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MI on top, CSK at No. 4, where is RCB? Ranking Indian core report card of all ten IPL teams



Indian Premier League [Source: @Indiansports31/X.com]Indian Premier League [Source: @Indiansports31/X.com]

After the successful IPL 2026 auction, all 10 teams have completed their squads. A total of 359 players were part of the auction, and 77 slots were filled on December 16 in Abu Dhabi. Now that the mega event is over, here is a simple and overall look at how strong each team’s group of Indian players looks going into the IPL 2026 season.

10. Lucknow Super Giants

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) bought three young Indian players in the auction, even though they had a purse of ₹22.95 crore going in. Despite their efforts over the seasons, LSG are yet to win their first IPL title, and their approach has leaned more toward overseas players than Indian talent.

Wicket-keepersBattersAll-RoundersBowlers
Rishabh PantAiden Markram✈️Abdul SamadMayank Yadav
Nicholas Pooran✈️ Himmat SinghAyush BadoniAvesh Khan
Mukul Choudhary*Akshat Raghuwanshi*Mitch Marsh✈️Arjun Tendulkar
Matthew Breetzke✈️

Shahbaz Ahmed
Mohammed Shami
Josh Inglis*✈️

Arshin Kulkarni
Anrich Nortje*✈️

W Hasaranga*✈️
Mohsin Khan



Naman Tiwari*


Digvesh Rathi

Prince Yadav

Akash Singh
Manimaran Siddharth


What looks strong:

Notably, LSG have strong overseas players like Nicholas Pooran and Aiden Markram, who are currently in good form. On the Indian side, players such as Rishabh Pant, Ayush Badoni, Mohammed Shami and Digvesh Rathi have performed well for the team and are showing good form.

What the team is lacking:

  • At the top of the order, LSG do not have a strong Indian opening batter, as most of their investment has gone into bowlers and all-rounders.
  • Additionally, after trading away Shardul Thakur, LSG lack a complete Indian fast-bowling star who can dominate in all phases of the game. 
  • Although their bowling attack looks strong on paper, it cannot be fully relied upon since many of the bowlers are injury-prone, and their fitness remains a concern.

Rating: 5/10

9. Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad are ranked ninth on the list. The team mainly depends on overseas players; however, they still have 17 Indian players in their squad after picking up eight uncapped Indians in the auction. 

Sunrisers Hyderabad full squad:
Wicket-keeper
Batters
All-Rounders
Bowlers
Heinrich Klaasen✈️
Travis Head✈️
Brydon Carse✈️Pat Cummins✈️
Ishan KishanSmaran Ravichandran
Kamindu Mendis✈️
Harshal Patel
Salil Arora*Aniket Verma
Harsh Dubey
Jaydev Unadkat

Nitish Kumar Reddy
Zeeshan Ansari

Abhishek SharmaEshan Malinga✈️

Shivang Kumar*Sakib Hussain*
Jack Edwards*✈️
Onkar Tarmale*
Liam Livingstone*✈️Amit Kumar*

Praful Hinge*
Shivam Mavi*
Krains Fuletra*

[SRH's IPL 2026 squad]

What looks strong:

  • SRH have a very aggressive opening batter in Abhishek Sharma. Along with him, young batter Ishan Kishan has been in excellent form in recent domestic tournaments, which strengthens their top order. Further down the order, they also have fast-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who adds balance to both the batting and bowling departments.

What the team is lacking:

The Orange army clearly lacks an Indian spin-bowling all-rounder. In addition, they are missing a high-quality Indian pacer similar to Mohammed Shami. Notably, their pace attack lacks depth, especially in T20 cricket, where a specialist fast bowler with sharp variations for the death overs is extremely important.

Rating: 5/10

8. Kolkata Knight Riders

With Caribbean duo Andre Russell and Sunil Narine as their hall of famers, KKR, over the years, have always given the indication that they are not too reliant on Indians. The successful IPL 2024 campaign, where Phil Salt, Narine and Mitchell Starc wreaked havoc in their respective department, spoke volumes about the mentioned subject.

Nevertheless, they still managed to have 17 Indians in their IPL 2026 squad, of which six were bought in the last mini-auction only.

