As the eighth season of the Indian Premier League starts today with the match between Kolkata and Mumbai, mid-day presents a ready reckoner of the teams and their players
Delhi Daredevils, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengres Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Rajastahn Royals
Delhi Daredevils, Chennai Super Kings, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Royal Challengres Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Rajastahn Royals
Delhi Daredevils
Best IPL finish: 2012 playoffs; 2008, 2009 semi-finalist
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Coaches: Gary Kirsten (head coach), Pravin Amre and Sridharan Sriram (assistant coaches) and Alfonso Thomas (bowling coach).
What's new: After finishing last in 2014, Daredevils released 13 players, including the likes of Kevin Pietersen. They spent heavily in the auctions, buying Yuvraj Singh for R16 crore, thus making him the costliest buy at the 2015 auction. The team will be led by old-boy JP Duminy, who has limited captaincy experience (he led South Africa in the three-match T20 series against Australia in 2014). The Daredevils have also bought Angelo Mathews (Rs 7.50 crore), Zaheer Khan (Rs 4 crore), Amit Mishra (Rs 3.5 crore), Shreyas Iyer (Rs 2.6 crore), Gurinder Sandhu (Rs 1.7 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 1.1 crore), Domnic Muthuswamy (Rs 75 lakh), Albie Morkel (Rs 30 lakh), Travis Head (Rs 30 lakh), Marcus Stoinis (Rs 25 lakh), CM Gautam (Rs 20 lakh), Kona Srikar Bharat (Rs 10 lakh) and KK Jiyaz (Rs 10 lakh).
What remains the same: Key players like JP Duminy, Manoj Tiwary, Mohammad Shami and Quinton De Kock have been retained.
Squad: Jean-Paul Duminy (c), Mayank Agarwal, Srikar Bharat, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Quinton de Kock (wk), Domnic Joseph, Chidhambaram Gautam (wk), Travis Head, Imran Tahir, Shreyas Iyer, Kedar Jadhav, KK Jiyas, Zaheer Khan, Angelo Mathews, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Albie Morkel, Shahbaz Nadeem, Gurinder Sandhu, Marcus Stoinis, Manoj Tiwary, Saurabh Tiwary, Jaydev Unadkat, Jayant Yadav and Yuvraj Singh.
Rs 16crore
The amount Delhi Daredevils paid for Yuvraj Singh — the most by any team at the IPL-8 auction 
Rs 2.6crore
The amount Delhi Daredevils bought Shreyas Iyer for in the 2015 IPL auction. The Mumbai batsman was the most expensive uncapped player
Chennai Super Kings
Best IPL finish: Champions in 2010 & 2011
Coaches: Stephen Fleming (head coach), Andy Bichel (bowling coach), Steve Rixon (fielding coach).
What's new: Chennai old boy Michael Hussey, who spent the first six seasons with the Chennai franchise before turning out for the Mumbai Indians last season, is back in the squad after the outfit spent R1.50 crore on him. The franchise also splurged a considerable amount in bringing in pacers like Irfan Pathan (Rs 1.50 crore), Kyle Abbott (R30 lakh), Andrew Tye (Rs 20 lakh) which will beef up their bowling department. They also acquired players like Rahul Sharma (Rs 30 lakh), Pratyush Singh (Rs 10 lakh), Ankush Bains (Rs 10 lakh) and Eklavya Dwivedi (Rs 10 lakh).
What remains the same: The core of Chennai, captain MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin, has remained the same over many seasons. The franchise have also retained key players like Ashish Nehra, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Faf du Plessis and Mohit Sharma which will give the franchise some stability.
Squad: MS Dhoni (c/wk), Eklavya Dwivedi, Kyle Abbott, Baba Aparajith, Ravichandran Ashwin, Samuel Badree, Ankush Bains, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Matt Henry, Michael Hussey, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, Mithun Manhas, Ronit More, Pawan Negi, Ashish Nehra, Ishwar Pandey, Irfan Pathan, Pratyush Singh, Suresh Raina, Mohit Sharma, Rahul Sharma, Dwayne Smith and Andrew Tye.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Best IPL finish: Playoffs in 2013
Coaches: Tom Moody (coach), Muttiah Muralitharan (bowling coach and team mentor) and VVS Laxman (mentor).
What's new: They will miss out on one of their most important buys of the 2015 auction, Kevin Pietersen, after the dashing batsman decided to play county cricket in order to give a second-chance to his England career. However, despite the loss, the Hyderabad outfit will be satisfied with their business having bought proven limited overs match-winners like Trent Boult (Rs 3.8 crore) and Kane Williamson (Rs 60 lakh). With players like David Warner and Shikhar Dhawan already in the ranks they can hope to offset the loss of Pietersen. They also bought players like Eoin Morgan (Rs 1.5 crore), Ravi Bopara (R1 crore), Praveen Kumar (Rs 2.2 crore), Kevin Pietersen (s R2 crore), Laxmi Ratan Shukla (s R30 lakh), Prasanth Padmanabhan (Rs 10 lakh), Hanuma Vihari (Rs 10 lakh) and Siddarth Kaul (Rs 10 lakh).
