Rishabh Pant, Delhi Capitals were unable to make it to the playoffs of IPL 2022 due to their subpar bowling and lack of closing-out games. However, Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, and Rovman Powell did their part in the batting department. Unfortunately, Rishabh Pant could not convert his starts into big innings, which hindered the team’s ability to win in close matches.
The exception of Rishabh Pant from the Delhi Capital’s squad due to his recent accident has dented the side’s motivation even before entering the IPL 2023 season. To make matters worse, Delhi Capitals traded Shardul Thakur to Kolkata and were unable to find a suitable replacement for him at the auction. They were successful in getting Rilee Rossouw and Phil Salt to fill in for the injured Mitchell Marsh. But they are missing a potent all-round pace bowler of quality and an explosive Indian hitter in the middle of the order. Ishant Sharma, a seasoned Indian pacer and native of Delhi, joined the team after being acquired by the team for INR 50 Lakh.
Delhi Capitals Full Squad:
Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, Anrich Nortje, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Sarfaraz Khan, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Mustafizur Rahman, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Chetan Sakariya, Lalit Yadav, Ripal Patel, Yash Dhull, Rovman Powell, Pravin Dubey, Lungi Ngidi, Vicky Ostwal, Aman Khan, Phil Salt, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Manish Pandey, Rilee Rossouw
Gujarat Titans (8/10)
Because of their confidence and momentum, Gujarat Titans managed to clinch the IPL 2022 title in their first attempt. A huge part of their glory goes to their all-around efforts. Hardik Pandya, the captain, took the initiative while the bowlers and batsmen executed their roles flawlessly.
Pandya and David Miller usually carried the team, contributing strongly to their performances. Nevertheless, finding a reliable middle-order batsman was a struggle for them, and without Pandya in a few matches, they had trouble maintaining the required pace at crucial points in the game. Kane Williamson is a reasonable investment, given his experience, but the Kiwi batsman is out of form and is questionable for the starting XI. They did well to obtain Joshua Little and Shivam Mavi, who are both performing well this year.
The IPL 2023 mini-auction was held in Kochi on Friday, December 23, and the Gujarat Titans, the defending champions, had the plan to strengthen an already formidable team by adding more depth. In the months before this event, they had swapped veteran New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson and Afghan stumper Rahmanullah Gurbaz to the Kolkata Knight Riders. Along with Lockie Ferguson and Rahmanullah Gurbaz, the Hardik Pandya-led team parted ways with players including Dominic Drakes, Gurkeerat Singh, Jason Roy, and Varun Aaron before the IPL 2023 auction.
Gujarat Titans Full Squad:
Hardik Pandya (C), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Kane Williamson, Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma
Chennai Super Kings (8/10)
The highly popular MS Dhoni-led franchise managed to acquire England’s red-ball captain Ben Stokes at the auction. Stokes is renowned for being a one-man army, having helped England to victory in the T20 World Cup final. Also, if Deepak Chahar remains injury-free, and with the return of inform Ravindra Jadeja ahead of the competition, CSK is likely to be one of the best performers in IPL 2023.
Chennai Super Kings have top-tier players in the name of Moeen Ali, Devon Conway, and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni, the tournament’s tried-and-true players, will make up the middle order. Yet, if they want to reach the playoffs for the 12th time, they will require consistent performances from their talented team.
It surprised everyone when CSK went all out for Stokes when everyone thought they would go for Sam Curran to get him back into their squad. With a budget of INR 20.45 crore and seven slots to fill, including two abroad slots, CSK entered the auction. CSK made some unexpected purchases at the IPL 2023 auction and went all-in on Stokes.
MS Dhoni and Ben Stokes previously played for the Rising Pune Supergiant. Stokes’ participation will do wonders for CSK now that Dwayne Bravo has announced his retirement from the IPL. They also brought Ajinkya Rahane, who displayed impressive performances while playing for KKR last year. It was a very strategic move to add Rahane to the team when Robin Uthappa left the situation.
Chennai Super Kings Full Squad:
MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mukesh Choudhary, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Prashant Solanki, Mahesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Kyle Jamieson, Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma
Mumbai Indians (8.5/10)
In an ordinary IPL 2023 auction, the Mumbai Indians purchased Cameron Green for 17.5 Crores. The all-rounder, who many consider the future of Australian cricket, made an impression on his first white-ball tour of India. Also, they were able to get the services of seasoned spinners Piyush Chawla and Shams Mulani, which was crucial for them in 2023. However, the exemption of Jasprit Bumrah from MI’s squad can prove to be a big blow for the MI.
Jhye Richardson’s stellar performance in the BBL 2022–23 and proven track record in T20s made him a value at his base price. The additional purchases were satisfactory and are not expected to be included in the XI. The XI already had the majority of its members, and the franchise did well to put the final pieces together.
Last season, Mumbai Indians invested heavily in Ishan Kishan and Jofra Archer, intending to create a team for the future. They performed similar acts of valor once more, this time shelling out an astounding Rs. 17.50 crore to sign Australian all-rounder Cameron Green. After a bidding war with Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals, MI ultimately acquired the major player.
Rohit Sharma can bat in the middle order, with Green opening with Ishan Kishan. This change will be worth seeing, as it can be a make or break for the franchise in the upcoming season. They have quality pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Jofra Archer in their ranks, which will help them in crunch moments, but there is not enough backup for them. Rohit Sharma can also slot into the middle order with Cameron Green opening with Ishan Kishan, which could be a make-or-break combination for the franchise.
Mumbai Indians Full Squad:
Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Jofra Archer, Tim David, Mohd Arshad Khan, Ramandeep Singh, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kartikeya, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal, Cameron Green, Jhye Richardson, Piyush Chawla, Duan Jansen, Vishnu Vinod, Shams Mulani, Nehal Wadhera, Raghav Goyal
Rajasthan Royals (9/10)
Being the runner-up in the IPL 2022 season, Rajasthan Royals have high hopes of winning the trophy in 2023. After a successful auction, they now have arguably the best squad on paper. Although they already had a strong top-order and bowling lineup, they still needed to bring in an all-rounder and middle-order batsman to complete their team.
Rajasthan Royals have a reliable batting unit with Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Yuzvendra Chahal make up a strong unit on the bowling side. They also have a third backup spinner in Adam Zampa, who is one of the best in the business. Joe Root, a hitter with a sound approach, has emerged as a top purchase for the squad and may serve as an anchor. On the other hand, Jason Holder will be a help to the side because of his all-around skills and give them a fifth bowling option.
Despite releasing nine players, Rajasthan Royals entered the 2023 auction with the third-lowest purse of INR 13.2 crore. However, they were able to hold onto key players and didn’t feel pressured to drastically alter their lineup for the 2022 season, which was their strongest IPL season since winning the championship in 2008.
With a balanced bowling lineup that included Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, and Kuldeep Sen last season, the Rajasthan Royals were excellent. The Royals also kept backup pace alternatives Obed McCoy and Navdeep Saini, but no backup spinners were available. The additions of Adam Zampa and Murugan Ashwin have significantly improved the spin department for the Royals, who have a 25-player squad for the IPL 2023.
Rajasthan Royals Full Squad:
Sanju Samson (c & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldeep Yadav, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, KC Cariappa, Jason Holder, Donovan Ferreira (wk), Kunal Rathore, Adam Zampa, KM Asif, Murugan Ashwin, Akash Vashisht, Abdul PA, Joe Root.
