The Ultimate IPL 2025 Preview

[00:00:09] Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the Edges & Sledges Cricket Podcast. I'm your host Ashwin and we have a full house for the first time in a little while just given everybody's schedules and lives etc. DJ is joining from London, Varun is joining from Singapore and Varun we are all here because you can win the ICC trophies, you can do all of the above, you can reach World Test Championship Finals but there's nothing that gets you out of bed like the IPL and we are about a week away.

[00:00:39] How are you doing man? I mean I'm super excited, I'm pumped up like it's cricket season, it's Indian cricket season, that's simply just what it is. So I as everyone, all our listeners who've been watching this or hearing us for a while know that this is my favorite time of the year. The timing doesn't work out great for me because I'm often up till 2am, very often I fall sick in the middle of the IPL but I still think it's the best time. So yes, I am super pumped and excited.

[00:01:07] Yeah, I mean it doesn't seem like it's a coincidence that you fall sick if you're up till 2am on work. But DJ, how quickly the brain moves, right? We've just finished ODIs, we've been talking about that top five batting and four spinners and this and that and yes, the trophy is awesome and we've celebrated it but now we're all ready to go into IPL mode for the first time in I think six or seven years the official IPL fantasy website is live about a week ahead which is amazing, gives us time to actually build squads and things.

[00:01:37] So we will post an Anderson Sledge's family online. But yeah, DJ, how quickly the brain moves? Are you past the Champions Trophy success already? You're gearing up for teams in multicolors and not remembering which teams Sam current finally eventually plays for because he's moved so much? Yeah, I'm ready for it, man. It's the festival of cricket. The summer as such in India would have arrived with the arrival of the IPL, right?

[00:02:05] I think we're still savouring a little bit of the glory of the Champions Trophy. There's still a few things coming out on social media with Rohit Sharma waking up next to his trophies and there's some nice stuff and Virat Kohli just gave an interview about how he's still motivated to play cricket, how Australia was a dark place for him.

[00:02:26] Obviously, this is fine to say now after the Champions Trophy has been won, but the social media feed has been going wild with like Dream 11 ads. I think the, have you seen the Amir Khan and Ranveer Singh ads? Oh, sorry, Ranveer Kapoor ads? Yeah, that's pretty good. People are saying that's the best thing that's come out of Bollywood in the last couple of years.

[00:02:48] I mean, this Jackie Shroff is in there. Arbaaz is in there. It's just a great ad. So if anybody's not seen it, I mean, along with Prashant Krashan, this week, that's been the flavor of social media. We've all lost it too much in that game, but that's unrelated. Maybe he'll get an IPL contract. Yeah, he should be a mascot for one of the teams. Maybe Delhi Capitals because they're a bit of a joke. We will rename again to be Delhi Croissants. Anyway, that took a turn. I wasn't expecting.

[00:03:19] But we have to talk quickly about the WPL. And I say quickly because if yesterday had gone differently, it would have been the first 20 minutes of our show. But we are not going to gloss on it because it's too painful. Yet again, is it the third time I think the Delhi Capitals side has reached the final, topped the table and fell short, fell short. And Harman Preet's Mumbai Indians, well-deserved, lifted the trophy yesterday. But we are starting, I don't know what the parallels are.

[00:03:48] You always hear about these English Premier League football fans who support a team that's been 17th for 10 years straight. And it's starting to feel like as Delhi, I'm harsh, but it's starting to feel like as Delhi fans, we are those guys that have been fans for 18 years and have nothing in the trophy cabinet. And it's not looking likely that they'll be one suit either on the men's or the women's side, is it?

[00:04:12] No, it's not. And I was like, I don't know, yesterday I switched on the TV when there were three down. And I was like, this is our game. And then the period that I ended up watching intensely was the period where Mumbai Indians fought back. And man, Harman Preet just was brilliant. Like, I was regretting putting it on the TV because I saw exactly that phase. Then we seemed to have pulled it back after about six, seven overs of carnage. And then I just went to sleep because I was like, listen, the IPL is starting.

[00:04:42] I need to rest. I need to kind of get in my sleep before. And I woke up to messages from UNDJ and I was just like, this is ridiculous. I don't know what happened in that second innings, but I just don't want to talk about it because I was all ready to say we've got one trophy and start attacking friends from the other teams. But just wasn't meant to be. Yeah, I think well said. Disappointing, fantastic season, I have to say, as a podcast host, more than just to Delhi fans.

[00:05:12] Great season all around, great season for the Delhi Capitals as well, topping the table. Shefali looked amazing. Meg Lanning, Jess Jonathan, everybody showed up. At different times, just unfortunately not in the final. So with that, we're going to pivot and talk about the IPL. DJ, are you ready? This is a whirlwind kind of format. So what we're going to do, and for anybody who's listened for years, we're going to cover all 10 teams in a very quick whirlwind.

[00:05:39] Each of us will take one and then we all always talk about Delhi because we are all fans of the Delhi side. But we're going to go in order, guys, of last year's points table. And I'm going to have us divide and conquer. And we're going to hit strengths, weaknesses, key players to watch. And then kind of whether, how well do you think they'll do? A little prediction. And we'll wrap up our show with our predictions for this year's top four playoff spot. DJ, actually, Varun, let's start with you.

[00:06:07] We are going to start with last year's table toppers and eventual winners. Do we go from the top or do we go from the bottom? Which one should we do? Let's go from the top. Let's go from the top. Or how about this? I'll pick randomly. We'll start with Kolkata and then I'll start jumping around. And I'll probably lose track and you'll have to tell me which ones. Yeah, we'll only do nine teams by the end. We'll make it work. If people are still listening to this show, they're used to this level of quality for us. So we'll make it work. Why don't we do it? Let's hit the Kolkata Night Raiders first. Take us away. All right.

[00:06:36] Champions from last year. You think of champions, you think of a coach and a captain. And they have a new coach and a new captain. So Kolkata Night Raiders is going into the season without Gautam Gambir. Because obviously he had bigger things to pursue. And without Friar Syed, the captain, who on record I think recently went and said, I feel I didn't get the credit that I deserved. And I mean, I don't ask him to name them, but apparently he's won five trophies in the last year. 12 months or so.

[00:07:06] So I think, you know, Shreyas Ayer got a little bit of the short stick in this. Just my opinion. Gambir obviously moved on for India duties. But anyway, they've retained their core as they saw it. And I think Shreyas didn't make that. So they've kept Rinku. They've kept Venki Ayer in the auction. Russell, Narayan and Varun Chakravarti. So those are the five guys.

