The 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is just a stone’s throw away as the marquee T20 tournament kicks off from March 26. This year, there will be a total of 10 teams participating, thanks to the addition of two new franchises in Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants. 70 matches, excluding the play-offs, will be played across the league in Mumbai and Pune, with the grand finale to be held on May 29.
Ahead of the IPL, Aakash Chopra, former India cricketer and Jatin Sapru, cricket broadcaster, came together to discuss their playing XI for each of the 10 teams. The duo also made their predictions for the winners of Orange cap, Purple cap, MVP (Most Valuable Player) and Emerging player.
The virtual meet between Chopra and Sapru was organized by Rario on its YouTube channel. Rario is the pioneer in the space of cricket NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and the world’s largest cricket NFTs platform. Rario offers an exquisite range of digital cricket collectibles on its platform. These cricket digital collectibles capture the precious moments in the sport, including historical events as well as contemporary ones. The cricket crazy fans as well as the cricket connoisseurs can buy, sell and trade cricket NFTs seamlessly on Rario. To date, Rario has partnered with some of the biggest stars in the world of cricket, including Ishant Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, Mohammed Siraj, Faf du Plessis, Rishabh Pant, Rashid Khan, Shakib-al-Hasan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virender Sehwag, AB de Villiers, Zaheer Khan, Prithvi Shaw as well as Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma. Apart from signing players, Rario has also collaborated with global cricket leagues, such as the Abu Dhabi T10, Caribbean Premier League, the Lanka Premier League as well as the Howzat Legends League Cricket.
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Coming back to the discussion on IPL, let us look at the playing XI for each of the 10 teams listed down by Chopra and Sapru.
Chennai Super Kings
Aakash Chopra’s Playing XI: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Adam Milne, Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Jatin Sapru’s Playing XI: Robin Uthappa, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Jordan, Adam Milne, Rajvardhan Hangargekar
Delhi Capitals
Aakash Chopra’s Playing XI: David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje/Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya
Jatin Sapru’s Playing XI: Tim Seifert, Prithvi Shaw, Yash Dhull, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Rovman Powell, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman
Gujarat Titans
Aakash Chopra’s Playing XI: Shubhman Gill, Matthew Wade, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Jayant Yadav/Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson
Jatin Sapru’s Playing XI: Shubhman Gill, Matthew Wade, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Abhinav S, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson
Kolkata Knight Riders
Aakash Chopra’s Playing XI: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Sam Billings, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav
Jatin Sapru’s Playing XI: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Sam Billings, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Chamika Karunaratne, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav
Lucknow Super Giants
Aakash Chopra’s Playing XI: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Ankit Singh Rajpoot
Jatin Sapru’s Playing XI: KL Rahul, Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Jason Holder, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, K Gowtham
Mumbai Indians
Aakash Chopra’s Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, N Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniels Sams, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills
Jatin Sapru’s Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, N Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniels Sams, Sanjay Yadav, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills
Punjab Kings
Aakash Chopra’s Playing XI: Mayank Agarwal, Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Raj Angad Bawa, Liam Livingstone, Shah Rukh Khan, Odean Smith, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
Jatin Sapru’s Playing XI: Mayank Agarwal, Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow, Raj Angad Bawa, Liam Livingstone, Shah Rukh Khan, Odean Smith, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
Rajasthan Royals
Aakash Chopra’s Playing XI: Devdutt Padikal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Jos Butler, Shimron Hetmyer, Jimmy Neesham, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal
Jatin Sapru’s Playing XI: Devdutt Padikal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Jos Butler, Shimron Hetmyer, Jimmy Neesham, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Aakash Chopra’s Playing XI: Faf du Plessis, Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Glen Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik, Mahipal Lomror, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Shahbaz Ahmed, Josh Hazlewood, Mohammed Siraj
Jatin Sapru’s Playing XI: Faf du Plessis, Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Sherfane Rutherford, Dinesh Karthik, , Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Shahbaz Ahmed, David Willey, Mohammed Siraj
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Aakash Chopra’s Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Kane Williamson, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Shreyas Gopal, T Natarajan
Jatin Sapru’s Playing XI Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Rahul Tripathi, Kane Williamson, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Abdul Samad, Washington Sundar, Marco Jansen, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik, T Natarajan
Towards the end of their discussion, Chopra and Sapru made their respective predictions for the winners of Orange cap, Purple cap, MVP and Emerging player. With regards to the Orange cap, Chopra selected Shikhar Dhawan, while Sapru opted for Virat Kohli. For Purple cap, the duo chose two fast bowlers in Jasprit Bumrah and Kagiso Rabada. Chopra preferred Bumrah to Sapru’s Rabada. Concerning the MVP, Chopra and Sapru went for the Indian all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya respectively. Finally, for the Emerging player, Chopra chose Yashasvi Jaiswal, while Sapru selected N Tilak Varma.
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