IPL 2025, no matter how much we talk about it, it feels like it’s never enough. Excitement is already at its peak, even though the tournament is still far away. Rumors and speculation are in the air. Kolkata Knight Riders, who cooked the perfect eggs in SRH’s biryani and won IPL 2024 by convincingly defeating them, are currently on a high. But can they maintain their champion status in IPL 2025, or will another team emerge as the winner? If so, who could it be? Will it be a team known for winning big tournaments, or will a new camp claim the silverware? That’s what we’ll try to speculate on.
However, it’s also a fact that the mega auction is coming, which means several players may not be retained by their franchises. This also means it will be a challenge for those players to maintain their team’s legacy camps, who are IPL toppers or teams that have always had a rough outing. Since the mega auction can change many vital things, let’s see who we think could emerge as potential winners in IPL 2025.
Teams that may win the IPL 2025
MI
Despite securing a ‘tenth’ or last rank in the IPL 2024 standings, there is hope for this Mumbai Indians franchise. Although we may expect subtle to aggressive changes this time from the possibility of Rohit Sharma leaving the camp to Suryakumar Yadav replacing him as captain—everything is high.
The team, under Hardik Pandya, MI had many hopes pinned on this star all-rounder, especially seeing how GT performed under his captaincy. Unfortunately, Pandya couldn’t replicate that success and failed to deliver. But now, one watershed moment could turn into productive results. This is a team known for winning big matches or, rather, knowing how to win the IPL, with five trophies in the bank, starting from 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020.
There is no question that many hopes remain for this team. However, considering last season, one area that came under scrutiny was their bowling. Jasprit Bumrah was seen handling the bowling single-handedly, while other bowlers watched their deliveries being hit out of the park.
With a bowling economy of 9.77 runs per over, they will need to tighten things up. Otherwise, despite a strong batting lineup, it will be interesting to see how things go for Rohit Sharma. But apart from him, the team is packed with experienced players and young star all-rounders, giving them an impressive chance to win the cup.
KKR
Eastern Derby Kolkata Knight Riders are surely a team we can’t ignore, especially considering how packed their team was in IPL 2024. Last year, their middle order and bowlers, particularly fast bowlers like Vaibhav Arora and Harshit Rana, made their mark. For Rana, this was possibly the IPL that earned him the India cap. For KKR, the only issue now is how they will approach the mega auction, whom they will release and who they will retain. Will a batter like Rinku Singh be retained, or will bowlers like Harshit Rana and all-rounders such as Andre Russell be KKR’s first priority? If they get all the permutations and combinations right, there’s no doubt that this team is filled with rockstars and has one goal in mind, to win the trophy for the fourth time.
Also, their spinners did a wonderful job. From Suyash Sharma to Varun Chakravarthy, they went all guns blazing, helping the core control the overflow of runs. This was the main reason we saw them convincingly win the finals, beating their opponents by 8 wickets after restricting them to 113 runs.
SRH
Last but not least, the team that completely changed its identity, Sunrisers Hyderabad, was known for investing more in bowlers. Although they have always had decent batters in the past, one thing that has completely changed now is their batting strength. Before IPL 2024, they were known for trusting bowlers who could control the runs and then hunt down small targets, which might have been one of the reasons they won the 2016 IPL.
Led by Pat Cummins in IPL 2024, SRH looked like a strong batting unit for the first time in the last three seasons, from having openers like Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who are likely to be retained, to a middle order packed with Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Reddy, to lower-order hitters like Pat Cummins, who is also a lethal bowler. Things look sorted and clear from this lineup, and crossing one barrier, it’s not wrong to say that it is easy to predict who they will retain.
If they go with the four-player retention policy, they could retain Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen, who will look to hunt down one more IPL trophy.
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