What remains the same: The franchise has retained most of their key players from the previous season like David Warner, Shikhar Dhawan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Dale Steyn.
Squad: David Warner (c), Ashish Reddy, Ricky Bhui, Ravi Bopara, Trent Boult, Shikhar Dhawan, Moises Henriques, Siddarth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Chama Milind, Eoin Morgan, Naman Ojha (wk), Parvez Rasool, Padmanabhan Prasanth, Lokesh Rahul, Ishant Sharma, Karn Sharma, Laxmi Shukla, Dale Steyn, Hanuma Vihari and Kane Williamson.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Best IPL finish: Finalists in 2009, 2011
Coaches: Daniel Vettori (head coach), B Arun (assistant coach), Allan Donald (bowling coach) and Trent Woodhill (batting and fielding coach).
What's new: Royal Challengers Bangalore have been the perpetual under-achievers of the Indian Premier League, having assembled some of the best squads in the tournament but never having won the tournament. With an eye on remedying that peiece of history, RCB have bought some very good players in the 2015 auction like Dinesh Karthik (Rs 10.5 crore), Darren Sammy (Rs 2.8 crore) and Sean Abbott (Rs 1 crore) who can single-handedly take the team to a win on their day. They also managed to buy players like David Wiese (R2.8 crore), Adam Milne (Rs 70 lakh), Sarfaraz Naushad Khan (Rs 50 lakh), Subramaniam Badrinath (Rs 30 lakh), Jalaj Saxena (Rs 10 lakh) and Shishir Bhavane (Rs 10 lakh) in the auction.
What remains the same: The Bangalore outfit has retained their core players like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Mitchell Starc, Varun Aaron and Ashok Dinda.
Squad: Virat Kohli (c), Varun Aaron, Sean Abbott, Abu Nechim, S Badrinath, Shishir Bhavane, Manvinder Bisla, Yuzvendra Chahal, AB de Villiers, Ashok Dinda, Chris Gayle, Iqbal Abdulla, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Nic Maddinson, Mandeep Singh, Adam Milne, Harshal Patel, Rilee Rossouw, Darren Sammy, Sandeep Warrier, Jalaj Saxena, Mitchell Starc, Yogesh Takawale, David Wiese and Vijay Zol.
Kings XI Punjab
Best IPL finish: Finalists in 2014
Coaches: Sanjay Bangar (head coach), Joe Dawes (bowling coach) and R Sridhar (fielding coach).
What's new: The Punjab franchise was the quietest of the eight teams in the 2015 auction having bought just three players — Murali Vijay (Rs 3 crore), Nikhil Shankar Naik (Rs 30 lakh) and Yogesh Gowalkar (Rs 10 lakh). The strategy stemmed from teh fact the team has just managed to achieve their best-ever finish (runners-up) in an IPL season in 2014.
What remains the same: The crux of the 2014 squad will turn out for them again this season. They are one of the teams to watch out for this season, having retained players like Axar Patel, David Miller, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Johnson, Thisara Perera, Virender Sehwag and Wriddhiman Saha. They also decided to keep local names like Anureet Singh, Beuran Hendricks, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Karanveer Singh, Manan Vora, Parvinder Awana, Rishi Dhawan, Sandeep Sharma, Shardul Thakur and Shivam Sharma. In fact, they only released three of their players — Cheteshwar Pujara, Lakshmipathy Balaji and Murali Kartik.
Squad: George Bailey (c), Anureet Singh, Parvinder Awana, Rishi Dhawan, Yogesh Golwalkar, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Beuran Hendricks, Mitchell Johnson, Karanveer Singh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Nikhil Naik, Axar Patel, Thisara Perera, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sandeep Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Shivam Sharma, Shardul Thakur,
Murali Vijay and Manan Vohra.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Best IPL finish: Champions in 2012, 2014
Coaches: Trevor Bayliss (head coach), Jacques Kallis (batting consultant cum mentor), Wasim Akram (bowling consultant), Vijay Dahiya (assistant coach) and Woorkeri Raman (batting coach).
What's new: In keeping with their tradition of picking mystery spinners, KKR picked KC Cariappa for a whopping Rs 2.4 crore in the auction. The price tag is incredulous considering he is yet to make his debut for his state side Karnataka in any domestic competition. He was spotted while playing for Bijapur Bulls in the Karnataka Premier League. It remains to be seen how much game-time he will get considering the team also has Sunil Narine in their ranks. The franchise also picked up James Neesham (Rs 50 lakhs), Brad Hogg (Rs 50 lakhs), Aditya Garhwal (Rs 25 lakhs), Sheldon Jackson (Rs 15 lakhs), Sumit Narwal (Rs 10 lakhs) and Vaibhav Rawal (Rs 10 lakhs).