[00:07:35] And Harshit Rana. So those are the five, six guys who came back as part of, you know, either retention or the core. They have made Ajinkya Rahane the captain. Despite Venkatesh Ayer going for over 23 crores. And they've said that because they don't want to put pressure on Venki Ayer. Like, as if it's not enough pressure to go for that price tag. But I just, I think Rahane is the stable hand. So I think it's not a bad move from a captaincy perspective.

[00:08:05] But if you ask my honest opinion, are you guaranteeing him a season where he's, you know, got a fixed slot? What is that slot? Because we saw a resurgence at opening on number three for CSK. DJ, I don't know if you remember this, but was there a period once where Rahane actually dropped the KKR captaincy midway? I can't remember, but I know KKR has had these issues before with Morgan and stuff. So I'm not, I'm not 100% sure of this captaincy decision.

[00:08:34] Was it DK that changed captaincy midway? I think you're right. I think it was DK that gave it to Morgan. And Rahane is probably in KKR at that time. Maybe that's what I'm thinking about it. But it's, it's the kind of decision you can't fault, right? So I think they've, they've got a decent lineup. Like what I would think their top few would be is like a Quinton Dickcock opening with Narayan. Because you want to keep that formula going.

[00:08:59] They have Gurbaaz, but I just feel that with Dickcock there, you're probably going to start with him. And then depending on the form, you'll see Gurbaaz come in. Then of course, this guy, Angrish Raghuvanshi impressed me a lot last season. I would, I would say that he would be kind of my number three. You've got interesting choices then with Rahane, Venki, Ayer, Ramandeep Singh, all need to play that core middle order role.

[00:09:24] I think Russell and Rinku, sometimes I feel they come too low down the order, but, but that makes up your kind of lower middle order. And then again, strength is spin, right? Varun Chakravarti, Narayan, Mayankh, Markhande. These are three spinners. And what we've typically worked well for them, I would say Weber Varora and Harshit Rana. Now, where I think the weakness comes is that your last two pacers are potentially Anrik, Nokia, and Umran Malik, right?

[00:09:53] And now that is where you leak run. So if you remember last season, even Mitchell Stark was giving like 19, 18 runs in the league stage. And Stark and Nokia basically have swapped, right? Because Stark's gone to Delhi. So it's an interesting one, yeah. So, so I think that these two bowlers are going to be targeted along with probably Harshit and Weber Varora. So base is probably the thing that I would watch out if I was KKR. Strength, I would say, is spin, spin to win. That's been their mantra for a long time.

[00:10:23] And yeah, I would just, I just hope Venkiar does well because with that kind of price tag, you know, there's bound to be a lot of eyeballs on it. So that's my quick wrap up on KKR. Paran, you didn't mention Manish Pandey at all? Can you talk a little bit? Yeah, I don't know why he's still around. I don't know who's picking him. I don't know. He's in the KKR. It's very hot in Calcutta and very humid. You need someone to carry drinks. Oh, yeah. Just, I can't believe this guy's together.

[00:10:51] Listen, even if you guys don't want him to play that much, I'm being a little tug-in-cheek. It's harsh to not to be so mean to him. I mean, Dhoni is mean to him. What do you think? I obviously admitted the keyword, but there's a few people listening who understand it and a few will not have any idea what we're talking about.

[00:11:16] But for those who understand it, go watch the clip on YouTube after this show because it brings joy to my day every time I see Dhoni yelling. All right. Varun, hold the thought on KKR. We're going to come back and ask if you think they're going to make it to the Final Four. DJ, I'm going to jump to you. I'm going to let you start on the spirit of what MS Dhoni is mean as to Manish Bhat. I'm going to let you start with the CSK. Take us off. Oh, wow. You have totally thrown me. So, CSK. You said not to go in order.

[00:11:45] So, I'm excited. Okay, fair. Let me find the CSK score. So, Rutanaj Ghaikwar, of course, is captain this year again, like he was last year. The big news, I guess, is Sam Curran is back in CSK colors. Ashwin is still playing. Devin Conway is still there. Look, when you look at this team, again, you've got to remember that they like a lot of spin.

[00:12:15] So, the key players for me will be people like Ravindra, for example, because he had an okay-ish kind of IPL last year. We've also got Deepak Huda in this squad. For me, he seems to be a pretty important player this time around because he does bowl some offspin. He can hit spin big as well. So, if you're playing at the Chapok Stadium, you need guys who can both bowl spin and hit spin.

[00:12:41] Of course, you've got the good old firm of MS Dhoni as well as Ravindra Jadeja who carries on playing for this famous franchise. Nathan Ellis, another important pick. So, I think I'll look at this team. It's a fairly well-rounded… Ashwin, I think I've already mentioned. And then there's no Rame. There's three Ravis in this team. There are three Ravis?

[00:13:11] There's two Ravis. There are three Ravis. One, Ashwin. Crazy. Okay. Fair. So, look. It looks like a fairly well-rounded team again. The strengths will remain their… They know their strengths, right? They know who they want to play in which conditions. They've got most of their bases covered on the spin side of things.

[00:13:36] With Matisha, Pathirana, they got a death bowler of kind of proper impact. I think that was last season or the season before he took a lot of wickets. But it's just that experience of knowing where to kind of deploy players and what position Dhoni carries on. In fact, the rule itself was changed for him to be an uncapped player this year. So, he didn't count towards the…

[00:14:03] I think the capped quota or whatever. What is the thing about the capped player, uncapped player? Is it because of a salary thing or is it retentions? You can retain more players or something like that. That's why they kept him on, I guess. Anyway, I'm rambling. I think it was retention. I'm rambling. Look, it's a team that's made the knockouts and the playoffs more often than not.

[00:14:28] They've won five titles equal with the Mumbai Indians. Last year, they were only taken out by that Yash Dayal over which was because MS Dhoni hit about six. We thought that was probably his last act as an MS… I was going to say MSK player but it's a CSK. I'm not a player but their weakness to me looks like when they travel outside of Chephok, what is their seam looking like?

[00:14:57] So, they have Sheik… Sorry, Sheik received a relaxed pin. They have Pathirana and the other… I don't really see who their other kind of… Other than Sam Curran, I guess you could call him a seamer. But they don't have anybody of note really who's going to book. Kamlesh Nagar Koti. But again, inexperienced. Mukesh. Yeah, Khalil. They're not kind of…

[00:15:25] They're not names you're going to be worried about on a seamen deck, right? In Dharmshala. Or maybe you might worry a little bit about Khalil. But it's not going to give you nightmares. So, that's their weakness for them. And for me, their X Factor or their player to watch will be Rachin this year. Because he had a quieter year last year. But he's just come off player of the series and the Champions Trophy. It's kind of like time for him to shine, right? Like, he's the next generation. It's kind of nice to see that talent go ahead.