Wicket-keepersBattersAll-RoundersBowlers
Finn Allen*✈️Rinku Singh
Sunil Narine✈️
Varun Chakravarthy
Tejasveer Singh*
Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Ramandeep SinghHarshit Rana
Tim Seifert*✈️Ajinkya Rahane
Rovman Powell✈️
Vaibhav Arora
Manish Pandey
Anukul RoyUmran Malik
Rahul Tripathi*Cameron Green*✈️Matheesha Pathirana* ✈️

Daksh Kamra*Kartik Tyagi*
Rachin Ravindra*✈️Mustafizur Rahman*✈️
Sarthak Ranjan*Akash Deep*
Prashant Solanki*

[KKR's IPL 2026 squad]

What looks strong:

  • By spending heavily on Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana and Mustafizur Rahman in the recently-concluded mini auction, KKR once again showed the world that their ideology is not going to change anytime soon. More significantly, their regular bowling line up, having Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora and birthday boy Harshit Rana already, seem stronger than ever at present.

What the team is lacking:

  • When it comes to batting department, KKR do not have reliant Indian option. All of their settled core batters – Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh, Manish Pandey and the recently re-signed Rahul Tripathi – are no longer in the zone like they were used to be in the past, and the present – Angkrish Raghuvanshi – is having a rough time for a while now.

Rating: 6/10

7. Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings, the runners up of the IPL 2025 season, have retained 12 Indian players, thereby keeping a strong core of domestic talent. Meanwhile, during the auction, the team added only two Indian players, Pravin Dubey and Vishal Nishad. 

Wicket-keepers
Batters
All-Rounders
Bowlers
Prabhsimran Singh Shreyas IyerShashank Singh
Arshdeep Singh
Vishnu VinodNehal WadheraMarcus Stoinis✈️Yuzvendra Chahal
Harnoor Pannu Azmatullah Omarzai✈️Harpreet Brar
Priyansh AryaSuryansh Shedge Vijaykumar Vyshak
Musheer Khan Cooper Connolly*✈️ Yash Thakur
Pyla AvinashMitch Owen✈️ Marco Jansen✈️

Lockie Ferguson✈️
Xavier Bartlett✈️
Ben Dwarshuis*✈️
Vishal Nishad*
Pravin Dubey*

[PBKS' IPL 2026 squad]

What looks strong:

  • Since Punjab Kings retained most of their Indian players, including captain Shreyas Iyer, the team appears well-balanced and full of quality talent. Players such as Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shashank Singh, and Nehal Wadhera have shown good form. 
  • At the same time, experienced names like Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Shreyas Iyer are already proven match-winners.

What the team is lacking:

However, despite having young Indian all-rounder Suryansh Shedge in the squad, the team still lacks a reliable India fast-bowling all-rounder. This could be an area where Punjab Kings might struggle and might need improvement going forward.

Rating: 6.5/10

6. Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have 17 Indian players in their squad after adding six players during the IPL 2026 auction. Let’s take a closer look at their team.

Wicket-keeperBattersBowlersAll-rounders
Jitesh SharmaVirat KohliAbhinandan SinghKrunal Pandya
Phil Salt ✈️Rajat PatidarBhuvneshwar KumarRomario Shepherd ✈️
Jordan Cox*✈️Devdutt PadikkalRasikh Salam DarSatvik Deswal*
Venkatesh Iyer*
Josh Hazlewood ✈️Mangesh Yadav*
Jacob Bethell ✈️Suyash SharmaVicky Ostwal*
Tim David ✈️Swapnil Singh
Kanishk Chouhan*
Vihaan Malhotra*
Yash Dayal

Nuwan Thushara ✈️
Jacob Duffy* ✈️

[RCB's IPL 2026 squad]

What looks strong:

  • RCB have several proven match-winners in their batting line-up. Virat Kohli leads the top order, supported by Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar.
  • The recent addition of Indian all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer has made the top order even stronger and more balanced, putting the team in a good position to defend their IPL title.
  • They also have a strong fast-bowling attack. Bhuvneshwar Kumar leads the pace unit, with Yash Dayal providing good support.

