IPL 10: Here are the strengths and weaknesses of 8 franchises

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Strengths

The defending champions have arguably the best bowling attack among all IPL teams, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mustafizur Rahman and Barinder Sran excelling last season. The firepower of skipper David Warner and presence of experienced Indians like Shikhar Dhawan and Yuvraj Singh makes their batting core look solid as well.

Weaknesses

Their top players are woefully out of form, and that should be a sign of worry for the SRH management. Warner couldn't get going in the Test series against India, while Dhawan has been down on runs and confidence. Their foreign recruits need to step up as well.

X-factor
Yuvraj Singh

The man is back among the thick of things in the Indian team, and that should do his confidence a world of good. Irrespective of his form, the mere presence of Yuvraj in the batting line-up makes the opposition wary. If Yuvi has a great IPL, SRH has a great IPL. Simple as that.

Injury list

No major concerns, except that Mustafizur Rahman will miss the initial and later stages of the season due to international commitments.

Squad: David Warner (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Moises Henriques, Naman Ojha, Ricky Bhui, Kane Williamson, Siddarth Kaul, Bipul Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Yuvraj Singh, Ben Cutting, Abhimanyu Mithun, Mustafizur Rahman, Barinder Sran, Deepak Hooda, Tanmay Agarwal, Mohammad Nabi, Ekalavya Dwivedi, Rashid Khan, Pravin Tambe, Chris Jordan, Ben Laughlin, Mohammed Siraj, Vijay Shankar

Odds: 13/20

Last year's finish: 1st

Rising Pune Supergiant

Strengths

Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Usman Khawaja, Faf du Plessis, Ben Stokes, MS Dhoni: how's that for a top six? Last year's second from bottom team has a batting line-up to envy, but couldn't quite translate that into runs last season. If they do that this time around, there can be no stopping the rise of Rising.

Weaknesses

They were short on their bowling resources the last season, and the think-tank seems to have done little to boost it. Ben Stokes and Imran Tahir have been the only notable addition to it, and with Ravichandran Ashwin ruled out of the season, Steve Smith is going to have a big headache if their bowling woes continue.

X-factor
Ben Stokes

The highest grosser in the IPL-10 auctions, a lot will be expected out of Ben Stokes. The England all-rounder provides the complete package: dangerous batsman, deceptive bowler and daredevil fielder. The burly Durham lad needs to have a big IPL if RPS have to get off the bottom of the table.

Injury list

Ravichandran Ashwin will miss the entire season of IPL due to a groin pain

Squad

Indian: MS Dhoni, Mayank Agarwal, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Ankit Sharma, Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Rahul Chahar, Ashok Dinda, Jaskaran Singh, Saurabh Kumar, Milind Tondon, Manoj Tiwary, Jaydev Unadkat

Foreign: Steve Smith (C), Ben Stokes, Daniel Christian, Faf du Plessis, Lockie Ferguson, Usman Khawaja, Adam Zampa, Imran Tahir

Odds: 13/20

Last year's finish: 7th

Kings XI Punjab

Strengths

An array of match-winners. The likes of Glenn Maxwell, Martin Guptill, Eoin Morgan and David Miller have all been proven game-changers in the international scene, and can carry a team single-handedly. They've also shown faith in their non-performers by sticking with them, which should boost their self-belief.

Weaknesses

As much as they boast of these match-winners, they have been also too heavily dependent on them. Their Indian players did little of note in the last year, which is why they finished at the bottom of the table. They need to step up, and step up big time.

X-factor
Glenn Maxwell

Making their most inconsistent player the leader of the pack was a bold move by the KXIP think-tank. One assumes the reasoning behind it was that the additional responsibility might get the best out of the Aussie in terms of maturity and consistency. The move is a big gamble, but one that can pay rich dividends.

Injury list

Murali Vijay may miss the entire season due to surgery on his right wrist as well as left shoulder rehabilitation

Squad

Indian: Rahul Tewatia, T Natarajan, Varun Aaron, Rinku Singh, Manan Vohra, Axar Patel, Gurkeerat Singh, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Wriddhiman Saha, Nikhil Naik, Mohit Sharma, KC Cariappa, Armaan Jaffer, Pardeep Sahu, Swapnil Singh

Foreign: Glenn Maxwell (C), Eoin Morgan, Matt Henry, Martin Guptill, Darren Sammy, David Miller, Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Hashim Amla

Odds: 11/8

Last year's finish: 8th

Gujarat Lions

Strengths

They're a lot like the RPS in terms of their batting prowess: top-heavy and star-heavy. Brendon McCullum, Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina were on fire last season, and you wouldn't bet against them doing an encore. They're blesses with quality all-rounders as well in Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner.

Weaknesses

Nothing glaring, except that they're missing some spinners. Other than Ravindra Jadeja, who himself won't be available for the initial bit of this season, the Lions have no other quality tweaker who can make consistent in-roads. They have Shivil Kaushik, who made headlines last year with his action. But it'll be a different ball game this time.

X-factor

Dwayne Bravo

DJ Bravo doesn't play a lot of cricket nowadays due to his international exile, and must be itching to get on to the field and show his batting, bowling and athletic skills on the field to make an impact for his team. Not to forget his dancing skills as well.

Injury list

Ravindra Jadeja will miss the at least a couple of early matches this, for he has been advised rest for his spinning finger.