[00:15:53] And of course, from the older generation, I'll pick MSD. Batting 8 or batting 9 and finishing off a few games just to give Ashwin some hard work. 9! I mean, listen. We're not going to get into the debate about batting. What I do think is going to be a key for them with MSD is he will still be lightning fast behind the stumps. He'll probably be doing that when he's 65. And it's just… It's unbelievable. Yeah. Nathan Ellis is the one that's interesting on the seam side. Because he won lots of change-ups. But that's good again in Chipok.

[00:16:23] He's not Express. So, like… He's not going to… Like, he's not a Bumbra or like a Mitchell Stark or like those kind of names. They're going to change a knockout game with their seam bowling like Mitch Stark did last year, right? Take care. Yeah. All right. We'll come back and see if you think they're going to make the final four. Spoiler alert. I think they will. And that scares me every time. Every time I start these seasons. But… Right. All right. I'm going to go next. And keeping in this order of not going in the point of stable flow,

[00:16:51] I'm going to go with the Lucknow Supergiant. Is it Giant or Giants? I can never remember if it's a singular Giant. Giants now. It's Giants. The Pune Supergiant. The Pune Supergiant was singular because they were still rising. Lucknow has risen. All right. Now they're multiplying. Now they're multiplying. All right. Let's talk about the Lucknow team. Guys, this one is a hard one for us to talk because we're not… Although we are not previewing the Delhi team yet, the single biggest change is at the helm. And they've had quite a lot of change.

[00:17:19] But at the helm, out goes K.L. K.L. Rahul. In comes Rishabh Pant. That is going to be… That's going to be the biggest change Lucknow sees. I mean, as a whole, I looked at their side and I said, they look reasonably solid. I don't think I'm going to put them in the top four. But they could end up topping this table. They're going to be high-risk, high-reward type of cricket, right? As I try to go through what I think their 11 could be,

[00:17:47] your top order could be Mitchell Marsh, Aidan Markham, Nicholas Puran, Rishabh Pant, Ayush Padoni, and David Miller. That is either a side that will be 35 for 6 or 82 for 0 and 4 overs. And that to me is just… It's that kind of cricket, which is the polar opposite of K.L. Rahul cricket. And so that's going to be the biggest difference, right? Can they outlive the legacy, the bad luck, whatever you want to call it, that Rahul had?

[00:18:17] And are they going to be in situations where they miss him? Are they going to be in situations where they fall to 15 for 3 that we talk so often and they needed a Rahul-esque player and they don't have that? I mean, it is an explosive top order, potentially, with David Miller now proving that he can make meaningless centuries with just a few overs left. I think as you go down the list a little bit, you start to feel a little bit of the opportunities with…

[00:18:44] You have Ravi Vishnu, who is an exceptional spin player, spin spinner. And then Shahbaz Ahmed gives you that spinning all-rounder option. But then you start going into Avesh Khan, Mohsen Khan, Mayank Yadav, right? So it feels a little like RCP teams of the past, where you're so reliant on overseas batters that you have to lean on the domestic bowlers. And that, to me, feels like a little bit of a risk. Akash Deep is also in their squad. They do have Shamar Joseph, who may come in if Aidan Markham, for example,

[00:19:14] is not doing well enough. But essentially, my takeaway, as I was trying to read through, their strengths are their top orders. Their opportunity is depth. I mean, Mitchell March is not 100% fit. I think he's now been given the green light to play as a… Plays a batter. …batter only, which changes his role a little. But you have a couple of injuries, and you're starting to get into lesser-known players. I mean, I was reading through their squad, and there's a lot of guys who have none or very limited IPL experience.

[00:19:42] So I'm excited to see Rishabh Pant. I will still cheer for him secondarily, even though the team always comes first. Does he bring enough, along with Nikolaus Puran, to reignite this team? I'm not sure. It'll happen in year one. But it'll be interesting to see the kind of three-year legacy Rishabh creates for this side. All right. Varun, let's jump to you again. Let's go to the Gujarat team. They finished seventh, eighth on the table last year.

[00:20:10] Let's talk about them, and then we'll take a quick break after this one. Yeah, so this is interesting. I always end up making some controversial statements where I'm proven very, very wrong in prior seasons, especially in SRH. This time, my controversial statement is going to be about Gujarat Titans. I really don't think they've got the squad to go to the playoffs. It's just, as I was reviewing it, you know, look, Shubman is captain.

[00:20:37] And I think the biggest guy was Butler. Now, you have to remember, they've bought a not-in-prime Joss Butler. But still, Joss Butler is the kind of name who has set the IPL alive in the last 10 years, right? Like, I think out of 14 games, three to four games, he single-handedly can win you just by playing out the first five overs and then batting till 20. So, I think Joss Butler is a very, very interesting buy.

[00:21:05] I think what that does is it puts Sai Sudarshan at number three. And I love Sai Sudarshan. I think he's awesome. But that's when the gap starts coming for me. Because then you've got Glenn Phillips, Shah Rukh Khan, Rahul Tevatiya, Shelfen Rutherford, Mahipal Lomroor, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat. That is basically the names that are potentially from three to seven.

[00:21:35] And I think that's weak. And I think if you get one or two quick wickets, I think you're going to get, you know, very, very, I think Gujarat is going to become very, very exposed. So, that is my weakness from that perspective. Now, they do have Rashid Khan. I think that is a big upside. But again, when I look at their bowlers, they've got an out-of-form Ishan Sharma and not-in-prime Kagiswar Rabada.

[00:22:02] They've got Prasid Krishna, who has been injured. And they've got Mohamed Siraj, who, as Rahul Sharma said, is a better red ball player than a white ball player. So, again, I'm not saying they can't do it. I think on the day, like, you know, things can turn around. But just to me, this feels like an average, like an above-average squad. So, like, you know, let's visualize Butler and Shubman get out in the first six overs. I think the game is done.

[00:22:31] So, I think there's going to be too much pressure. And I have a feeling you're going to see slow starts from the Gujarat Titans because they know that they need to bat 20 overs to explode. And I'm probably going to be totally wrong about this, but that is just my gut feel. How many runs do you allocate to Glenn Phillips taking basically one screamer every match? Yeah, I mean, he is great. Like, some of the catches he took. But in previous IPL teams, he's just not been able to find a spot, right?

