IPL 2026 preview: Team-by-team analysis, winner odds and predictions
The 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) returns on March 28, 2026.
In the lead-up to the IPL 2026, Sports News Blitz cricket writer Himanshu Sharma previews all 10 teams with a look at how the season could unfold.
The guide also looks at tournament winner odds, along with key stats and facts from previous IPL editions.
Mumbai Indians preview
Mumbai Indians (MI) enter the tournament as one of the prime title contenders. They have bases covered and boast an abundance of match-winners in the ranks.
It would be a shame if Mumbai doesn't go all the way. Back them to win their sixth title and become the most successful team in the history of Indian Premier League.
Potential XI: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Will Jacks, Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Auction buys: Quinton de Kock, Mohammad Izhar, Danish Malewar, Atharva Ankolekar, Mayank Rawat
Retained players: Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell Santner, Naman Dhir, Raghu Sharma, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Trent Boult, Will Jacks
Players traded IN: Shardul Thakur, Sherfane Rutherford
Head Coach: Mahela Jayawardene
Last Edition (2025) Performance:
Points Table Position - 4
Most Runs - Suryakumar Yadav – 717
Most Wickets - Trent Boult – 22
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Royal Challengers Bengaluru preview
The defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), retained their core from the winning team.
There are plenty of options in batting. In bowling, it feels they are overly reliant on experienced quicks Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar with no backups.
The Challengers certainly have the firepower to go the distance again.
Potential XI: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Tim David, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal (Impact Player)
Auction buys: Venkatesh Iyer, Mangesh Yadav, Jacob Duffy, Satwik Deswal, Jordan Cox, Vihaan Malhotra, Kanishk Chouhan, Vicky Ostwal
Retained players: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Jitesh Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Suyash Sharma, Abhinandan Singh, Jacob Bethell, Nuwan Thushara, Rasikh Dar, Swapnil Singh
Head Coach: Andy Flower
Last Edition (2025) Performance:
Points Table Position - 2
Most Runs - Virat Kohli – 657
Most Wickets - Josh Hazlewood – 22
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Chennai Super Kings preview
Chennai Super Kings have turned towards young blood for the upcoming edition. It was the batting that let them down in the last few editions, and it seems to have been addressed.
The addition of the T20 World Cup 2026 man of the tournament winner Sanju Samson is certainly a big boost.
Meanwhile, the glaring deficiency in their bowling attack may keep the old powerhouse from making the playoffs.
Potential XI: Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Noor Ahmed, Khaleel Ahmed, Nathan Ellis, Anshul Kamboj
Auction buys: Akeal Hosein, Prashant Veer, Kartik Sharma, Matthew Short, Aman Khan, Sarfaraz Khan, Matt Henry, Rahul Chahar, Zak Foulkes
Retained players: MS Dhoni, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brewis, Shivam Dube, Urvil Patel, Noor Ahmad, Nathan Ellis, Shreyas Gopal, Khaleel Ahmed, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Mukesh Choudhary, Jamie Overton, Gurjapneet Singh, Anshul Kamboj
Players traded IN: Sanju Samson
Head Coach: Stephen Fleming
Last Edition (2025) Performance:
Points Table Position -10
Most Runs - Shivam Dube – 357
Most Wickets - Noor Ahmad – 24
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Lucknow Super Giants preview
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)’ settled top-order was its biggest strength in the last season. It has been bolstered further with the addition of Josh Inglis.
The batting is as good as it gets; the onus will be on Wanindu Hasaranga, Digvesh Rathi and Mohammed Shami to match that strength with the ball.
Potential XI: Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Josh Inglis, Ayush Badoni, Shabaz Ahmad, Wanindu Hasaranga, Digvesh Rathi, Mayank Yadav, William O’Rourke/Anrich Nortje, Mohammed Shami (Impact sub)
Auction buys: Wanindu Hasaranga, Anrich Nortje, Mukul Choudhary, Naman Tiwari, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Josh Inglis.
Retained players: Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram, Akash Singh, Arshin Kulkarni, Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Rathi, Himmat Singh, Manimaran Siddharth, Matthew Breetzke, Mayank Yadav, Mitchell Marsh, Mohsin Khan, Nicholas Pooran, Prince Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shahbaz Ahmed
Players traded IN: Mohammed Shami, Arjun Tendulkar
Head Coach: Justin Langer
Last Edition (2025) Performance:
Points Table Position - 7
Most Runs - Mitchell Marsh – 627
Most Wickets - Digvesh Rathi – 14
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Kolkata Knight Riders preview
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made some excellent additions at the auction, roping in Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Finn Allen and Tim Seifert.
How they utilize resources could make or break their campaign.
The spin twins Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy would be the engine room to get Kolkata into the play-offs.
