IPL 2023: Team-wise opening combination for 16th edition

Now that the eagerly anticipated IPL auction is finally over, everyone’s attention will turn towards the possible playing XIs of all the ten franchises. Quite naturally, opening combinations would be the first thing on everyone’s minds because they form the base of a team’s success and include some of the league’s biggest names. A good opening combination not only has the role of laying down a good platform and providing a wicketless start, but its role is growing rapidly with the game evolving constantly. Playing aggressive cricket while not fearing the loss of an early wicket is also an effective way of finding success, and one with more supporters as compared to the traditional approach. There are multiple ways for an opening combination to be successful, and all those methods can be seen on display byall the ten teams. On that note, let’s take a look at the potential opening combinations for each team ahead of the next season. 1. Chennai Super Kings - Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway By the time Chennai Super Kings (CSK) found their perfect opening pair in the last edition, their season was pretty much done and dusted given their poor start. But it did relieve them of the opening combination headache for the coming seasons. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway had a curious case with their partnerships as they either went big or went home early. They had three partnerships over 50, two of them being 100-run stands and hence created a lot of impact up front. However, one can expect more consistency from the duo this season as it’ll be more used to batting with each other. Both are similar in approach and usually start cautiously before upping the ante at the backend of the powerplay. Teams are always searching for left-right opening combinations because it puts off opposition captains and makes it difficult for them to introduce a bowler who would be an unfavourable match-up for both the batters. And CSK are blessed with that in their ranks. Both are excellent against spin, while Conway is the better player of pace and can be expected to play the higher percentage of deliveries in the first couple of overs while Gaikwad settles in. On most days, one can expect a steady and wicketless stand in the powerplay from these two. 2. Delhi Capitals - David Warner and Prithvi Shaw David Warner and Prithvi Shaw might be at the opposite ends of their careers, but it is hard to find an opening pair that complements each other as perfectly as they do. Shaw takes on the bowling attack right from the first ball he faces, while Warner prefers to be a bit more watchful in the first couple of overs at this stage of his career. Warner makes up for Shaw’s weakness against bounce and left-arm spin and takes more of the strike, particularly against the latter. They scored 362 runs in eight innings for the first wicket last season while averaging over 45. Both of them struck at over 150 as well, and these stats show how destructive they were while maintaining praiseworthy consistency. Opposition attacks could have a tough time trying to contain this dynamic duo in the upcoming season. 3. Gujarat Titans - Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha The defending champions will likely start the season with the same pair as last season, but it wasn’t an area of strength for them. Shubman Gill started and ended the season on a great note but had a lean patch in between, while even Wriddhiman Saha blew hot and cold. As a pair, they scored 349 runs in 11 innings at an average of 31.72. Saha was entrusted with the role of an aggressor, given that his partner usually takes some time to settle in. The keeper-batter was pretty decent in that role, as he scored at a decent strike rate in the powerplay, but he often struggled to maintain that tempo in the middle overs. While Gill has made rapid strides since the conclusion of the last season and is making a case to be a regular in both ODIs and T20Is, Saha had a poor outing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. KS Bharat’s arrival will make it a tricky selection decision, but going by how heavily Gujarat backed most of their players last season, Saha is very likely to get the nod in the initial few games. 4. Kolkata Knight Riders - Venkatesh Iyer and Rahmanullah Gurbaz KKR struggled to find the right combination at the top of the order last season and tried six pairs out and seven batters. They averaged a meagre 15.78 for the first wicket, and have bought a lot of new openers to rectify the issue. However, they still retained Venkatesh Iyer for big money, showing they are willing to back him as the first-choice opener again. Now, for the other spot, there is significant competition among three Asian keepers in the form of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Litton Das, and Narayan Jagadeesan. With Litton only available for a limited period of time after the tournament starts, Gurbaz will start the season as their preferred opener. Moreover, the fact that they specifically traded him before the auction shows that they see him as a player with massive potential. The Afghan plays an aggressive brand of cricket, as evidenced by a T20 career strike rate of 152.94. Even Venkatesh Iyer usually plays with positive intent, and the duo should enjoy itself on the flat surface of Eden Gardens. Knight Riders will hope that both Venkatesh and Rahmanullah get them off to flyers in the 2023 edition. 