[00:23:01] So, again, where are you going to play him? Is it at the cost of a Rabada? It's definitely not a Rashid Khan. It's not Butler. So, you're basically playing for that one slot. So, I think it's a good shout-out. I think he will play, actually, in the starting 11. So, it's a good opportunity for him. Yeah, no. I was actually waiting for DJ to come off mute and make his plug about Washi. And Washi can bat at four, build the innings, bowl four overs in sitting conditions. That's true. I totally missed Washi in this.

[00:23:31] Because I was just like, their list of all-rounders, they have about 10 all-rounders. Yeah. No, I fundamentally actually agree with you. I think there's that over-reliance on the top three and on Rashid. But, yeah, I think some of these younger guys will have to play a bigger role for them to have any shot. That's it. I mean, I both call Washi a younger guy and realize he's been on the scene now forever. But, yeah. All right, four teams down. This is always a blitz. We have so much to cover. We could talk so much about each team. Why don't we take a very quick break?

[00:24:01] We will come back with the last six and then get into playoff predictions from there. Don't go anywhere. We will be right back. Welcome back to the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast. I think we're live on YouTube. So, if you're on YouTube, leave us a message. You probably didn't actually see us take a break. We build those in for the podcast listeners. And, by the way, hit that like button. Hit that subscribe button.

[00:24:30] We love to hear from you. And we love to see you and read all your comments. Come tell Varun he's wrong about Gujarat. Come tell me I'm wrong about Lucknow. Let's do it. We'd love to get into it. That is the magic of the IPL. DJ, four teams down. And now I'm starting to lose track of who we've covered and who we haven't. So, I'm going to jump back to the top of last year's points table. And have you cover the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Tell us about their team preview for 2025. Varun, are you sure you don't want to take this one? Because you've...

[00:25:00] Spare me. In previous years. Spare me this year. So, I don't know whether you guys know this or not. But every year we allocate each other teams. And this year I allocated... I purposely allocated Varun SRH last year after the feedback he got for the previous year. This year his first reaction to the allocation table was, thank God, no SRH for me. So, I said I've taken that off your plate. But look, man, this is a squad.

[00:25:29] When you look at it, it is power-packed. So, I'm just going to go through... Obviously, there's Travis Shake right on top. During the mega auction, they picked up... I thought we settled on Headishake. Are you at Headishake? Like Headshake. Like Headshake. Headshake. Yeah, we could have it. Travis Shake, Headishake. And then we've got... They've just picked up a cool Ishan Kishan during the off-season, during the mega auction.

[00:25:59] Which, frankly, that's a great pick for a franchise like Hyderabad. Ishan Kishan struggling at MI. He was the highest-paid cricketer in the IPL mega auction the last time around. I think at 15 crores. Really didn't live up to that billing, unfortunately. But look, he's an India player. He's got an international double hundred in ODI cricket. He's got lots of runs in T20 international cricket. So, but if that wasn't enough, they just went and picked up... Well, they didn't pick up. They already had a guy called Henry Klaassen.

[00:26:29] Like, he's just been smoking it ever since I can pretty... Well, since like 2019 or 2018 when we saw him in Joburg win that pink ODI. Oh my God, that ODI. I can't think of a time where Klaassen hasn't been smoking it other than that World Cup final where he fluffed his lines, of course. But man, this is a packed lineup and that's just the batters. Because Abhishek Sharma falls within the all-rounder category. This guy in the last one year has become an India player.

[00:26:59] He scored hundreds for India. He's bringing eyeballs to the ground just by himself. And the other all-rounder that they've got is a guy called Nitish Kumar Reddy who scored 100 at the MCG, bringing India back from the brink. He's back to bowling. He's been declared fit. Brydon Kass is also part of this lineup. And of course, Captain Patrick Cummins who can't do anything wrong. Didn't play the Champions Trophy but he's going to be playing the IPL leading the charge.

[00:27:28] Missed out on the trophy last time. And if they thought that the bowling was a little bit light, they've just picked up Mohamed Chami who's come off with a Champions Trophy winning campaign. Fully fit. Spin-wise, they've got Rahul Cheher. They've got a backup in Harshal Patel for death bowling. They've got Jadeva Nhatkar left hand. Adam Zampa, right arm spin. I mean, this is an insane squad. And of course, they let go of Hasaranga and stuff which was a great pick last year because they didn't play.

[00:27:57] But they've got, they are spoiled for choice. They've also got Wayan Mulder from South Africa. They've got Kamindu Mendes. Abhinav Manohar. This is just a squad. Sachin Baby, of course, has come off the Ranji Trophy final Kerala heartbreak for him. But he hasn't played for a while. He took 35 plus. But look, this is a... I'd have them in for the knockouts already. I think this is...

[00:28:26] I've already got the scars from Travis Head, right? And you add Abhishek to that. It's... This could be over in the first five overs, not even the first 10 for a lot of teams. Yeah. I mean, they were definitely... Second spoiler alert, but they're definitely on my list. I mean, as you were going down... Now, let's be clear. The years we've thought Hyderabad has zero chance they've done well. And the years before we've thought they're going to do well, they've under-delivered. So, it'll be really interesting to see.

[00:28:55] But I can't do a strength, weaknesses, X-Factor. The usual format. It's all an X-Factor, man. It's all like any one of those names on their day. Like a classer, a Ishan Kishan, a Travis Head, an Abhishek Sharma. They've got overseas players covered. They've got spin left-arm covered. They've got left-arm seam, right-arm seam. Death bowlers, leg spin. I don't know. They've got Zampa, they've got Chahed, they've got Shami, they've got Purple Patel. What?

[00:29:24] Where? Where do you stop? This is an insane squad. It's a great team. I also see them going all the way. All-time great. The only thing is that you get like a Mitchell Stark to get two wickets in the first three overs of the final. That's it. That's all you need to solve for. It's very hard, but that's all you need to solve for. Unbelievable. The first one, I think, of the five teams we've now previewed that we think, as it looks

[00:29:54] unbelievable. Everybody else actually has got some pretty big gaps in their squad. So, very interesting. All right. I'm going to... And it's a total reversal from that previous strategy where they just bold spin and like bat it to get to 160, 170 every game and got Rashid and Mujib and these guys to bold spin at the opposition. Very interesting change. Interesting indeed. All right. Now we start getting to the point where we've already talked about some of the players, but I'm going to go next and talk about Rajasthan.

[00:30:23] And the Rajasthan Royals, they had a weird season last year, right? Remember they won eight of their first nine games or eight on the... No, eight of their first nine and then lost four in a row. And it was a bizarro kind of season. They're... Excuse me. They're big auction strategy. No, they did not choose to retain or buy back. Trent Bolt did not choose to retain or buy back. Chahal did not choose to. Ashwin. That is three massive losses in terms of names. Now, who they did buy? They went... They spent on bowlers, right? Joffra came back into the setup.

