The Indian Premier League is back for another year of the most explosive action in limited overs cricket, but who will be lifting the trophy this year?
IPL Predictions 2020
The Indian Premier League (IPL) finally returns, with the best Twenty20 players on the planet once again coming together to battle for supremacy in India’s most excited cricket league. England’s Jos Buttler, South Africa’s AB de Villiers and Australia’s David Warner will look to outdo poster boys Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni this year, while all are still trailing in the wake of 2019’s best player, with West Indies’ Andre Russell a long way ahead of every other player in the competition. Now, with the very best in T20 cricket returning, which of the eight teams will reign supreme in India this year?
2020 IPL Tips:
Winner (Safe Pick) – Kolkata Knight Riders @ 13/2 with William Hill
Can you write off a team with Andre Russell in it? The West Indies star was the man right across the 2019 iteration of the tournament as he destroyed opposition bowlers before proving to be a real pest with the ball in hand himself. The likes of Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Tom Banton, Lockie Ferguson and Pat Cummins mean KKR have one of the most well-balanced sides in the tournament if a little more batting heavy. The difficult thing for these teams is keeping their stars fit and in the squad (with international commitments often seeing the best players leaving), and so it could prove to be that a strong start to the tournament is vital if a side is to go through something of a change of personnel halfway through the competition. However, based solely on the teams as they are right now and the current IPL Winner odds, we think KKR are the side to back.
IPL Winners (Outside Bet) – Royal Challengers Banglore @ 7/1
Okay, so we know that RCB are not that far behind KKR in the betting, with the former at 7/1 and the latter 13/2, but such is the inconsistency of their play that they will likely always be seen as outsiders. Virat Kohli’s side is full of batting promise and they have been able to address some of their bowling concerns, and if they can start well, then we genuinely believe they can give their very patient fans something to cheer this time out.
Top Batsman – David Warner – Odds TBC
David Warner has had an incredibly turbulent time in cricket over the last few years. A ban from all forms of cricket for his part in the Australian ball tampering scandal against South Africa saw him miss out on the 2018 IPL before he returned for the 2019 iteration of the competition, where he was phenomenal. 692 runs at 69.20 came alongside one century and eight half-centuries, and he formed a lethal partnership with Jonny Bairstow at the top of the Sunrisers Hyderabad batting order. He took his form with him into the Cricket World Cup where he starred in Australia’s run to the semi-finals. However, he was almost completely taken out of the Ashes Test series by Stuart Broad, who had his number consistently as Warner struggled. Now, he comes into the 2020 IPL as one of the players to beat after he won the Allan Border medal before also snaring the Men’s T20 Player of the Year too. Warner will be desperate to ensure he edges closer to the upcoming T20 World Cup in the best form possible, and so the IPL seems like the perfect chance for him to continue to score runs.
Top Bowler – Imran Tahir – Odds TBC
The South African veteran just seems to keep getting better and better with age, with the spinner not a player many batsmen in the world feel truly comfortable taking on. Tahir finished the 2019 campaign with 26 wickets meaning he was the most dangerous bowler in the IPL. In his older age, Tahir is not hamstrung in club competition by any international duty, meaning that, barring injury, he will be in Chennai Super Kings’ yellow for the entirety of the tournament. Those spinning tops in India will provide the leggie with a lot of help, and we think that if CSK’s batsmen are able to give him a platform to defend and runs to play with, then he will take a lot of wickets.
Most Valuable Player – TBC
Latest Cricket Predictions & IPL Winner Odds
Mumbai Indians @ 4/1 with William Hill
Last year’s winners the Mumbai Indians come into the 2020 tournament as the team to beat after ensuring they would come into the defence of their title with a very strong side. Rohit Sharma has become one of India’s key cricketers right across the three formats and he was instrumental for the side as they won the title in 2019. 405 runs was an impressive output and he was ably helped by the supreme Quinton de Kock (529 runs in 14 innings @ 35.26), while Jasprit Bumrah (19 wickets in 16 matches @ 21.52) did the damage with the ball. All three return for the side in the 2020 competition and they will be central to MI’s hopes of defending their crown this year.
Sunrisers Hyderabad @ 9/2 with William Hill
Sunrisers Hyderabad were not able to follow up their 2018 IPL title win with a defence that went down to the final game as they were knocked out in the play-off by Delhi Capitals after finishing fourth in the full-season. The departure of Jonny Bairstow (445 runs in 10 innnings @ 55.62) really hurt the side after his exploits with the side and with captain Kane Williamson struggling to hit the heights of the season before, SRH struggled for consistency. However, the 2020 captain sees Bairstow and Williamson return, while they rejoin 2019’s top runs scorer David Warner (692 runs in 12 innings) and top bowler Khaleel Ahmed (19 wickets in nine matches @ 15.10) in a very strong looking squad for the new year.
