IPL 2025 preview: Jos Buttler, Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone have point to prove

Whilst attention in England shifts to the beginning of the domestic red ball season, early Spring also signals the arrival of cricket’s most prestigious franchise tournament – the Indian Premier League.

Known as IPL, the tournament returns on Saturday for its 18th edition as reigning champions Kolkata Knight Riders take on Royal Challengers Bangalore at Eden Gardens.

There are now 10 English players set to take part this season, following the withdrawal of Harry Brook (personal) and Brydon Carse (injury), with former white ball captain Jos Buttler eager to put behind him a difficult few months as he prepares for life with his new franchise.

Elsewhere, Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone will both feel they have a point to prove, whilst Sam Curran and Will Jacks will be hoping they can showcase the form to warrant a recall on the international stage this summer.

With India firmly establishing themselves as the dominant force in white ball cricket in recent years, the 2025 IPL is expected to be as competitive as ever.

Here, Sports News Blitz’s cricket writer Dom Harris takes a look at some of the key talking points that will unfold over the next two months

Can Kolkata Knight Riders defend their crown?

The defending champions are without their title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer this time around, though the core of their winning structure remains largely intact which includes the dynamic West Indies duo of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, as well as all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer who KKR broke the bank for his return at the auction.

Alongside Narine, mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy will be vital again after taking 21 wickets in 2024 and recently playing an important role in India’s Champions Trophy success – the pair provide a dream spin partnership which can almost guarantee an economical eight overs between them.

In the seam department, Harshit Rana was the joint-fourth highest wicket-taker in the competition last year with 19 scalps and has enjoyed a breakthrough year with the national team since, so will be looking to play a leading role once more in what is a fairly inexperienced unit which has also lost Umran Malik to injury in the build-up.

Key overseas stars Phil Salt and Mitchell Starc have moved elsewhere but have been replaced smartly with Quinton de Kock and Anrich Nortje, whilst there is also ample like-for-like replacements in the form of Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Spencer Johnson and England’s Moeen Ali who will likely only feature as a deputy to Narine.

The seasoned Ajinkya Rahane will fill the void at number three and take over the captaincy, perhaps a surprising choice given he only averaged 20 at a strike rate of 123 last year with CSK, though KKR will be hoping he can act as the foil for the firepower of Russell, Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh as finishers.

With much of the same personnel from 2024, there is no reason Kolkata Knight Riders should not consider themselves well-equipped to make it back-to-back titles and at the very least be in a strong position to qualify in the top four.

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Will Sunrisers Hyderabad smash their way to the title?

Sunrisers Hyderabad fell just short of a first IPL title since 2016 as they were convincingly beaten by KKR in the final last year, however many are tipping the Orange Army to go one better this time around.

And with good reason too. They possess a power-packed batting unit of Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy that blew opposition away which has been bolstered further by the addition of Ishan Kishan – left-handed opener Abhishek in particular is one-to-watch after his blistering 54-ball 135 assault against England in the fifth T20 international last month.

In a season of staggering team totals, SRH were responsible for three of the top four in 2024 – the highest of which was 287-3 against RCB at a run rate in excess of 14.

The challenge this year is seemingly to score 300 and judging by news from their practice games, you wouldn’t bet against it.

Their imposing batting line-up could only possibly be matched in X-factor by Lucknow Super Giants (Rishabh Pant, Nicholas Pooran and David Miller), though it is their options with the ball that sets them apart as serious contenders.

Australia’s Pat Cummins is a terrific leader and returns from injury which ruled him out of the Champions Trophy, India’s experienced new-ball bowler Mohammed Shami was acquired at the auction, as was Harshal Patel with his variations earning him a competition-high 24 wickets last year at Punjab Kings.

Of course, it is by no means a given their ultra-attacking template will always deliver as witnessed in the final and there lies some concerns.

Their batting depth below number five looks weak – Kamindu Mendis or Wiaan Mulder, a late replacement for England’s Brydon Carse, will likely fill the fourth overseas slot in the team to shore up their line-up but both have yet to feature in the IPL before.