What remains the same: Most of the key players from last season has been retained — be it batsmen like Gautam Gambhir, Manish Pandey, Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan or bowlers like Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav and Morne Morkel. They also have a good set of all-rounders in Andre Russell and Ryan ten Doeschate.
Squad: Gautam Gambhir (c), Azhar Mahmood, Johan Botha, KC Cariappa, Piyush Chawla, Pat Cummins, Aditya Garhwal, Brad Hogg, Sheldon Jackson, Kuldeep Yadav, Morne Morkel, Sunil Narine, Sumit Narwal, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Veer Pratap Singh, Vaibhav Rawal, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Robin Uthappa (wk), Suryakumar Yadav and Umesh Yadav.
44
The age of Kolkata's Brad Hogg — the oldest player in IPL-8
Mumbai Indians
Best IPL finish: Champions in 2013
Coaches: Ricky Ponting (head coach), Robin Singh (batting coach), Shane Bond (bowling coach) and Jonty Rhodes (fielding coach).
What's new: The biggest changes in the Mumbai side have been in backroom staff this season. Ex-Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting, an advisor last season, has taken over the head coach's role from John Wright, who will now take care of talent-scouting along with Kiran More. Former India Test captain Anil Kumble, mentor until the last season, will now be a part of the franchise's owners' group. The franchise also bought players like Aaron Finch (Rs 3.20 crore), Pragyan Ojha (Rs 50 lakh), Abhimanyu Mithun (Rs 30 lakh), Mitchell McClenaghan (Rs 30 lakh), Aiden Blizzard (Rs 30 lakh), Hardik Pandya (Rs 10 lakh), Akshay Wakhare (Rs 10 lakh), Nitish Rana (Rs 10 lakh), Siddhesh Dinesh Lad (Rs10 lakh), J Suchitch (Rs 10 lakh) in the auction.
What remains the same: Key players like Rohit Sharma, Corey Anderson, Keiron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Ambati Rayudu and Harbhajan Singh have been retained.
Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Corey Anderson, Aiden Blizzard, Jasprit Bumrah, Unmukt Chand, Marchant de Lange, Aaron Finch, Shreyas Gopal, Harbhajan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Siddhesh Lad, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pragyan Ojha, Hardik Pandya, Parthiv Patel (wk), Kieron Pollard, Nitish Rana, Ambati Rayudu (wk), Lendl Simmons, Jagadeesha Suchith, Pawan Suyal, Aditya Tare (wk), Vinay Kumar and Akshay Wakhare.
119
The most number of IPL wickets taken by Mumbai Indians' Lasith Malinga in 83 matches
Rajasthan Royals
Best IPL finish: Champions in 2008
Coaches: Rahul Dravid (mentor), Paddy Upton (head coach) and Monty Desai (coach).
What's new: The Royals kept a characteristically low-profile in the 2015 auction, buying relatively unknown foreign players like Christopher Morris (Rs 1.4 crore), Juan Theron (Rs 30 lakh) besides tapping up Indian names like Barinder Singh Saran (Rs 10 lakh), Dinesh Salunkhe (Rs 10 lakh), Sagar Trivedi (Rs 10 lakh) and Pardeep Sahu (Rs 10 lakh).
What remains the same: The team, which has never quite hit the same heights that it did in the inaugural edition of the IPL when it emerged as the surprise champions, has a great mix of players which have been inherited from last season. Players like Australian batsman Shane Watson, Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane, Dhawal Kulkarni, James Faulkner, Kane Richardson, Steven Smith and Tim Southee were part of the team last season too and can all play match-winning innings on their day. Last season's players like Ankit Nagendra Sharma, Ben Cutting, Deepak Hooda, Dishant Yagnik, Karun Nair, Pravin Tambe, Rahul Tewatia, Rajat Bhatia, Sanju Samson, Stuart Binny and Vikramjeet Malik will also be part of the team.
Squad: Shane Watson (c), Ankit Sharma, Brainder Sran, Rajat Bhatia, Stuart Binny, Ben Cutting, James Faulkner, Deepak Hooda, Dhawal Kulkarni, Vikramjeet Malik, Chris Morris, Karun Nair, Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane, Pardeep Sahu, Dinesh Salunkhe, Sanju Samson (wk), Steven Smith, Tim Southee, Pravin Tambe, Rahul Tewatia, Rusty Theron, Sagar Trivedi and Dishant Yagnik (wk).
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