Chennai Super Kings @ 5/1 with William Hill
Chennai Super Kings have one hell of a team and are sure to be the favourite of many when looking to back a winner this season and our IPL betting tips may see them featured prominently. MS Dhoni brings the box office, he brings the fans and, most importantly, he brings the match winning ability that not many on the planet actually have. 416 runs at an average of 83.20 with seven not outs shows his ability, and he will be backed up by Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson with the bat, while the ever-young Imran Tahir (top wicket taker in 2019 with 26 wickets) will surely provide the main threat with the bat. It will be interesting to see how CSK’s ageing players, with the likes of Dhoni, du Plessis, Watson, Tahir and Harbhajan Singh all far closer to 40 than they are to 30, but what they lose in youth in the side they make up for with an unbelievable amount of experience.
Delhi Capitals @ 11/2 with William Hill
A re-brand in 2019 brought much-improved fortunes for the Delhi Capitals as they went from the bottom of the 2018 IPL to being knocked out of the competition in the final match before the final. Shikhar Dhawan returns to captain the side and he is joined by some powerful batsmen in the form of World Cup winner Jason Roy, while serial runs scorer Marcus Stoinis and India’s Rishabh Pant make for a frighteningly powerful batting lineup. Kagiso Rabada will continue to provide the pace and aggression with the ball, while we are very excited to see Australia’s Alex Carey, who is a master in limited overs cricket. DC could have a genuine chance of winning this year but if that is the case we think their batting lineup will need to fire almost every game as they seem to be more stacked with the willow in hand rather than without it.
Kolkata Knight Riders @ 13/2 with William Hill
The Kolkata Knight Riders posses some of the best talent in the IPL in their ranks with Sunil Narine and Lockie Ferguson providing the class, while Andre Russell (510 runs at an average of 56.66 and 11 wickets) will be looking to clinch the MVP for the second yeah in a row, with his incredible six hitting, which saw him smash 52 6’s, actually saw Russell score more runs through maximums alone than Jos Buttler managed in his time in India. From a purely English point of view, we are incredibly excited to see youngster Tom Banton get a run out after starring with England, while World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan will get to pull on the purple of the KKR, with the batsmen one of the most underrated players in the game today. Say it quietly, but if KKR’s star players get anywhere near their best, they will be unbelievably tough to stop.
Royal Challengers Bangalore @ 7/1 with William Hill
What can be said about Royal Challengers Bangalore that hasn’t already been said? Led by the supremely talent Virat Kohli (464 runs in 2019 at 33.14), RCB should be a powerful force that takes some beating. However, the likes of Moeen Ali, AB de Villiers and Yuzvendra Chahal have not been able to halt their slide of late. Now, with players like Chris Morris, Aaron Finch, Kane Richardson, Dale Steyn and Parthiv Patel all in the side, we think that RCB providing a far more viable option in the 2020 IPL betting. Everything will hinge on their start to the tournament, with a poor few outings straight off the bat often leading to the Royal Challengers being out of play-off reckoning long before the season has ended.
Kings XI Punjab @ 9/1 with William Hill
Kings XI Punjab are a side that the bookmakers clearly don’t really fancy in the initial IPL Winner betting market, with their betting odds very long in comparison to the likes of the Mumbai Indians. KL Rahul once again leads a side filled with the likes of Chris Gayle and Glenn Maxwell, but it is worth noting that both of these superstars are in the twilight of their cricketing careers. Much will be put on the auxiliary batsmen that need to add quick runs when batting with the prior mentioned trio or looking to make up for any failings, while we feel their less-than star studded bowling attacking has has a major impact on their winner odds. Do they have enough to better their sixth-placed finish in 2019?
Rajasthan Royals @ 9/1 with William Hill
And here we have it, one of the biggest underachievers in cricket who are once again propping up the betting in the IPL. The magnitude of their underachieving is something that becomes even worse when taking into account the fact that they boast Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer, but where they struggle is when their big international players leave, they do not really have the ability to play with like-for-like replacements. Buttler and Stokes have been in phenomenal limited overs form of late while Smith just scores runs. The worry for the side will be the extent of the injury Archer has sustained, as he would likely have been a player RR were pinning a lot of their bowling hopes on this season.
IPL 2020 Full Squad Lists
Chennai Super Kings
MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Rituraj Gaikwad, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, N Jagadeesan, Lungi Ngidi, Monu Singh, Sam Curran, Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood, R Sai Kishore.
