Last season, the Kolkata Knight Riders surprised many by finishing the regular season in top spot before defeating SunRisers Hyderabad in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Not many picked Kolkata before the season started nor did many expect veteran allrounder Sunil Narine to have an MVP-winning campaign. What's more, absolutely no one expected the Mumbai Indians to finish rock bottom!
Can the Knight Riders do it again this year or will it be another franchise's time to shine? Who's going to star with the bat and ball and who's going to have a stinker of a season?
Flashscore’s Pat Dempsey, Josh Donaldson and Tolga Akdeniz gave their predictions ahead of the upcoming season.
Who will win the Orange Cap (most run)? (Holder: Virat Kohli)
Pat: I’m really captivated by the incredible recent form of Abhishek Sharma, I think he and his SunRisers teammate Travis Head will be strong contenders for the Orange Cap. I expect big things from Sanju Samson this year at Rajasthan Royals too, along with Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, I’m going to take a punt on Tilak Varma. I think he will be promoted to number three at Mumbai Indians (as he has been for India) and rise to the challenge of being their main man with the bat.
Josh: Not the most imaginative of picks, but it’s hard to look past Yashasvi Jaiswal. One of the most naturally talented batters across India, the 23-year-old already has two IPL centuries to his name and will open the batting for Rajasthan across the tournament. This gives him a great opportunity to showcase his skills, and he will be a nightmare for bowlers in this edition of the IPL.
Tolga: I absolutely love Abhishek Sharma, and at just 24, he is going to keep getting better and better. He had a great IPL last season, but I can see him taking another step up this year. He clearly really enjoys playing alongside Travis Head at the top of the order, and the Hyderabad pitches are so flat and suit both of them. So I will go with Abhishek.
Who will win the Purple Cap (most wickets)? (Holder: Harshal Patel)
Pat: It looks like Jasprit Bumrah will miss the first few rounds so we can probably count him out, although maybe not. Varun Chakravarthy was key to Kolkata's success last season as their strike bowler and I can see him ending the season right up the charts again on the back of his strong form for India. A curveball suggestion here is Maheesh Theekshana. The Sri Lankan mystery spinner is now at Rajasthan and will likely play a major role, I think he’s going to explode this season.
Josh: If there is one player who has made his name on a global scale through the IPL it’s Varun Chakravarthy. Since his debut in 2019 as a 27-year-old, he has taken 83 wickets in 71 games at an average of 24. He comes into the tournament with a Player of the Series award against England for India in their 4-1 series win back in February too, showing great form. He has the guile and panache to mesmerise any batter, and it will be another successful season for the Kolkata spinner.
Tolga: Mohammed Shami is coming into the tournament in good form after a quality Champions Trophy, and won the Purple Cap in 2023. He is so, so good with the new ball, and just a really intelligent and experienced bowler. For that reason, I will back Shami to win the Purple Cap with SunRisers.
Which player will be the biggest flop in your opinion?
Pat: Last season I picked out Mitchell Starc for this award due to his huge price tag. He’s now found himself at Delhi after another big auction sale but I’ll take a different tack this time. I’m going to say, Shreyas Iyer. Punjab made him the second-most expensive player of all time in the auction and their new captain. He’s a good cricketer but I just can't see him justifying that pricetag or leading what looks like a frankly bonkers Kings roster to the finals.
Josh: Is this the beginning of the end for Jos Buttler? He resigned from white ball captaincy duties with England recently and has looked a shadow of his former self in recent months. After a six-year run with the Royals, the side released him for the 2025 campaign as he was picked up by Gujarat Titans in the mega auction. He is with a new franchise at the age of 34, and with him entering the twilight of his career, it could be a step too far for one of cricket’s first white-ball superstars.
Tolga: I am a big Marco Jansen fan, and I think he has bags of potential. However, I’m not quite sure he is the most consistent T20 bowler right now. I’ve seen him leak runs in this tournament and against the best teams at international level. He went for quite a chunky price of Rs 7 crore too, so there will be a lot of pressure on him to be a key bowler for a Punjab team that I can't imagine doing very well.
Who will be the Emerging Player of the tournament? (Holder: Nitish Kumar Reddy)
Pat: I had my eye on Lucknow speedster Mayank Yadav to make a huge splash this season after busting onto the scene last time but only managing four matches before getting injured. It looks like he’ll miss the start of this season too, unfortunately. I was also keen on Mumbai’s AM Ghazanfar before he got ruled out of the season entirely. In place of those two, I’ll pick out another Lucknow bowler - Manimaran Siddharth, a canny left-arm spinner who looks set to play a bigger role at the Super Giants this season.