What the team is lacking:

RCB’s main weakness can be in the spin-bowling department. While they do have options like Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma, the team could have benefited from adding a specialist Indian spinner, someone like Ravi Bishnoi. On a pitch like Chinnaswamy Stadium, spinners are likely to be under pressure, making this gap more noticeable as batters are likely to attack them aggressively.

Rating: 7/10

5. Gujarat Titans

Gujarat Titans are ranked fifth, having retained 16 Indian players for the IPL 2026 season, which shows their focus on building a strong domestic core. During the auction, they added two uncapped Indian players to the squad. Let’s take a closer look at their team.

Wicket-keepers
Batters
All-Rounders
Bowlers
Kumar KushagraShubman GillNishant SindhuKagiso Rabada ✈️
Anuj RawatSai SudharsanWashington SundarMohammed Siraj
Jos Buttler✈️Arshad KhanPrasidh Krishna
Tom Banton*✈️Rahul TewatiaIshant Sharma
Shahrukh KhanGurnoor Singh Brar
Jason Holder*✈️Rashid Khan ✈️
Manav Suthar
Sai Kishore
Jayant Yadav
Ashok Sharma*
Prithvi Raj Yarra*
Luke Wood*✈️

What looks strong:

  • Gujarat Titans already look very strong at the top of the batting order. The opening pair of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan impressed everyone last season and proved to be destructive and consistent openers.
  • Another major strength of the team is their fast-bowling attack. They have retained Prasidh Krishna, who won the Purple Cap, and also have Mohammed Siraj, a proven fast bowler across formats. On top of that, the addition of Ashok Sharma further strengthens their pace department.

What the team is lacking:

The biggest concern for Gujarat Titans is their middle-order batting. Last season exposed this weakness, as players like Shahrukh Khan, Arshad Khan, and Rahul Tewatia struggled to finish matches consistently.

Rating: 7.5/10

4. Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings released a large part of their squad and retained only 11 players before the auction. During the auction, they came in with a big budget and spent most of their money on Indian uncapped players, adding five new Indian players to the team. Let’s take a closer look at their squad.

Wicketkeepers
Batters
All-Rounders
Bowlers
MS DhoniRuturaj GaikwadShivam DubeNoor Ahmad✈️
Urvil PatelAyush MhatreJamie Overton ✈️Khaleel Ahmed
Sanju SamsonDewald Brevis✈️Ramkrishna GhoshMukesh Choudhary
Kartik Sharma*Sarfaraz Khan*Anshul Kamboj Shreyas Gopal
Prashant Veer*Nathan Ellis✈️
Matthew Short*✈️Gurjapneet Singh
Aman Khan*
Akeal Hosein*✈️
Zakary Foulkes*✈️Matt Henry*✈️
Rahul Chahar*

What looks strong:

  • Chennai Super Kings have a strong-looking top order. The opening pair includes young Ayush Mhatre along with captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, followed by Indian wicketkeeper-batter Sanju Samson.
  • Their middle order also looks promising, mainly because they have invested heavily in Indian talent. New additions like Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, and Shivam Dube have been in good form in domestic cricket and could turn out to be smart picks for CSK.

What the team is lacking:

One clear weakness for CSK is the lack of an experienced spin-bowling all-rounder. While Prashant Veer looks like a good option, the team is missing someone with the experience and impact of players like Ravindra Jadeja or Ravichandran Ashwin.

Another major concern is their Indian fast-bowling attack. The pace department looks thin, and they lack a genuine fast bowler who can put pressure on batters during the middle overs while the spinners are in action. Adding a speedster would have strengthened the team significantly.

Rating: 7.5/10

3. Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals made headlines this season by trading in Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran in one of the biggest trades of the year. They have mostly retained their star performers and also added nine Indian players during the auction. Let’s take a closer look at their squad.

