IPL 2019: Possible openers for each IPL side

It has been finally confirmed that the 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will be held in India.

Among the players who were in the recently concluded auction in December, Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Chakravarthy were the costliest buys as they were bought for a whopping price of ₹8.4 Cr by Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab respectively.

With the IPL Auctions done and dusted, each team will look to prepare a proper team combination to lift the IPL trophy this year.

Over the years, we have seen that it is important to provide the flying starts to the team, especially in the T20 format. Hence, each and every franchise needs good openers who can provide blistering starts for their respective sides.

In this article, we take a look at the players who can possibly open the innings for their respective franchises in the next edition of the cash-rich league.

#1 Kolkata Knight Riders - Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine

Even though Kolkata Knight Riders have a lot of openers in the squad, they will be expected to continue with their destructive opening pair - Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine. While Narine could maximize the powerplay overs, Lynn can thrash any pace attack on his day.

In the previous edition of the premier T20 league, Lynn and Narine scored 491 and 357 runs at a strike-rate of about 130 and 190 respectively. Their opening combination was a success and they will mostly not try to change the openers.

The Australian hard hitter, Lynn, is expected to depart in the second half of the tournament. If Lynn leaves to Australia midway through the tournament, either Robin Uthappa or Joe Denly could replace him at the top order.

#2 Rajasthan Royals - Jos Buttler and Ajinkya Rahane

In 2018, the Rajasthan Royals was struggling to find a good opening combination until they promoted Jos Buttler as an opener. D'Arcy Short, who was their first-choice opener, has failed to provide good starts and was, therefore, snubbed.

In seven games, despite repeated trust shown by the management, Short had not made a single score above 50. Then came Jos Buttler, who took the attack to every single opposition.

The right-handed batsman scored five consecutive fifties in IPL 2018 and helped them to reach the playoffs. He scored 548 runs from 13 matches at an average of 54.80 and a strike-rate of over 155.

Ajinkya Rahane, who has been their regular opener, would look to provide the decent starts for his team along with Jos Buttler. If the England wicket-keeper returns to home midway through the tournament due to World Cup, new signing Manan Vohra might replace him.

#3 Sunrisers Hyderabad - David Warner and Kane Williamson

Sunrisers Hyderabad is arguably one of the strongest teams in the Indian Premier League. They are one of the few teams that could chase and defend any total. However, they will miss their prominent opener, Shikhar Dhawan, in the next IPL season.

Dhawan was their best opener and played several sizzling knocks for Hyderabad in the IPL. But, the left-hander decided to leave the franchise and joined Delhi Daredevils ahead of IPL 2019.

Kane Williamson, who scored 735 runs from 17 games including 8 fifties during the previous edition of the IPL, has been in great touch. Warner, who was the leading run-scorer in the 10th season of the IPL and played a major role for SRH, would look to make a strong comeback in the IPL.

Even though they have a lot of specialist openers in the form of Jonny Bairstow and Martin Guptill, SRH might go with Warner and Williamson.

#4 Delhi Capitals - Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw

Delhi Capitals went on to buy a lot of big names at the auction ahead of the IPL 2018. However, the team management failed to make a good opening combination as the likes of Jason Roy, Colin Munro and Gautam Gambhir have struggled a lot lately.

After losing first five games, skipper Gambhir dropped himself from the squad and appointed Shreyas Iyer as their new skipper. Apart from Prithvi Shaw, no one impressed the team management as an opener.

Ahead of IPL 2019, Delhi has retained their core players and drafted in Dhawan from Sunrisers Hyderabad. Dhawan is one of the most successful openers in the history of the league. He has scored over 4000 runs from 142 innings at a decent average of about 35 with a strike-rate of close to 130.

Delhi might go with Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw who could smash any bowling lineup in the world. This pair could help them to clinch the IPL title for the first time.

#5 Chennai Super Kings - Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu

The former Australian cricketer, Shane Watson and the 33-year-old, Ambati Rayudu have proven their match-winning abilities in the previous edition of the Indian Premier League. Both the openers were in outstanding form as they were leading the chart of most runs for the CSK franchise in 2018.

While Ambati Rayudu amassed 602 runs from 16 innings at an average of 43 which included three fifties and a magnificent century, Shane Watson accumulated 555 runs from 15 innings at an average of about 40, including two fifties and two centuries.

When they have both Rayudu and Watson in the squad, they will not try to change the opening combination in the upcoming edition of the most successful T20 league. Both the CSK openers would look to replicate the same performance in the IPL 2019 season.

#6 Mumbai Indians - Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock

They had a perfect opening combination last season but even that could not help them to the IPL trophy. Suryakumar Yadav had a fruitful season with 512 runs from 14 innings at a strike-rate of over 130.

On the other hand, Evin Lewis had a decent season with 382 runs from 13 innings at a strike-rate of close to 140. Prior to the IPL Auction 2019, Mumbai had traded in Quinton de Kock from Bangalore.

According to some reports, Mumbai Indians asked Rohit Sharma will open the innings for them. So, one of Lewis and de Kock will act as a partner of Rohit Sharma while Suryakumar can finish the innings with his hard-hitting abilities.

The South African wicket-keeper batsman has been in brilliant form with the bat and can hit sixes with ease. Along with the skipper, the duo will form a formidable pair at the top.

#7 Royal Challengers Bangalore - Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli

They had three proven openers in Brendon McCullum, Quinton de Kock and Manan Vohra but did not get the desired results last year. In a revamp process, they released all three of them from the squad.

During the IPL Auction 2019, RCB bought Devdutt Padikel and South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen who can open the innings for their team. But, if Bangalore decides not to play Heinrich Klaasen, Parthiv Patel will be their wicket-keeper.

There is also the possibility that Kohli might continue his job as an opener for his franchise. The RCB skipper has created numerous records in the IPL as he has scored close to 2000 runs from just 48 innings at an average of 53.44, which included four centuries.

On the other hand, Parthiv Patel has a good experience of playing in the IPL. He will look to provide fierce starts to his team in the forthcoming season.

#8 Kings XI Punjab - KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal

Kings XI Punjab is one of the three teams to have never won a trophy in the history of the IPL. They had a great opportunity in 2014 when they reached finals for the first time, only to end up losing to Kolkata Knight Riders.

In 2018, they began well with five wins from first six games but they failed to repeat the same performance in the second half of the tournament. They could win only 2 games in the next eight games.

But, KL Rahul did not disappoint his fans as he accumulated runs in almost every match. He amassed 659 runs from 14 innings at a strike-rate of 158.41 which included 66 boundaries and 32 sixes.

Even though Chris Gayle scored a century in 2018, he might warm a bench in 2019 with age, not on his side.

Mayank Agarwal, who has been tremendous in the domestic cricket, might open the innings for KXIP alongside KL Rahul.