The IPL 2025 mega auction has set a new benchmark, with a record-breaking Rs 639.15 crore spent by franchises. While most teams successfully addressed their key requirements, some hits and misses remain evident. Building a squad is one challenge; getting them to perform as a cohesive unit is another. As the season unfolds, we’ll see which teams truly stand out. However, based on squad strength and balance, here’s an analysis of the strongest XIs and Impact Player options for each franchise on paper.
Although each team boasts a squad of around 20 players, only 11 (excluding the Impact Player) will feature in any given match. Injuries and form fluctuations will also influence team composition. With these factors in mind, here’s a look at the strongest possible lineups and Impact Player choices for all 10 franchises:
Chennai Super Kings
Playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Rahul Tripathi, Shivam Dube, Rachin Ravindra/Sam Curran, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed, Noor Ahmad
Impact Player: Deepak Hooda/Anshul Kamboj
Kolkata Knight Riders
Playing XI: Quinton de Kock, Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi/Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Anrich Nortje
Impact Player: Manish Pandey/Mayank Markande
Lucknow Super Giants
Playing XI: Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (wk), Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, David Miller, Abdul Samad, Avesh Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav
Impact Player: Shahbaz Ahmed/Akash Deep
Mumbai Indians
Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Robin Minz (wk), Deepak Chahar, Allah Ghazanfar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Impact Player: Karn Sharma/Arjun Tendulkar
Delhi Capitals
Playing XI: Jake Fraser-McGurk/Faf du Plessis, KL Rahul (wk), Abishek Porel, Harry Brook, Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc, T Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar
Impact Player: Sameer Rizvi/Mohit Sharma
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Royal Challengers Bangalore
Playing XI: Phil Salt (wk), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Krunal Pandya, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Tim David, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal, Josh Hazlewood, Swapnil Singh
Impact Player: Suyash Sharma/Devdutt Padikkal
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Playing XI: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Heinrich Klaasen, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel, Adam Zampa, Simarjeet Singh, Mohammed Shami
Impact Player: Atharva Taide
Gujarat Titans
Playing XI: Jos Buttler (wk), Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Sherfane Rutherford/Glenn Phillips, Washington Sundar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Impact Player: Mahipal Lomror/Ishant Sharma
Punjab Kings
Playing XI: Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Marcus Stoinis, Shreyas Iyer, Glenn Maxwell, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal
Impact Player: Vyshak Vijakumar/Vishnu Vinod
Rajasthan Royals
Playing XI: Sanju Samson (c/wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana/Fazalhaq Farooqi, Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande
Impact Player: Shubham Dubey/Akash Madhwal