[00:30:54] Tushar Desh Pandey, Waninduha Saringa, Mahish Tikshana. Significant, significant amount of spending on bowling. They did not actually buy any overseas buyers and they had let go of Joss Butler. And Sandhu Sampson has been in the media recently talking about the loss of Butler. So at a high level, loss of Butler, Chahal, et cetera. Yes, you replenished and you strengthened your bowling lineup. And by the way, Rahul Rabind, now a T20 World Cup winning coach, is back with the Rajasthan Royals,

[00:31:24] which should be a help. So I started looking at him. And I was like, okay, listen, Jaswal, Sampson at the top. Phenomenal. Just phenomenal, right? I joke about Sampson blowing hot and cold. He's a phenomenal T20 player, no question about it. And he's been a good skipper. Then you start getting into... Okay, you have Dhruv Jurel, Rian Parag, Nitish Rana, Shimran Hetmeyer. That's a pretty decent middle order, but it's not the strongest in the league.

[00:31:51] And suddenly then you start realizing, okay, on the bottom end you have Jofra Arshar, either Thikshana or Fazal Hak Faruqi will play. And Faruqi has been an outstanding pick. Anybody who didn't pick him in fantasy leagues has felt the pain of his ability to pick up three or four wickets every game. Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande. But you start to feel that seven, eight slot needs to be Hasaranga. Maybe Shubham Dube gets to look. Maybe Akash Madhwal gets to look. And that's where you start to see the gaps.

[00:32:21] And so not dissimilar to actually how Varun assessed Gujarat. If Samson and Jaswal don't play an important role, I think they're going to have a hard time. Similarly with Jofra, you've got to watch out for injuries. You hope he does well. So weirdly, the player to watch for me actually is going to be... This is a strange one, but he's going to be Nitish Rana. Because he has to play a completely different role based on whether Samson and Jaswal lose a wicket early or go out swinging.

[00:32:48] And he could help Impact play that role to anchor if needed. But as a whole... Oh, and by the way, I didn't talk about their 13-year-old acquisition. I don't know if he's turned 14 since, so how old he is. But Vempav Suryavanshi, 13 years old. Youngest ever pick in an IPL auction. It's tough to see whether he'll get a game or not. But just a phenomenal banner. He has huge successes at his age. I can't imagine as he starts to grow, how he'll continue to do. But yeah, great experience for this kid.

[00:33:18] And hopefully we get to see him in a game or two. And maybe over time, you never know, he plays a bigger role. So that's kind of it for me. Their first 11 doesn't look bad. As soon as you have a couple of injuries, they're starting to be in trouble. And I think they will miss Joss Butler. Even though 2024 was middling, he has an incredible legacy with this side. So the Samson-Buckler camaraderie is going to be gone. All right, Varun, let's keep us going. You've done KKR. You've done Gujarat. Left is only...

[00:33:48] My second favorite team. Yeah, or I guess he's not technically captain. It's still Virat Kohli's team. By the way, they showed a picture. They posted a picture of all 10 captains. And I had to do a quick double take when I saw the RCB one. Because I'm not totally sure I recognize Rajat Pati's first face. Off the bat. So I had to be aware of who is there. Because you just see the helmet, right? Or Rapa. When he smokes it, it goes far. I mean, I just also was not expecting to see him at an IPL captain for ownership. It's very strange to me. But anyway, take us away on RCB.

[00:34:17] Yeah, I mean, Rapa's been a big part of the RCB squad, I think. Coming in at number three. Goes through these periods of, you know, low scores in a row and then high scores in a row. So it's like consistent in the wrong sense in a way. But man, I was just saying when he smokes it, he looks so good. Like, I don't know why I've got a soft spot for these Ruta Raj Rajat Pati's type right-handed top order guys. I think they're just great. Both skippers now, right?

[00:34:46] Yeah. So I think from my side, like, the problems haven't changed. Like, you've gone all out and you've got Liam Livingston and then you've got Phil Salt and, you know, you bought all these big names. But you didn't focus on the bowling again. However, I'm going to say the RCB squad looked better than previous years, in my opinion.

[00:35:11] So I think you've got Kohli and Phil Salt up top. And Phil Salt has been awesome. So I think that's who you have up top. I think you've got Rajat Pati at number three. I think the guy who misses out, controversial decision again, is Devdutt Padikar. Because if he's not opening, you know, he hasn't done well at three and four. And you don't want to be pushing Rapa down the order. So that is one for me that I'm not sure if he finds a spot.

[00:35:40] I think your Krunel and Liam Livingston are, I know why DJ is laughing, but Krunel and Liam Livingston are in the middle. The guy who can change the season for me for RCB is Tim David. Right? It's been the gap. So I think if Tim David comes good and he's got Jitesh Sharma to give him company, if these two can finish off the games, I think it's a decent score. Is this a Singaporean bias showing up? It is a little bit, I think.

[00:36:08] But yeah, Tim David is now Australian. But yeah, so that's what I think. So I think Jitesh and Tim in that lower middle order are going to have to win them games. Because the nature of RCB has been just that they've lost these games there, right? So very quickly coming to the bowling. All right. So they've got Josh Hazelwood and they've got Bhuvi. I think Bhuvi was a great pick, right? Because he can help kind of bring the rest of the Indian bowlers along with him.

[00:36:36] I think Josh Hazelwood is that experienced bowler. You'd want him playing every T20 game. They've got Inghiri, who again, I think would sit out for the start. But nevertheless, good guy to have. And then the two other names, Yash Tayal, somehow I find him an average bowler. But he just somehow Kohli loves him. And he did get Dhoni out in that all-important game. And Suyash Sharma, those are the guys I'd kind of mention.

[00:37:04] I haven't heard much about Nuan Thushara, to be honest. So I don't know if he could be like a Pathirana type of a bowler. I probably would want to go and check that. But overall, I would say stronger than last year, still not as strong as I think RCB can be. Yeah, very, very interesting. I mean, it just feels like the RCB story we've heard before a little bit, which is wild. And except I think you were spot on for me.

[00:37:34] I'm excited to see what Bovi can do, not just as a bowler, but as sort of a leader of that pace attack. Because that's where they've fallen short on what is obviously a very difficult ground for bowlers. And so you need somebody with experience. All right, DJ, round us out with your third team. I keep wanting to call them KXIP, but they're technically not that. So I'm just all the name throwbacks for people who've been IPL fans as long as we have. The Punjab Kings. Talk to us about them.