Delhi Capitals
Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel. Amit Mishra, Ishant Sharma, Harshal Patel, Avesh Khan, Ravi Ashwin, Ajinkya Rahane, Kagiso Rabada, Keemo Paul, Sandeep Lamichhane, Jason Roy, Chris Woakes, Alex Carey, Shimron Hetmyer, Mohit Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Marcus Stoinis, Lalit Yadav.
Kings XI Punjab
Kolkata Knight Riders
Mumbai Indians
Rajasthan Royals
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Sunrisers Hyderabad
IPL 2020 Schedule
Team Key: Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Delhi Capitals (DC), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Mumbai Indians (MI), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Game Number | Match-Up | Date | Venue |
1 | CSK vs RCB | 23/3/20 | Chennai |
2 | KKR vs SRH | 24/3/20 | Kolkata |
3 | MI vs DC | 24/3/20 | Mumbai |
4 | RR vs KXIP | 25/3/20 | Jaipur |
5 | DC vs CSK | 26/3/20 | Delhi |
6 | KKR vs KXIP | 27/3/20 | Kolkata |
7 | RCB vs MI | 28/3/20 | Bangalore |
8 | SRH vs RR | 29/3/20 | Hyderabad |
9 | KXIP vs MI | 30/3/20 | Mohali |
10 | DC vs KKR | 30/3/20 | Delhi |
11 | SRH vs RCB | 31/3/20 | Hyderabad |
12 | CSK vs RR | 31/3/20 | Chennai |
13 | KXIP vs DC | 1/4/20 | Mohali |
14 | RR vs RCB | 2/4/20 | Jaipur |
15 | MI vs CSK | 3/4/20 | Mumbai |
16 | DC vs SRH | 4/4/20 | Delhi |
17 | RCB vs KKR | 5/4/20 | Bangalore |
18 | CSK vs KXIP | 6/4/20 | Chennai |
19 | SRH vs MI | 6/4/20 | Hyderabad |
20 | RCB vs DC | 7/4/20 | Bangalore |
21 | RR vs KKR | 7/4/20 | Jaipur |
22 | KXIP vs SRH | 8/4/20 | Mohali |
23 | CSK vs KKR | 9/4/20 | Chennai |
24 | MI vs KXIP | 10/4/20 | Mumbai |
25 | RR vs CSK | 11/4/20 | Chennai |
26 | KKR vs DC | 12/4/20 | Kolkata |
27 | MI vs RR | 13/4/20 | Mumbai |
28 | KXIP vs RCB | 13/4/20 | Mohali |
29 | KKR vs CSK | 14/4/20 | Kolkata |
30 | SRH vs DC | 14/4/20 | Hyderabad |
31 | MI vs RCB | 15/4/20 | Mumbai |
32 | KXIP vs RR | 16/4/20 | Mohali |
33 | SRH vs CSK | 17/4/20 | Hyderabad |
34 | DC vs MI | 18/4/20 | Delhi |
35 | KKR vs RCB | 19/4/20 | Kolkata |
36 | RR vs MI | 20/4/20 | Jaipur |
37 | DC vs KXIP | 20/4/20 | Delhi |
38 | SRH vs KKR | 21/4/20 | Hyderabad |
39 | RCB vs CSK . | 21/4/20 | Bangalore |
40 | RR vs DC | 22/4/20 | Jaipur |
41 | CSK vs SRH | 23/4/20 | Chennai |
42 | RCB vs KXIP | 24/4/20 | Bangalore |
43 | KKR vs RR | 25/4/20 | Kolkata |
44 | CSK vs MI | 26/4/20 | Chennai |
45 | RR vs SRH | 27/4/20 | Jaipur |
46 | DC vs RCB | 28/4/20 | Delhi |
47 | KKR vs MI | 28/4/20 | Kolkata |
48 | SRH vs KXIP | 29/4/20 | Hyderabad |
49 | RCB vs RR | 30/4/20 | Bangalore |
50 | CSK vs DC | 1/5/20 | Chennai |
51 | MI vs SRH | 2/5/20 | Mumbai |
52 | KXIP vs KKR | 3/5/20 | Mohali |
53 | DC vs RR | 4/5/20 | Delhi |
54 | RCB vs SRH | 4/5/20 | Bangalore |
55 | KXIP vs CSK | 5/5/20 | Mohali |
56 | MI vs KKR | 5/5/20 | Mumbai |
57 | Qualifier 1 | 7/5/20 | Chennai |
58 | Qualifier 2 | 8/5/20 | Visakhapatnam |
59 | Eliminator | 10/5/20 | Visakhapatnam |
60 | Final | 12/5/20 | Hyderabad |
Loving our Indian Premier League coverage? Why not get even more cricket betting tips from the team at BettingPro, with our dedicated cricket tips page and daily IPL tips sure to give you more than enough cricket betting.