IPL 2019: Team-by-team guide to all eight IPL teams

With the IPL 2019 auction having taken place in Jaipur on Tuesday, here is all you need to know about the teams, from star players to new additions and the ones to watch.

Chennai Super Kings

The reigning champions of Indian Premier League have kept faith in the majority of their squad, including the overseas troupe. MS Dhoni’s CSK appears stronger having defied the odds in the last edition and will be looking forward to the title defence with optimism. However, they will be unsure of their bowling department.

Key players: Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson

Watch out for: Mitchell Santner

Chennai Super Kings Squad: MS Dhoni (c), Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Karn Sharma, Dhruv Shorey, N Jagadeesan, Shardul Thakur, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Faf du Plessis, Sam Billings, Mitchell Santner, David Willey, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Lungi Ngidi, Imran Tahir, Mohit Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad

Delhi Capitals

The Shikhar Dhawan trade-off gives Delhi’s batting the much-needed experience. With the likes of Pant, Munro, Rabada, Iyer andShaw in the ranks, they have all the exciting crew to take the ship afar. The big question now is if a change in name bring them a change of fortune?

Key players: Rishabh Pant, Colin Munro and Kagiso Rabada

Watch out for: Sandeep Lamichhane

Delhi Capitals Squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Amit Mishra, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Manjot Kalra, Colin Munro, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada, Sandeep Lamichhane, Trent Boult, Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Nathu Singh, Ankush Bains, Colin Ingram, Sherfane Rutherford, Keemo Paul, Jalaj Saxena, Bandaru Ayyappa

Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab were roaring at the start of the last edition, but it was the case of peaking too soon. They have brought in the likes of  Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran and Sam Curran in place of released Aaron Finch, Axar Patel, Mohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Marcus Stoinis. Good ploy?

Key players: KL Rahul, Chris Gayle

Watch out for: Nicholas Pooran, Sam Curran

Kings XI Punjab Squad: Ravichandran Ashwin (c), KL Rahul, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot, Karun Nair, David Miller, Chris Gayle, Andrew Tye, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Nicholas Pooran, Mohammad Shami, Varun Chakravarthy, Sarfaraz Khan, Sam Curran, Arshdeep Singh, Hardus Viljoen, Darshan Nalkande, Prabsimran Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin

Kolkata Knight Riders 

The Knight Riders had a fair amount of success in the IPL 2018 season, with Dinesh Karthik fitting well in captain’s role. KKR have released Mitchell Starc, Mitchell Johnson and Tom Curran and roped in the young blood in Anrich Nortje, Lockie Ferguson and Harry Gurney to form the pace attack. Carlos Brathwaite and Joe Denly are among the other notable additions.

Key players: Andre Russell

Watch out for: Joe Denly

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad: Dinesh Karthik (c), Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Carlos Brathwaite, Nikhil Naik, Anrich Nortje, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mudhe

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians did not control most of their games in the last IPL edition but still managed to finish fifth. Quinton de Kock is an excellent addition and may settle Mumbai’s opening batsman concern for good.

With thrilling and explosive talent in the ranks, Mumbai will start as favourites in IPL 2019.

Key players: Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah

Watch out for: Ben Cutting

Mumbai Indians Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Evin Lewis, Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jason Behrendorff, Lasith Malinga, Anmolpreet Singh, Barinder Sran, Pankaj Jaiswal, Rasikh Dar, Yuvraj Singh

Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals have made purchases to bolster bowling department during the pre-season auction. The Royals bought back Jaydev Unadkat for a record sum again, other notable acquisitions being Oshane Thomas and Liam Livingstone. Heinrich Klaasen and D’ArcyShort were earlier shown the door after a poor stint.

Key players: Jos Buttler, JofraArcher

Watch out for: Steve Smith

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Aryaman Birla, S. Midhun, Prashant Chopra, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mahipal Lomror, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Riyan Parag, Ashton Turner, Manan Vohra, Shubham Ranjane

Royal Challengers Bangalore

There is not better batting unit than RCB in the competition, even without the released T20 specialists such as Brendon McCullum, Corey Anderson and Quinton de Kock. The additions of Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer and Shivam Dube were the notable additions to RCB squad. Can they go on to clinch the first IPL title in 2019?

Key players: Virat Kohli, AB deVilliers

Watch out for: Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis

Royal Challengers Bangalore Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Parthiv Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Kulwant Khejroliya, AB de Villiers, Marcus Stoinis, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Tim Southee, Shimron Hetmyer, Gurkeerat Singh, Shivam Dube, Devdutt Padikkal, Himmat Singh, Heinrich Klaasen, Milind Kumar, Prayas Ray Barman, Akshdeep Nath

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad’s IPL last year was a sensation, as they finished at thehead of the league table. The swap of Shikhar Dhawan for Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem and Abhishek Sharma may give them a few more options and reinforcements. Also, they have got hold of Jonny Bairstow and Martin Guptill plus David Warner will be back in the fold. Is SRH stronger than ever? 

Key players: Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan

Watch out for: Jonny Bairstow, David Warner

Sunrisers Hyderabad Squad:Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, T Natarajan, Ricky Bhui, Sandeep Sharma, Vijay Shankar, Shahbaz Nadeem, Abhishek Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Shreevats Goswami, Khaleel Ahmed, Yusuf Pathan, Kane Williamson (c), Billy Stanlake, David Warner, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Shakib Al Hasan, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Martin Guptill