5. Lucknow Super Giants - KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock There have been very few opening partnerships in the history of the league that saw two players with immense reputation and skill complementing each other shot for shot. KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock are one such pair capable of decimating any bowling attack in the world. Hence, their failure as a duo was quite surprising last year. While they averaged 41.78 for the first wicket, it is very misleading and is inflated by the 210* stand they shared in the final league game against KKR. If that stand is excluded, they averaged less than 25 in the remaining 14 games. It is hard to find a reason behind the same, given how well they complement each other on paper. Apart from the left-right aspect, de Kock plays with a lot of intent, which allows Rahul to take his time. KL is pretty good against all types of bowling except for left-arm spin, which de Kock can take down easily. de Kock is an excellent player of pace, and against other types of spin Rahul can take over. It wasn’t as if one of them had a poor season, which led to such returns as a pair. The LSG skipper scored over 600 runs while the South African piled up 508 runs. It's difficult to get a more perfect duo on paper, and LSG will hope it translates into actual returns on the field this time. 6. Mumbai Indians - Cameron Green and Ishan Kishan The Mumbai Indians will have a tough time picking the right duo after splashing the cash on Cameron Green at the auction. They already had their captain, Rohit Sharma, and Ishan Kishan at the top, but after making such a massive investment on Green they will need to rethink their opening pair. He is still an unproven commodity in the shortest format of the game, but whatever little success he has tasted came as an opener. He showed immense potential in his two blistering knocks of 61(30) and 52(25) against India just before the T20 World Cup. After a rather bleak year, Ishan Kishan reminded the world of his abundant potential when he smashed 210(131) against Bangladesh in the recent ODI series. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma’s poor IPL returns over the last few years, combined with a mediocre year for India in T20s, point towards a decline. Given that the Mumbai-based team is building for the future, it would perhaps make sense if they trusted the two youngsters with the role of openers while preparing themselves for the post-Rohit era. 7. Punjab Kings - Shikhar Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow Punjab Kings (PBKS) will continue with the same pair they had towards the backend of last season after Mayank Agarwal demoted himself to accommodate Jonny Bairstow at the top. Dhawan and Bairstow averaged just over 34 as a pair in five games. The Englishman failed to create an impact in the middle order but immediately came to life after being promoted up to the top as he scored a couple of half-centuries. He has a stellar record in the IPL as an opener. Bairstow averages over 40 and has a strike rate of over 145. The wicketkeeper-batter is amongst the most destructive batters in the game. However, Dhawan’s returns over the last 12 months will be a cause of concern for PBKS given that they’ve appointed him as captain. His strike rate was only 122.66 in the previous season, which is far from ideal, and the experienced campaigner’s form didn’t improve after that either. He looked like a shadow of himself in ODIs for India and has been left out of the ODI squad for the upcoming bilateral series at home against Sri Lanka. It will be interesting to see if the 37-year-old can turn back the clock for one more season and form a solid pairing with Bairstow, a player at the peak of his powers. 8. Rajasthan Royals - Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal Rajasthan Royals started and ended their season with the opening combo of Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal, but in between, it was Devdutt Padikkal who opened with England's white-ball skipper. That happened because Jaiswal was dropped just after three games into the season and returned later in the tournament. This time around, the same won’t happen because the Mumbai batter is in pristine touch. Even on his return to the XI in the 2022 season, he scored 233 runs in 7 games at an average of 33 and smashed two half-centuries. He has also piled on runs in domestic cricket for fun and now has a higher reputation than Padikkal. He will be partnering one of the world’s most destructive T20 batters in Jos Buttler, who had a record-breaking outing last season when he scored 863 runs, including four centuries and four half-centuries. As a pair, they averaged only 26, but expect that to change given they complement each other, and have been in great form for a while. 9. Royal Challengers Bangalore - Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis Arguably the biggest opening combination in the IPL in terms of its stature and achievement - Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis, they have been amongst the best batters in the tournament's history. However, the blockbuster pairing didn’t click as planned as they averaged only 30, with five out of eight partnerships not even crossing 11. RCB tried to go after Mayank Agarwal at the mini-auction 2023 so that he could partner Faf at the top and Virat could bat at the number three slot but since SRH won that bidding war and bagged Agarwal after spending INR 8.25 crore, RCB will have to persist with the Kohli-Faf duo. It will be fascinating to watch how both the icons overcome the challenges in the upcoming season and form a good partnership at the top, as RCB’s hopes rely heavily on them. 10. Sunrisers Hyderabad - Abhishek Sharma and Mayank Agarwal After releasing Kane Williamson ahead of the auction, SRH needed his replacement and made the perfect purchase of Mayank Agarwal. Buying an Indian opener allowed them to strengthen their middle order by adding an additional overseas star in Harry Brook. While Mayank has had a poor year with the bat, he is still a quality player, and one can expect him to return to form sooner rather than later. The Karnataka player was among the best openers in the league from 2019-2021. He scored 1197 runs at an average of over 34 while striking at 146. Meanwhile, his partner, Abhishek Sharma, was amongst the better openers of the 2022 IPL season. He scored 426 runs at a strike rate of 133 and was SRH’s highest run-getter. Having two Indian openers who play with a positive approach is a massive advantage as teams usually employ an overseas batter for the aggressor’s role at the top.

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IPL 2023: Team-wise opening combination for 16th edition

With the IPL only a few months away, franchises are trying to zero in on their ideal opening combination.

9. Royal Challengers Bangalore - Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis

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