[00:38:03] Yeah, the KXIP. Look, this is an interesting squad with Shrey Sire winning, Captain KKR moving to KXIP. Maybe that's a K angle to all of this. But their strength. So let's just do this in the usual format. Their strength is clearly there all around us.

[00:38:26] They've got Azmatullah Omarzai, Aaron Hardy, who, if you remember, Jared Kimber talked about two or three years ago on the podcast as someone that we should look at. Marco Janssen, who are not really an all-rounder. I'd say more bowling bowler who can bat a bit. They've got Maxi back. The big show is back where the big show started pretty much in the IPL, which was maybe the big show started in Delhi. But he actually scored some runs in Punjab. Mushir Khan. Now, this is Sarfraz Khan's brother.

[00:38:55] So Indian player doing really well at the domestic level. I think this will probably be his first IPL gig. Interesting that Sarfraz's brother doesn't have one. But Mushir has made it in. Again, Shashank Singh. He's done well previously in the IPL. Marcus Toynis. So these are all good names. You can see quite a solid core being built around these players. Bowling. Arshadeep back on it. Yudhudra Chahal is here. Lockie Ferguson.

[00:39:25] Harpreet Brar we've seen for a few seasons. He took those wickets against RCB to make his name. Kuldeep Sen. Decent bowler. So I'm not that concerned about the bowling and the all-rounders because they'll kind of take care of themselves. My concern with this team is actually their batting. We've got Shreyas Ayur, of course. He'll probably bat three for them. Josh Inglis had a decent 100 in the Champions Trophy. Kind of hard-hitting batter. So Prabh Sibran. Blow hot, blow cold.

[00:39:55] I think he had a decent season the year before, but last season wasn't that great for him. And Nihal Odera, who if you remember, used to bat kind of low down the order in MI. And then has now moved to what is his home state as a Ranji player, Punjab. So that lineup doesn't sound scary, if that makes any sense. So I think, yeah, it's, I think their weakness is going to be their batting.

[00:40:24] They need to put a lot of runs on the board at the top. And they'll rely a lot on their middle order to do that, which is not how most teams go about designing their squads, right? So I'd be interested to see who, maybe Prabh Sibran opens the batting. He's been doing that for a few games every season. I think he did that more last year, but without so much success. Josh and him will probably open the batting, which Reyes batting three. And then Nihal and then the all-rounders. So maybe they'll paper over it with the various all-rounders.

[00:40:53] Their other challenge will be, who are going to be their overseas players that are going to play? Is it going to be Josh Inglis? Is it going to be Omar Zai? Is it going to be Maxi? You're going to have Mark Yanssen, Marcus Toynes. Lockie Ferguson, they have a lot of overseas to pick from, but you can only ever play four, right? So I think they've got the balance of their squad slightly off with, I think, Ashwin Wadi called it, an Australian Kings XI, right? So, yeah. I mean, I didn't really pay attention at the end.

[00:41:22] I'm mostly just proud of you for not saying Josh Inglis. Josh Inglis? But who's English? Josh Inglis. Josh Inglis. And then… It looks like a… It looks like a team that has just been picked based on an Excel formula and players have been picked up. You know what I mean? Like, it just… When I look at this team, it just looks like you've gone after players without thinking about it. Yeah. And the problem is, in an era where you've got that super sub or whatever, impact player or whatever it's called, you don't actually need so many all-rounders.

[00:41:51] Punjab's problem for years was they used to play five batters, five bowlers and one wicket keeper. And so they had no all-rounders. This was like the Ravi Chandra and Ashwin era. They've gone the total opposite, but they don't need to do that in the impact player era where you can swap out a batter and get a bowler in. So, I don't know. I guess I'm going to pick their impact player for me. That would be someone like a Josh Inglis, who's English. All right. You just wanted to say his name one more time. Yeah.

[00:42:20] I just wanted to get it right. There you go. No, you got it right the first time. I was very proud of you. Okay. Okay. Fair. All right. So that's my Kings XI. All right. I will round us out. I was trying to think about how to think, how to talk about or even process the Mumbai Indian seat. Right. Eight points, four wins out of 14 games last season. At the same time, what a difference a year makes. What are you showing?

[00:42:48] The Spider-Man meme where everyone's pointing at each other saying, are you my captain? Yeah. You have Hardik, who is Mumbai Indians captain. I think T20 India vice. Not anymore. I'll share it. Yes. Then you have Sky, who is T20, India T20 captain. Then you have Rohit, who is test and ODI captain for now and is not going anywhere at ODIs. Or tests, as he said. Yeah.

[00:43:18] No tests, actually. But really, what a difference a year makes. Last year, Hardik was being booed at grounds. He has been through a lot personally that became public, I think, after the IPL, if my timeline is correct. They then, Rohit and Hardik together, played in the Team India T20 World Cup winning campaign. And Sky, of course. And since, obviously, have played together in the ODI, Champions Trophy winning campaign.

[00:43:46] Hardik, the fans, including us, have fallen back in love with Hardik. Like, it's just wild to think about this Mumbai Indians team over a year ago. Because on paper, it's actually not that fundamentally different. But it feels very different coming back with guys who have won. Oh, and by the way, you mentioned Varun that, or DJ, I think you were saying, Abhishek is now a stalwart in filling up stadiums and stuff like that. But Tilak Varma is that too, by the way.

[00:44:14] He may be the first name on the team sheet for the Mumbai Indians, which is wild given the kind of depth they have. So let me just walk through what I think. Some of the key changes, right? They brought back Trent Bould, who has been an important player for them for a long time. They picked up Deepak Chahar. They picked up Mitchell Sandner. All very important. Mitchell Sandner, by the way, Champions Trophy runner-up. Recently, running up captain, etc.

[00:44:45] And then they brought in Will Jacks, who played for RCB last year, who could be an interesting, may or may not play. But as I look at their playing 11, for a team that came 10th last year by quite a distance, now that they've figured out their PR internal feud stuff, in theory, Rohit Sharma and Will Jacks to open. Tilak at three. Sky at four. Harlik at five. Right? Somewhere, six is their TBD spot, which comes. Either they have Bevan Jacobs, they have Robin Minns, they have Rad.

[00:45:14] They have a few different options. Then Deepak Chahar, Mitch Sandner, Trent Bould and Jaspreet Bumrah, who I won't even spend time talking about. But Bumrah's injured for the first few games. For a few games. Yeah. But still, right? Mid-Sandner, Trent Bould, Jaspreet Bumrah, Deepak Chahar as your four kind of main players, with Hardik as a batting option. And then Rohit Tilak's guy. I don't care that they give 10th. This team makes the playoff for me. You could argue they have some lack of depth. They picked up a Ryan Rickleton.