Wicketkeepers
Batters
All-Rounders
Bowlers
Dhruv JurelYashasvi JaiswalRavindra Jadeja Nandre Burger✈️
Lhuan-dre Pretorius✈️Vaibhav Suryavanshi Sam Curran✈️Sandeep Sharma
Shimron Hetmyer✈️Donovan Ferreira✈️
Jofra Archer✈️
Shubham DubeyRiyan ParagTushar Deshpande
Ravi Singh*

Kwena Maphaka✈️
Aman Rao*
Yudhvir Singh
Sushant Mishra*
Ravi Bishnoi*
Yash Raj Punja*
Vignesh Puthur*
Kuldeep Sen*
Adam Milne*✈️
Brijesh Sharma*

What looks strong:

Rajasthan Royals already have a strong and stable top order, led by young talents like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

They also have a good balance in spin bowling, with players like Ravi Bishnoi and Ravindra Jadeja strengthening the bowling attack. Jadeja also adds depth to the pace and all-round options of the team.

What the team is lacking:

One clear weakness for Rajasthan Royals is their Indian fast-bowling options. While they have invested well overall, they will have to depend heavily on Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma, which could be a concern against stronger batting line-ups.

Rating: 8/10

2. Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals are placed second on the list because they have a strong group of Indian players. The team has mostly retained Indian players, with 17 Indian players in their 25-member squad. Let’s take a closer look at their squad.

Wicket-keepersBattersAll-RoundersBowlers
KL RahulAbishek PorelAxar PatelKuldeep Yadav
Ben Duckett*✈️Ashutosh SharmaVipraj NigamMitchell Starc✈️
Sameer RizviMadhav TiwariMukesh Kumar
Tristan Stubbs✈️Tripurana VijayDushmantha Chameera✈️
Karun NairAjay MandalT Natarajan
Nitish RanaAuqib Nabi*
David Miller*✈️
Lungisani Ngidi*✈️
Pathum Nissanka*✈️
Kyle Jamieson*✈️
Sahil Parakh*
Prithvi Shaw*

What looks strong:

  • Delhi Capitals have a solid Indian core with several experienced players. One of the biggest positives is KL Rahul, who was outstanding last season, scoring 539 runs in 13 innings. This clearly strengthens their top order, especially alongside Nitish Rana, who has joined the team through a trade.
  • In the lower middle order, players like Ashutosh Sharma and Vipraj Nigam have already proven their value last season by playing important roles in winning matches for the team.
  • Their bowling attack is another major strength. India’s star spinner Kuldeep Yadav is part of the squad, and his quality is unquestionable. Along with him, Auqib Nabi has impressed everyone with his excellent performances in the domestic season.

What the team is lacking:

The main concern for Delhi Capitals is their middle order. It is still unclear who will be the most reliable in that position, as players like Karun Nair, Axar Patel, and Abishek Porel had only average performances last season.

Rating: 8.5/10

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians have clearly shown what they are thinking by keeping most of their Indian players. Before the auction, they retained 11 players. During the auction, they added 4 more Indian players, all of whom are uncapped and new faces from the IPL 2026 auction. Let’s take a closer look at their squad.

Wicket-keepersBattersAll-RoundersBowlers
Quinton de Kock*✈️Rohit SharmaHardik PandyaJasprit Bumrah
Ryan Rickelton✈️Suryakumar YadavNaman Dhir
Trent Boult✈️
Robin MinzS Rutherford✈️Mitchell Santner✈️Deepak Chahar
Danish Malewar*
Raj Angad Bawa
Mayank Markande

Tilak VarmaAtharva Ankolekar*
Ashwani Kumar


Mayank Rawat*
Raghu Sharma

Corbin Bosch✈️
Mohammad Izhar*

Will Jacks✈️Allah Ghazandar✈️

Shardul Thakur

What looks strong:

  • Mumbai Indians have a very strong Indian batting line-up. Their top order looks solid with big names like Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Tilak Varma.
  • Their middle order is also in good shape, led by captain Hardik Pandya along with Naman Dhir.
  • Another major strength of this team is their pace-bowling unit. They have a powerful pace attack for the new ball and the death overs, with bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, and Hardik Pandya, which will be very hard for other teams to handle.

What the team is lacking:

Overall, Mumbai Indians don’t have too many weaknesses. However, one area where they could improve is spin bowling. They did bring in Mayank Markande through a trade, but they might have benefited from adding a more experienced Indian spinner to the squad. 

Rating: 9.5/10