Josh: For pure narrative, the Emerging Player of the tournament has to be teenager Vaibhav Suryavanshi. At just 13 - yes, 13 - he was picked up in the auction by the Royals in a shock move, but maybe there is some method to what looks like madness. He has shone at under-19 level for India, scoring a century from 58 balls against Australia, and although the IPL is another step up, any success for him will be a major story. The left-hander will gain invaluable experience no matter what his playing time is, but if he does get a chance, it will be intriguing to see how he gets on.
Tolga: It is so hard to guess who the Emerging Player will be, but I am excited to see 23-year-old Aniket Verma at SunRisers. A middle to lower-order batsman, he is capable of smoking the ball and fits the franchise's style of play. In a warm-up game just a few days ago, he even smashed 46 off just 16 balls. He can also bowl a little, and while I don’t expect him to get that many overs, it could come in useful.
Which player will be the MVP? (Holder: Sunil Narine)
Pat: The MVP prize is one where allrounders can be rewarded thanks to the points system and it’s fun to pick someone other than the Purple or Orange Cap picks. As much as I’d love to, I can’t see Sunil Narine repeating his insane form of last season so I’ll go for Nitish Kumar Reddy of Hyderabad - he won the Emerging Player last season and is a superstar in the making. Expect a big tournament from him.
Josh: Power, precision, and time at the crease are what’s needed to be an MVP in the IPL. Travis Head has all of the above in spades. He has been in great form for some time now, and will certainly bat in the top three for Sunrisers, giving him plenty of time to smash runs all around the park. Put that with his wily off-break bowling, which could grab some timely wickets, he is likely to be in the conversation at the end of the tournament.
Tolga: Because I think he will win the Orange Cap, I will go with Abhishek for MVP too. Plus, the fact that he can bowl will help him if he can chip in with a few wickets, and SunRisers should go very deep into the tournament.
Which team will pick up the wooden spoon? (Holders: Mumbai Indians)
Pat: For me, the weakest teams this season look to be Punjab, Delhi and Lucknow. Those are the three I can’t see making the top four so I’d say one of them finishes rock-bottom. Despite a couple of top players in Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran, it’s Lucknow to finish last for me.
Josh: Delhi struggled last year and their recruitment over the winter has still left them lacking in vital areas. Having a 41-year-old Faf du Plessis as your vice-captain suggests a lot - there is no depth in this side. For that reason, it’s Dehli for me.
Tolga: I shall say Punjab, as their team just looks a bit mad to me. They have too many overseas players, a number of whom I don’t really trust like Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Marco Jansen. It isn’t really clear what their best team is. Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal are obviously quality bowlers, but the rest of their team I’m not sold on.
Which four teams will make the playoffs?
Pat: Every season this is impossible to predict, some teams start well then fall away, and others go on a surge like Royal Challengers Bangaluru did last season to clinch finals at the very death. The sides that stand out to me are the SunRisers and Royals, then I think it will be very tight among the middle five sides above the bottom three I mentioned above. I’m going to guess: the SunRisers, Royals, Royal Challengers with Mumbai Indians roaring back from their horror season last time. The big takeaway: the champions aren’t making it back to the finals!
Josh: It’s hard to look past the ever-consistent Chennai Super Kings for one of the spots, and I like the look of Bengaluru heading into the new season. This could be the season they finally win it all. The other two teams to make the playoffs will be Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians.
Tolga: Mumbai and SunRisers look fantastic this year, and Royal Challengers Bangaluru look really well-balanced too. But one team not many are talking about is Gujarat Titans. There’s a lot of pressure on their top three Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler and Sai Sudharsan, but with Glenn Phillips and Washington Sundar, they have two quality all-rounders. Plus, if they can get the best version of Mohammed Siraj alongside Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan, what is stopping them from securing a spot in the playoffs? So those four stand out for me.
Which team will win the title? (Defending Champions: Kolkata Knight Riders)
Pat: I was really impressed by the losing finalists Hyderabad last season and I would have to say this, they look stronger while champions Kolkata look weaker. By that logic, SunRisers are many people’s favourites to win it. I’m going to buck that trend, however, and pick Rajasthan Royals to win their first title since the inaugural season! It’s time for the dusty pink army to rise again.
Josh: This is Virat Kohli’s year. They have never won the IPL despite being a flagship franchise, but I am backing Royal Challenges Bengaluru to go all the way and give cricket’s biggest superstar his fairytale ‘ending’... spoiler, he will play the 2026 season.
Tolga: I am, of course, going with SunRisers. Their batting is scary, and we haven’t even mentioned the best T20 batter in the world, Heinrich Klaasen. They have even strengthened their spin bowling options now with Rahul Chahar and Adam Zampa. Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel and Shami are a really experienced bowling attack and guarantee wickets. The one concern will be that they can be expensive at times, but I think if the spinners and the batters do their job, that shouldn’t be an issue. Cummins is a fantastic captain too, so what else is there to say?