[00:45:44] They have raised top play. They retained Arjun Tandulkar, or they bought back Arjun Tandulkar, which is a discussion for another day. Corbin Bosch is now in for Lizard Williams, who's injured. Mujib is in the squad. So it's not great depth, but it's not bad depth. But man, that first 11, if they get to play, I think they're walking into the playoffs, assuming Rohit continues his form and Hardik plays to his potential. Anything I missed on Mumbai Indians?

[00:46:13] That seems like such a weird thing to feel so good about a team that gave 10th. But that's just what it is. I mean, they're going to bounce back. You know it. Mumbai Indians are going to bounce back. There were problems last year, like you said. It's been sorted. You've seen them hugging, kissing. I think just Bumrah is going to miss a few. But apart from that, they look great. All right, guys. We got through nine teams. Did I miss anybody? Now I have to quickly re-look at the list. No. I've done my three. You've done your three.

[00:46:42] So we've got the main show left to go. Incredible test team. Gail Rahul, Akshar Patel, Mitchell Stark. What a fair duplicy. What a test side. That's unfair, man. Khildi Biyadar. Khil Karun Nair. Khil Karun Nair. What a test. Tristan Stubbs. I know. Stubbs doesn't play test. I know. Mitra Ajan. What a... I didn't know that one test.

[00:47:11] Khil Karun, do you want to start us off? Tell us what you feel about the DL team this year. Firstly... Try for a hot second to put aside how incredibly hurt we are that Risham is gone. Yeah. I mean, I am... Yeah. I'm hurt. But we've dealt with that. That happened in November. So we've dealt with that. Firstly, I'm really happy that Harry Brooks has got bad. Because... Yes. Sick. That guy. His name is singular. His name is Harry Brooks. But... Was it Brooks? But because he's...

[00:47:39] Because he's bunked us twice, he's Brooks. I mean... He did it last year also. The pool is bad. The air is bad. I can't see Maru Chakku. My team is bad, so I need to prepare for my English summer. Bullshit. Okay. He's too bad. So Neil Gawaskar said, you have pulled out because you cannot play spin and you're going to hamper your future England chances. I mean... I don't normally agree with Sunny Ji, but I was like, yeah.

[00:48:08] Great call. No. Look, I don't know. That's probably like... This is like the hyper-nationalistic stuff that Sunny Bhai comes up with, right? Brook is a good player. He'll be fine. Like, he scored tons of runs in Pakistan. He scored more runs in Pakistan than in England, actually. But... But everybody's in Pakistan. He's a bit of him. Yes. Yeah. That he is. That he is. Harry Brook is an ass, okay? Like, the food is not good. The air is not good. Like, okay, man. We don't need you. So I'm happy BC Sae have banned him for two years. I...

[00:48:38] And by the way... One wants to extend the ban for 20 years. I don't mind. Which is actually... You know what? I don't think he's going to play the IPL again. Because after this kind of stunt, he's done. By the way, let's be clear. There's a lot of hype in media and TikTok stuff about being a controversy. There's no controversy. The IPL was super clear. This is... Brook knew what he was thinking when he got in. He knew there is. He's up for two years. What is the controversy? No, no. People are saying, oh, he's banned and this. Future England. No. There's no controversy. This was... Yeah.

[00:49:08] This was... You're not injured. Don't put your name in the auction. It is. It is a businessman at the end of it. The franchise owners have planned their team around that. There's big money to be made by players and franchise owners around this. Yeah. I mean... Anyway. He made the comment about not seeing the ball somewhere in the south. Social media just exploded. Saying, do you know you're playing for Delhi? You will not use the... April. March, April. So anyway.

[00:49:37] Now that he's out of the way. I think... You know... If you ask me... I'm very happy that KL is not captain. I am not very happy that Akshar is captain. I feel like Akshar is going through that peak phase of his career. And obviously we think of him as, you know, Jaddu part two. And Jaddu didn't handle captaincy well. So I'm hoping Akshar can come out and kind of bust that myth.

[00:50:05] But the reality is it's an extra added responsibility to one of your, like, key players. I would say bat and ball. I mean, Akshar coming at 4-5. Akshar bowling four over. Like it sounds silly. He's catching at the boundary. I mean... So I just hope it doesn't bog him down, right? Like this entire captaincy. Yeah, I had a very silly thought actually to that point. Is that he doesn't normally feel in the infield. But a captain has to be talking to them.

[00:50:34] So are you losing that boundary? I don't know. It's such a silly consequence. But that type of stuff matters in big games. Yeah. I think the advantage is that he might be able to pull together a Mohit Sharma, Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar. Just as, you know, a bowler, Indian leader kind of thing. So I think... And Kuldeep, I think, and him will have a great equation. So I think... Again... Okay, we'll go reverse. Bowling. Kuldeep, Akshar, Mohit, Mukesh would be kind of my top four. What? Mitchell Stark?

[00:51:04] Yeah. No, Stark. I'm saying the... Number one. Okay, got it. Yeah. So I think that would be it. And then obviously Mitchell Stark. But I think Natarajan misses out. To me, I think it's a clear path for FAF now. And I don't see that as a bad thing. Because experienced player, leadership group, what have you. I think FAF and Jake Frazier open. I think you got a Porel at number three. That has worked, right? Because you need that explosive study. If Delhi...

[00:51:34] Delhi has to play that explosive game. There's no other way. And then... Are we leaving out that KL will probably open or want to open at least? Yeah, he may want to. I think that is the risk for me. I think the risk is that KL would want to open. And so it'll be KL and Jake Frazier. But then I think we want to take a call about... Look, but I don't think that's right anymore. Because KL last year wanted to open because there was a T20 World Cup coming up. He didn't make that spot.

[00:52:04] Dude, KL... He forced himself... But he forced himself at the top of LSU, right? So he was captain and all of that. And he wanted to open because he thought he'll play as an opener in the world. Now he's not in that squad. He was phenomenal as an ODI 6. Phenomenal. So he could easily fit in five. And maybe that's the role that these guys have told him. They've not given him captaincy, which I thought was a big move by the management. And then they may just tell him, you're going to bat four or five.

[00:52:32] You need to come and float up and down the order. Smack it around at the end. Because we've got all these... Because Frak can't do that at four or five. He needs those power playovers, right? So he doesn't have that ability. Jay Fraser, that's like a foregone conclusion. Porel, I think three. I think the right place for him to bat is four KL in this squad. I think that's me. Okay. And then where do we go from there? Five Akshar probably? Yeah. Six Akshar Sharma? He had a... Oh no, Stubbs. Stubbs. Stubbs has to play.