Potential XI: Finn Allen (wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane, Cameron Green, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Ramandeep Singh, Akash Deep, Varun Chakravarthy, Matheesha Pathirana, Umran Malik
Auction buys: Cameron Green, Matheesha Pathirana, Mustafizur Rahman (RELEASED), Tejasvi Singh, Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Rahul Tripathi, Kartik Tyagi, Daksh Kamra, Sarthak Ranjan, Prashant Solanki, Akashdeep, Rachin Ravindra, Blessing Muzarabai
Retained players: Ajinkya Rahane, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell, Sunil Narine, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy
Head Coach: Chandrakant Pandit
Last Edition (2025) Performance:
Points Table Position - 8
Most Runs - Ajinkya Rahane – 390
Most Wickets - Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora – 17
Rajasthan Royals preview
Rajasthan Royals (RR) have moved on from Sanju Samson.
The teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shimron Hetmyer would lead the charge with the bat. The return of the OG Royal Ravindra Jadeja has Rajasthan Royals fans excited.
The Royals have the potential to make the playoffs. For that to happen, the bowling must come to the party.
Potential XI: Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Bishnoi, Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma
Auction buys: Ravi Bishnoi, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, Vignesh Puthur, Yash Raj Punja, Aman Rao, Brijesh Sharma, Kuldeep Sen, Adam Milne
Retained players: Donovan Ferreira, Dhruv Jurel, Jofra Archer, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Nandre Burger, Riyan Parag, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yudhvir Singh
Players traded IN: Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran
Head Coach: Rahul Dravid
Last Edition (2025) Performance:
Points Table Position - 9
Most Runs - Yashasvi Jaiswal – 559
Most Wickets - Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana – 11
Gujarat Titans preview
This season could be a struggle for the Gujarat Titans (GT). They look light on resources compared to the other teams.
Especially in the batting department, a lot is riding on the opening duo of Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarsan.
Potential XI: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Tom Banton, Kumar Kushagra, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, R Sai Kishore
Auction buys: Ashok Sharma, Jason Holder, Tom Banton, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Luke Wood.
Retained players: Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips, Gurnoor Brar, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Jos Buttler, Kagiso Rabada, Kumar Kushagra, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, Arshad Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Prasidh Krishna, R Sai Kishore, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, B Sai Sudharsan, M Shahrukh Khan, Shubman Gill, Washington Sundar
Head Coach: Ashish Nehra
Last Edition (2025) Performance:
Points Table Position - 3
Most Runs - Sai Sudharsan – 759
Most Wickets - Prasidh Krishna – 25
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Delhi Capitals preview
The make-up of Delhi Capitals (DC) batting line-up doesn't inspire much confidence. They will hope wicket-takers Mitchell Starc and Kuldeep Yadav have a bumper season.
It is hard to see them finish in the top half of the points table.
Potential XI: KL Rahul, Abishek Porel (wk), Nitish Rana, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, David Miller, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi
Auction buys: David Miller, Ben Duckett, Auqib Nabi, Pathum Nissanka, Lungi Ngidi, Sahil Parakh, Prithvi Shaw, Kyle Jamieson.
Retained players: Abishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel, Dushmantha Chameera, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc, Sameer Rizvi, T Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, Tristan Stubbs, Vipraj Nigam, Mukesh Kumar
Players traded IN: Nitish Rana
Head Coach: Hemang Badani
Last Edition (2025) Performance:
Points Table Position - 5
Most Runs - KL Rahul – 539
Most Wickets - Kuldeep Yadav – 15
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Sunrisers Hyderabad preview
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have assembled one of the most dangerous batting line-ups, featuring Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen.
Support from the bowling department can help them seal a spot in the playoffs.
Potential XI: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), Liam Livingstone, Aniket Verma, Pat Cummins (c), Harshal Patel, Ehsan Malinga, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari (Impact sub)
Auction buys: Salil Arora, Shivang Kumar, Sakib Hussain, Onkar Tarmale, Krains Fuletra, Praful Hinge, Amit Kumar, Shivam Mavi, Liam Livingstone, Jack Edwards
Retained players: Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, Brydon Carse, Eshan Malinga, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan, Jaydev Unadkat, Kamindu Mendis, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins, R Smaran, Travis Head, Zeeshan Ansari
Head Coach: Daniel Vettori
Last Edition (2025) Performance:
Points Table Position - 6
Most Runs - Heinrich Klaasen – 487
Most Wickets - Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel – 16
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Punjab Kings preview
Punjab Kings (PBKS) sprung a surprise in the last edition, making it to the finals. The squad is somewhat similar and has world-class bowlers in its ranks.
If batting fires, they can replicate the last edition's performance and challenge the very best sides.
