IPL 2023 Teams: All You Need To Know

The Indian Premier League 2023 will kickstart on Friday, with defending champions Gujarat Titans locking horns with four-time champion Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

The sixteenth edition of the annual cricket extravaganza will witness 10 teams fighting it out against each other to lift the coveted trophy.

Here is all that you need to know about where the teams stand, ahead of the latest season.

The four-time IPL champions had a forgettable season last year. The team witnessed new lows in 2022. Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni got replaced mid-season and Ravindra Jadeja took charge, but CSK finished ninth on the points table as.

With Dhoni back at the helm, the team comprises consistent performers like Ruturaj Gaikwad, Jadeja and Deepak Chahar. With the addition of Ben Stokes to the squad, the Yellow Army has a balanced outfit for this edition.

The reining champions will start as one of the favourites in this year. Hardik Pandya, who was the fourth highest run-getter in the last season, has proved his mettle as a skipper last season.

With the likes of in-form Shubman Gill, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Tewatia and David Miller in their starting eleven, they have a balanced squad.

The joining of New Zealand's Kane Williamson adds experience to the squad. It will be the team to watch this season.

After having their worst season in 2022 as they finished at the bottom of the table, Mumbai Indians are looking to bounce back.

The five-time champions have Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Cameroon Green and Tim David, bolstering their batting firepower.

The absence of Jasprit Bumrah will be a major miss. The team is expected to be among the squads that qualify for the playoffs.

RCB failed to qualify for the finals last season but they had a good outing despite Virat Kohli’s run drought.

The Faf du Plesis-led squad are a worthy contender with the likes of in-form Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Glen Maxwell in their line-up.

KKR suffered a major blow as captain Shreyas Iyer’s injury ruled him out of the tournament. Nitish Rana has taken over the captaincy, but the lack of depth in their middle order could affect the the two-time champions.

The Sanju Samson-led outfit went all the way till the finals last season and have a balanced squad. The signing of Jason Holder has filled the gap of an all-rounder, increasing chances of qualifying for the playoffs.

The team will miss the services of wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant. But with newly appointed captain David Warner—all-time fourth highest run-scorer of IPL—and Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel and Rovmen Powell in their squad, they stand a good chance to qualify for the playoffs.

The team will miss the services of Kane Williamson and Nicolas Pooran this season. But with Mayank Agarwal, Adil Rashid, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umran Malik in their ranks, they are capable of staging a major upset.

The KL Rahul-led team qualified for the playoffs last season after finishing third on the table. Rahul was the highest run-getter in the last season. With Krunal Pandya and Deepak Hooda in their squad, the team has a good mix of all-rounders. They are considered one of the favourites to make it to the playoffs.

Despite the absence of Jonny Bairstow, the Shikhar Dhawan-led team have a strong batting line-up. Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who had a batting strike rate of 159.69 in the last edition, adds firepower.

The signing of Sam Curran, who has a strike rate of around 150 and has picked up 32 wickets in the same number of matches, will be a major boost to the squad. Arshdeep Singh's bowling in the death overs will also be crucial.