IPL 2022 | Strongest possible playing XI that teams could field (Group A)

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is just a few sleeps away, and this time around, it will be bigger and better. With two new teams in the league, a lot has already changed. By now, most of the cricket fans in the country already know about the league's new format. There are two different groups of 5 teams each. Group A has Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Delhi Capitals (DC), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). 

It is time we have a look at the strongest possible playing XI that all the five teams in Group A could field. 

Mumbai Indians 

The most successful franchise in the history of the IPL, they have won the title five times. In general, a MI squad is full of superstars, but this time around, they don't have as many superstars as they once did. After all, the Mumbai-based franchise had a tough time choosing the four players they would retain because they were spoilt for choices. They retained Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard, which meant they lost the Pandya brothers, Quinton de Kock and Trent Boult. MI had to splash a huge amount of cash to retain Ishan Kishan and somewhere that did hurt their purse as they couldn't afford some of their key players from the previous edition.

Strongest Playing XI: Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma(c), Anmolpreet Singh/Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Daniel Sams, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Jaydev Unadkat, Tymal Mills/Basil Thampi, Jasprit Bumrah, M Ashwin.

Kolkata Knight Riders 

KKR has won the IPL twice, but things haven't gone according to plan for the Kolkata-based franchise since then. KKR has struggled to stick to a captain and over-relied on Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Pat Cummins. Things haven't changed much after the mega-auction, they still have a core of foreign players who will be crucial, but their headache no longer exists. KKR have found their skipper in Shreyas Iyer, and it looks like a match made in heaven for both parties. The retention of Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, Russell and Narine provides balance. Here is how we expect them to line up.

Strongest Playing XI: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer(c), Sam Billings, Sheldon Jackson, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi/Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.

Delhi Capitals

Formerly known as Delhi Daredevils is one of those teams whose fortunes have changed ever since their rebranding. DC decided to build a team around young Indian players, which has done wonders. Before the mega-auction, they had to let go of some of their finest players, but DC somehow managed to assemble a squad that could take them to their maiden IPL title. The Capitals retained Indian vice-captain, Rishabh Pant, as their skipper; Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel, and Anrich Nortje were the other three retentions. While they might no longer have the likes of Kagiso Rabada, Shreyas Iyer and Shikhar Dhawan, they have the Aussie duo of David Warner and Mitchell Marsh, who recently helped Australia win the ICC T20 World Cup.

Strongest Playing XI: Prithvi Shaw, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant(c), Sarfaraz Khan, Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Chetan Sakariya, Anrich Nortje (injury concerns)/Mustafizur Rahman.

Lucknow Super Giants

RP Sanjiv Goenka Group owns the other new team in the IPL. The Super Giants announced their arrival in some style by drafting KL Rahul as their skipper, Marcus Stoinis, the Australian all-rounder and prodigious leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi. How the Lucknow-based franchise operated in the auction hall felt as if they were a part of it all for years. LSG possesses some of the biggest steals in the entire auction. They have assembled a squad of superstars to win the IPL in the first season itself. Sanjiv Goenka's team is full of high-quality all-rounders and are spoilt for choices.

Strongest Playing XI: KL Rahul(c), Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, K Gowtham, Dushmantha Chameera, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi.

Rajasthan Royals 

The winners of the inaugural IPL tournament are all set to take the 2022 edition by storm. They might have gone under the radar in auctions, but people consider them a force to reckon with now. They retained Sanju Samson, Jos Butler, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. RR added some of the most experienced T20 players into their squad, and the overall balance of their team looks decent. The spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravi Ashwin is going to be the cornerstone of this Rajasthan based franchise. Their recruits add firepower to both their batting as well as bowling. Let's have a look at their predicted playing XI.

Strongest Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Nathan Coulter Nile, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal.