The most successful team in IPL starts as the favourite again. Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be spoilt for choice in both the batting and bowling departments.
Team Members of Chennai Super Kings
Albie Morkel
Benjamin William Hilfenhaus
Doug Bollinger
Dwayne Bravo
Dwayne John Bravo
Francois du Plessis
Ganapathi Vignesh
George Bailey
Joginder Sharma
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain)
Michael Hussey
Murali Vijay
Nuwan Kulasekara
Ravichandran Ashwin
Scott Bernard Styris
Scott Styris
Shrivasudeva Das
Subramaniam Badrinath
Sudeep Tyagi
Suraj Randiv
Suresh Raina
Vijaykumar Yo Mahesh
Wriddhiman Prasanta Saha
Deccan Chargers
The 2009 champions look one of the weaker teams. Former Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara has the challenge of bringing out the best from the young-looking team. Bowling remains their strength despite the withdrawal of fast bowler Ishant Sharma due to ankle injury. South African pacer Dale Steyn will be the one to look out for.
Leg-spinner Amit Mishra will hope to carry on his good form of 2011. Australia's Daniel Christian and Cameron White are the all-round options. Chargers came sixth in 2011.
Team Members of Deccan Chargers
Cameron White
Dale Steyn
Daniel Christian
JP Duminy
Kumar Sangakkara (Captain)
Delhi Daredevils
New Delhi, too, has made a lot of changes in the squad but they still have Virender Sehwag and David Warner in the batting department, while the presence of Irfan Pathan should be handy with the ball.
Sehwag's opening partner David Warner, who is on national duty in the Windies, will only be available at the end of the month. The bowling will be led by Umesh Yadav, Varun Aaron and Irfan Pathan. The main concern for Delhi lies in the spin area.
Team Members of Delhi Daredevils
Aaron Finch
Colin Ingram
David Warner
Morne Morkel
Virender Sehwag (Captain)
Kings XI Punjab
Captain and coach Adam Gilchrist will have the task of making the best use of the limited resources. The team does not boast of many big names. Australians David Hussey and Shaun Marsh are the prominent names in batting. Praveen Kumar, Ryan Harris and Piyush Chawla will have to do the job with the ball.
Team Members of King XI Punjab
Adam Gilchrist (Captain)
David Hussey
Paul Valthaty
Praveen Kumar
Ryan Harrison
Shaun Marsh
Stuart Broad
Kolkata Knight Riders
Gautam Gambhir and his men have enough fire-power to build on their fourth place finish in 2011. The Australian fast bowling duo of Brett Lee and James Pattinson can trouble most batsmen.
The team also boasts of top-all rounders - Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasan and South Africa legend Jacques Kallis. West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine and Iqbal Abdulla are likely to be the regular spinners. Other batsmen include Brendon McCullum, Eoin Morgan and big hitter Yusuf Pathan.
Team Members of Kolkata Knight Riders
Ajantha Mendis
Brad Haddin
Brett Lee
Chris Gayle
Eoin Morgan
Gautam Gambhir (Captain)
Jacques Kallis
Ryan Ten Doeschate
Shakib Al Hasan
Yusuf Pathan
Mumbai Indians
Sri Lanka speedster Lasith Malinga and Australian Mitchell Johnson will be the bowlers to look out for besides the familiar Munaf Patel and Rudra Pratap Singh. Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha will lead the spin attack. Mumbai reached the finals in 2010 and came fourth in the last edition.
Team Members of Mumbai Indians
Andrew Symonds
Harbhajan Singh (Captain)
James Franklin
Kieron Pollard
Munaf Patel
Rohit Sharma
Sachin Tendulkar
Rajasthan Royals
It was Shane Warne who masterminded Rajasthan Royals title triumph in the inaugural edition, against all odds and expectations. But the team has failed to replicate that success. The guidance of Shane Warne would be missed this time around, but the cerebral Rahul Dravid will take over the reins as the captain, coach and mentor of the side.
Rahul Dravid, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Sreesanth will play a key role in team’s success in the IPL 5.
Team Members of Rajasthan Royals
Johan Botha
Paul Collingwood
Rahul Dravid (Captain)
Ross Taylor
Shane Warne
Shane Watson
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Last year's runners-up can hope to go the distance with the presence of the explosive West Indian batsman Chris Gayle and the in form Virat Kohli. These two should get ample support from South Africa's AB de Villiers and Sri Lankan Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Zaheer Khan and R. Vinay Kumar will be the key in the fast bowling department. Champions spinners in Daniel Vettori and Muttiah Muralitharan certainly make Royal Challengers a force to reckon with.
Team Members of Royal Challengers Bangalore
Johan Botha
Paul Collingwood
Rahul Dravid (Captain)
Ross Taylor
Shane Warne
Shane Watson
Sahara Pune Warriors
They will be determined to make a mark after having been in the news for off-field reasons, which at one point saw them pulling out of the tournament. Australia captain Michael Clarke has been brought in as a replacement for Yuvraj Singh. Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal was signed recently. Sourav Ganguly will lead a batting line-up that has Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Jesse Ryder (New Zealand) and Angelo Matthews (Sri Lanka).
Team Members of Sahara Pune Warriors
Callum Ferguson
Graeme Smith
Jesse Ryder
Nathan McCullum
Robin Uthappa
Wayne Parnell
Saurav Ganguli (Captain)
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