Potential XI: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyash Arya, Shreyas Iyer (c), Mitch Owen, Nehal Wadera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Lockie Ferguson
Auction buys: Cooper Connolly, Ben Dwarshuis, Praveen Dubey, Vishal Nishad
Retained players: Arshdeep Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Harnoor Pannu, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson, Marco Jansen, Marcus Stoinis, Mitch Owen, Musheer Khan, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal
Head Coach: Ricky Ponting
Last Edition (2025) Performance:
Points Table Position - 1
Most Runs - Shreyas Iyer – 604
Most Wickets - Arshdeep Singh – 21
IPL 2026 fixtures (opening week)
Match / Date / Match /Venue
Match 1
March 28, 2026
Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Bengaluru
Match 2
March 29, 2026
Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Mumbai
Match 3
March 30, 2026
Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings
Guwahati
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Match 4
March 31, 2026
Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans
New Chandigarh
Match 5
April 1, 2026
Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals
Lucknow
Match 6
April 2, 2026
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
Kolkata
Match 7
April 3, 2026
Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings
Chennai
Match 8
April 4, 2026
Delhi Capitals vs Mumbai Indians
Delhi
Match 9
April 4, 2026
Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals
Ahmedabad
Match 10
April 5, 2026
Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Chennai Super Kings
Bengaluru
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Tournament winner - Favourites to win
Team / Odds
Mumbai Indians - 9/2
Royal Challengers Bengaluru - 6
Gujarat Titans - 7
Punjab Kings - 15/2
Delhi Capitals - 9
Sunrisers Hyderabad - 8
Chennai Super Kings - 10
Kolkata Knight Riders - 9
Rajasthan Royals - 12
Lucknow Super Giants - 9
IPL Venues
Stadium / City / Home Team / Capacity
Narendra Modi Stadium - Ahmedabad - Gujarat Titans - 132,000
M. Chinnaswamy Stadium - Bengaluru - Royal Challengers Bengaluru - 35,000
M. A. Chidambaram Stadium - Chennai - Chennai Super Kings - 39,000
Arun Jaitley Stadium - Delhi - Delhi Capitals - 35,200
HPCA Cricket Stadium - Dharamshala - Punjab Kings - 21,200
Barsapara Cricket Stadium - Guwahati - Rajasthan Royals - 46,000
Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium - Hyderabad - Sunrisers Hyderabad - 55,000
Sawai Mansingh Stadium - Jaipur - Rajasthan Royals - 25,000
Eden Gardens - Kolkata - Kolkata Knight Riders - 68,000
BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium - Lucknow - Lucknow Super Giants - 50,000
Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium - New Chandigarh - Punjab Kings - 38,000
Wankhede Stadium - Mumbai - Mumbai Indians - 33,108
ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium - Visakhapatnam - Delhi Capitals - 27,500
Past winners
Here’s the list of all title-winning teams, Orange Cap winners (awarded to the player with the most runs) and Purple Cap winners (awarded to the player with the most wickets).
Year / Winner / Orange Cap Winner / Purple Cap Winner
2008 - Rajasthan Royals - Shaun Marsh - Sohail Tanvir
2009 - Deccan Chargers - Matthew Hayden - RP Singh
2010 - Chennai Super Kings - Sachin Tendulkar - Pragyan Ojha
2011 - Chennai Super Kings - Chris Gayle - Lasith Malinga
2012 - Kolkata Knight Riders - Chris Gayle - Morne Morkel
2013 - Mumbai Indians - Michael Hussey - Dwayne Bravo
2014 - Kolkata Knight Riders - Robin Uthappa - Mohit Sharma
2015 - Mumbai Indians - David Warner - Dwayne Bravo
2016 - Sunrisers Hyderabad - Virat Kohli - Bhuvneshwar Kumar
2017 - Mumbai Indians - David Warner - Bhuvneshwar Kumar
2018 - Chennai Super Kings - Kane Williamson - Andrew Tye
2019 - Mumbai Indians - David Warner - Imran Tahir
2020 - Mumbai Indians - KL Rahul - Kagiso Rabada
2021 - Chennai Super Kings - Ruturaj Gaikwad - Harshal Patel
2022 - Gujarat Titans - Jos Buttler - Yuzvendra Chahal
2023 - Chennai Super Kings - Shubman Gill - Mohammed Shami
2024 - Kolkata Knight Riders - Virat Kohli - Harshal Patel
2025 - Royal Challengers Bengaluru - Sai Sudharsan - Prasidh Krishna
How to watch IPL 2026 live?
Here are the details of the official broadcasters and streaming partners of IPL 2026.
Country/Region - Network/Streaming
India - JioCinema, Disney Plus Hotstar
UK - Sky Sports
USA - Willow TV
Australia - Foxtel, Kayo Sports, YuppTV
Canada - Willow TV, YuppTV, Fubo
Caribbean and Latin America - Flow Sports, YuppTV
France - YuppTV
South Africa - SuperSport
Middle East - Noon
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