Squad

Indian: Suresh Raina (C), Akshdeep Nath, Shubham Agarwal, Basil Thampi, Manpreet Gony, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Dinesh Karthik, Shivil Kaushik, Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Pratham Singh, Pradeep Sangwan, Jaydev Shah, Shelley Shaurya, Nathu Singh, Tejas Baroka

Foreign: Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Brendon McCullum, Jason Roy, Dwayne Smith, Andrew Tye, Chirag Suri

Odds: 13/20
Last year's finish: 3rd

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Strengths

One of the best batting line-ups. You will get T20's biggest stars in it. Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Virat Kohli, you name it and you'll get here. If the top order is packed with the big boys, you can also see some exciting talents in Kedar Jadhav and Sarfaraz Khan in lower order.

Weakness

The bowling lacks resources. They don't have many match winners with the ball except a few. While they may have a T20 expert from England — Tymal Mills – it will be interesting to see if he can deliver the promise that he brings in this high-intensity tournament.

X-factor

Chris Gayle

The team is full of match-winners, but the man from the West Indies has set his stakes high with his unbelievable batting style. The southpaw has not had a great year, and he thus will be keen to make amends in this season.

Injury list: Virat Kohli will miss the first few weeks while KL Rahul, who will undergo a shoulder surgery, will not be available at all.

Squad

Indian: Virat Kohli (C), Stuart Binny, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Iqbal Abdulla, Sarfaraz Khan Yuzvendra Chahal, Sreenath Aravind, Avesh Khan, Praveen Dubey, Aniket Choudhary, Pawan Negi, Harshal Patel, Sachin Baby

Foreign: AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle Shane Watson, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tymal Mills, Adam Milne, Travis Head, Samuel Badree

Odds: 2/5
Last year's finish: 2nd

Mumbai Indians

Strengths

When it comes to death bowling, no team can match MI. For a team that has the likes of Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClenaghan or Mitchell Johnson, captain Rohit Sharma won't have to worry much about bowling in the slog overs while the mid-overs can be taken care by Harbhajan Singh or Karn Sharma.

Weakness

It is definitely their batting. They may have the best IPL batsman in their line-up in Rohit Sharma, but there are not many to compliment his batting. Opening will once again be their biggest concern and one may see few different combinations in the top order. Kieron Pollard's form is also another concern for the team.

X-factor

Jasprit Bumrah

The Gujarat pacer is one of the best fast bowlers in this format of the game. He has been quite handy for MI over the last few seasons. This time, too, Sharma will bank on him when it comes to death overs and who better than Bumrah to bowl in tandem with Malinga.

Injury list: There are no injury concerns.

Squad

Indian: Rohit Sharma (C), Parthiv Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Shreyas Gopal, K Gowtham, Harbhajan Singh, Kulwant Khejorliya, Siddhesh Lad, Deepak Punia, Nitish Rana, Ambati Rayudu Jitesh Sharma, Karn Sharma, Jagadeesha Suchith, Saurabh Tiwary, R Vinay Kumar

Foreign: Jos Buttler, Asela Gunaratne, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Nicholas Pooran, Lendl Simmons, Tim Southee

Odds: 13/20

Last year's finish: 5th

Delhi Daredevils

Strengths

They may not have the biggest names in T20 cricket, but they have been smart enough in getting some young and exciting talents. DD have invested heavily in youth since it is a format which requires a lot of agility and freshness. Be it Karun Nair, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant or Sanju Samson, they all have a key role to play in DD with foreign experience coming in handy.

Weakness

It is hard to find a recognised match-winner in this team that can change the game with that one knock or that one spell. Led by a veteran Zaheer Khan, who has quit the game a few years back, DD will struggle to put complete faith in that one player. Foreign players like Corey Anderson, Sam Billings or Chris Morris will have make up for all that.

X-factor

Rishabh Pant

This lad from Delhi has impressed one and all with his power hitting. He showed glimpses of his talent with the same team last year and proved it in the Ranji Trophy with a fiery triple ton in the league stages. Pant will play the lead role this time and further prove his big-hitting skills.

Injuries: Two of DD's reliable batsman, Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy, have been ruled out due to finger injury.

Squad

Indians: Zaheer Khan (C), Ankit Bawne, Khaleel Ahmed, Murugan Ashwin, Shreyas Iyer, CV Milind, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Shahbaz Nadeem, Karun Nair, Rishabh Pant, Pratyush Singh, Navdeep Saini, Sanju Samson, Shashank Singh, Aditya Tare, Jayant Yadav

Foreigners: Corey Anderson, Sam Billings, Carlos Brathwaite, Pat Cummins, Angelo Mathews, Chris Morris, Kagiso Rabada

Odds: 13/8
Last year's finish: 6th

Kolkata Knight Riders

Strengths

The two-time IPL winners have stuck to its core group of match-winners that have made the difference to its performances in the last few years. Captain Gautam Gambhir has been smart in retaining some of the big match players like Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine.

Weakness

The only issue with this team could be lack of young legs in the side. Barring a few youngsters like Kuldeep Yadav or Ankit Rajpoot, the rest can be referred to as veterans. However, that may not be a major problem for a team that makes up with the vast experience of its players in this format.

X-factor

Kuldeep Yadav

Forget mystery bowler Sunil Narine, this KKR chinaman bowler is the most talked about bowler after his exploits on his Test debut against Australia in Dharamsala. This talented spinner has been smart in the T20 format, too, using all his variations to fox batsmen.

Injury list: They will miss the services of Umesh Yadav for a few weeks. Andre Russell also won't be available for the season.

Squad

Indians: Gautam Gambhir (C), Robin Uthappa, Yusuf Pathan, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Rishi Dhawan, Sayan Ghosh, Sheldon Jackson, Ishank Jaggi, Kuldeep Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot, Sanjay Yadav, Umesh Yadav

Foreigners: Trent Boult, Darren Bravo, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Rovman Powell, Shakib Al Hasan, Chris Woakes, Colin de Grandhomme

Odds: 19/20

Last year's finish: 4th