[00:53:02] Wait, so who are your oversees so far? Pfaff? Pfaff, Fraser, Stubbs. Stubbs or Stard. Okay. And so that's why Brook missing out is actually really... It gives you a lot of clarity in this... Brook and Pfaff was one slot. Yeah. That's... And we talked about that during the preview, I think, where it was like, who's going to play? And for me, like Brook was a walk into this team because he was their star pick. And now he's just like, he's gone. So that's good in a way.

[00:53:31] Maybe I'm talking myself into it. But Varad, as you're going, I'm like, this is not that bad actually. I was really, really bearish about this season. No, I think the challenge is if Jake gets off to a great start, it's not bad. But otherwise, Pfaff, KL... Yeah, it's not... And Stubbs. Stubbs is quite explosive, right? When he has to be. The challenge with these guys for me was, what is their all-rounder? And the one decent all-rounder is basically Akshar. But it becomes less of a weakness if you have the impact player, right?

[00:54:01] Where you can swap out a Mohit. And you've got all those Indian bowlers where you can just swap out... And you've got Ashto Sharma type guys. Yeah, don't forget him, man. Strike T20 career strike rate of 182.5. That's it. Yeah, that's it. Because him and Nitish used to do that double act, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think he's been great. So we're calling them for qualification, is it? Wait, who's Nitish? Ashto Sharma and Shashank Singh? Shashank. Oh, Shashank Singh. Yeah, sorry, sorry. Confused.

[00:54:31] But so we're calling them for qualification. We have to. They said the top is Sunrise or the Delhi. That's the... There's a very little gap in the squad. Yeah. I mean, they spent some... They spent some money on Samir Rezvi. Then Donovan Ferreira, Dushmantar Shamira. But basically, one of the other realisation is, any of the 11 gets injured and you've got to hope. Like, I don't know what they do with the impact player. I don't think there is somebody who want to play as number 12 in this squad.

[00:54:59] I mean, it's Natarajan and Ashto Sharma in my opinion. Yeah. And Natarajan comes in to bowl the Yorkers and did that. Mohit Sharma, talk picket taker two seasons ago for GT. I mean, it's good, bro. Like, this is... This is looking great. This is going to happen. All right. And Stark is going to get Travis Sheik out of the first over. Dude, this is... The script is... This is... Oh, my God. But we had a great comment in from Yash, by the way.

[00:55:29] I don't know whether it's a Dayal or Thakur or who's it today. Dayal is watching our show. A KL Rahul 100 and 150 strike did on Go Inka's head and my life will be complete. It's just too funny, actually. But yeah. Thanks for the comment, guys. On that happy note, we made it through all 10 teams. I'm now... This always happens when we disagree, but now I'm fired up. But now we have six days to kill until it starts. But it's going to be a great season. Varun, you and I will be live together.

[00:55:57] Not live at the games, but together for one weekend. We'll get to watch some of the double-headers in person, which is going to be fun. We'll try to do a live episode. So should we have a consensus for instead of us? Because it's too much. We cover all the 10 teams by that. So we should have consensus for. So we can all be wrong. It's binary there. Let's do it. All right. SRH was... SRH, I think we're all agreeing. I'm putting MI into the hat. I don't... I think MI has to be there. Like, the Vanket is too good a stadium to... Like...

[00:56:26] Are we agreed on that one? I mean, I wouldn't. But two out of three, it's fine. No, no. We should try and get consensus. Let's see if we can have all three. It's 45 minutes. Do we all think Delhi is going through? Absolutely. But I'm happy to put it in just for the excited... I think Delhi would do well to fit it somewhere between six and eight. Five, six. That would be a good performance. Like, but that's not been the last 20 years of our life. Yeah, but... No, no. We finished first for the first five.

[00:56:55] We should have gotten better at this year. We shouldn't do better at Kweest on this one. Okay. What about KKR? I mean... Varun, you did a good preview, Rinku. Varun, Russell, Harshit. It's not a quentin now. I can see them making it in. And even though you don't have the coach and captain, you are still the champion coming in. I think there's some element of excitement that comes from that.

[00:57:22] It depends on Narayan and his form. Narayan and Russell, the two old... That's 18 years. ...war horses. KKR's IPL. Like, literally. Did he play the first season? Narayan didn't, though. The first couple. No, Russell played for Delhi to start. Like everybody else. In the IPL seasons, we have been saying Russell and Narayan can change duties. Yeah, pretty much. But 18 is also... Have you seen the ad by Virat Kohli? He's like... So, let's eliminate the teams who don't think are going to make it. I don't think RCB is going to make it. Okay.

[00:57:53] Okay. Sorry, we're going to get lots of hate from the RCB fans. No. I don't think RR is going to make it without Butler. We're going to get hate from the Samson fans. Varun has said GT is not going to make it. Yeah. I think CSK is going to make it. How? Are we on board with that? I mean... Yeah. I think RCB is going to make it, but okay. Okay. We have to wrap. Yeah, yeah. It's too much. Let's just go through each of our four. We're not going to settle out of consensus. DJ, who are your four? So, I've got SRH.

[00:58:24] I've got MI. I've got CSK. And then I've got one more spot. And I can't make up my mind. Okay. We'll come back to finish you off. Varun, let's go with yours. All right. I'm going to go with SRH, MI, RCB, and KKR. Okay. So, I'm a combination of you two. I have SRH, MI, CSK, and KKR. Okay.

[00:58:54] DJ, you want to pick your four. And hopefully some of these. I'm going to go with Delhi Capitals. All right. DC blood. He had to do it. Runners-up with the women's Premier League. No trophy ever across either format. But it's coming. It's coming home. It's coming home. This is going to be the year. This has been fun, guys. I know it took longer than we thought. We don't normally do an hour-long episode. So, thank you for everybody who managed to power through with us. Six days out from the IPL. It is going to be a big one. It's going to be a great season.

[00:59:24] Varun, go get some sleep. DJ, go enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Thank you, everybody who tuned in. Hit the like button. Hit that subscribe button. At OneTipOneHand on all the socials. You guys know the drill. We'll be back next week to talk about the first couple games of the IPL. And we will be putting out on our Discord and in the show notes, that are our Edges and Sledges Fantasy League, that we would love for all of you to join. Play against us. Realize how bad we are in fantasy cricket. And let's have some fun. Thank you, everybody, for joining. This is the Edges and Sledges Cricket Podcast. Signing off.

[00:59:53] Deluded capitals for the win.