That would mean there is no room for Australia’s Adam Zampa, with Rahul Chahar the lone domestic frontline spinner.

Should they feel the need to play Zampa, that would compromise the lower order and put greater pressure on their inexperienced local batters such as Abhinav Manohar.

If key players stay fit and perform to a consistent level, SRH possess all the necessary ingredients to taste success for a second time.

Is this the year RCB, Delhi Capitals or Punjab Kings finally end their wait for glory?

The star-studded Mumbai Indians and experienced know-how of Chennai Super Kings account for 10 of the 17 titles to date, though for three long-standing teams the IPL trophy has remained elusive since its inception in 2008.

Royal Challengers Bangalore have regularly boasted some of the world’s greatest T20 players yet have failed to make the final since 2016, losing in the Eliminator last year after a resurgent comeback from winning just one of their first seven games.

This time around RCB have built a more balanced squad, with the additions of Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar providing much needed experience and control to the bowling attack.

Talisman Virat Kohli has a new opening partner in Phil Salt, who was influential in KKR’s title campaign scoring 435 runs at a strike rate of 182 and one of three England internationals on the RCB roster this term.

Rajat Patidar is the newly-appointed captain and offers reliability at number three for the explosiveness of Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Jacob Bethell and Tim David in the middle order to follow – the latter two will be competing for one overseas spot with the England talent in pole position as a floating left-handed option.

There may be some concerns around their lack of an experienced frontline spinner or the suitability for some of their big hitters to adapt to the loss of early wickets, though RCB fans may be quietly confident the stars will align for Kohli – who finished last season 158 runs clear of anybody else – to finally get his hands on the IPL trophy in its 18th season, with 18 also being his synonymous shirt number.

Delhi Capitals lost in their only final appearance in 2020 and have failed to make the playoffs in the last three years.

There is a fair bit of change in a new era for the Capitals, with Kevin Pietersen among the arrivals in the backroom staff and all-rounder Axar Patel leading the side after Rishabh Pant moved on in the mega auction.

KL Rahul was their high-profile pick-up and will provide stability with the bat to complement Jake Fraser-McGurk who was retained after a stellar IPL debut where he scored 330 runs at a strike rate of 234 but has struggled to replicate such form for Australia since and arrives here under some pressure.

Harry Brook’s withdrawal at the 11th hour will force a reshuffle in what is a fairly top-heavy batting line-up that has Faf du Plessis and Abishek Porel also in the side, with only the captain and Tristan Stubbs as recognised middle order players.

The pace attack looks a lot more potent this time, spearheaded by the arrival of Mitchell Starc who shone for KKR in the playoffs last year and has effective domestic trio Mukesh Kumar, T Natarajan and Mohit Sharma in support.

Meanwhile, Patel and Kuldeep Yadav are two of India’s premier spin bowlers and will be crucial to Delhi’s hopes of finishing in the top four.

Punjab Kings have remarkably failed to qualify for the play-offs since 2014, though there is widespread optimism that they could be the dark horse in 2025.

Ricky Ponting is at the helm and there is unsurprisingly a strong Australian overseas contingent with five players, including the ‘Big Show’ Glenn Maxwell.

The stock of a number of their players has also risen in recent months, none more so than new captain Shreyas Iyer who was bought for a hefty price of 26.75 crore at the mega auction but has been in scintillating form in ODI cricket.

Australia wicketkeeper Josh Inglis has also become a Test and ODI centurion this year already, and a destructive one it was against England, whilst Azmatullah Omarzai was a standout performer for Afghanistan in the Champions Trophy.

Marcus Stoinis and Marco Jansen are two world-class among an array of all-rounder options at their disposal, whilst Lockie Ferguson and Xavier Bartlett provide depth in the pace ranks which will be without last year’s Purple Cap winner Harshal Patel.

The retention of domestic batters Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh enabled Punjab to invest heavily in their bowling, bringing back left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh and securing the services of experienced leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal – India’s current leading two wicket-takers in T20 internationals.

The betting market currently doesn’t hold too much hope for Punjab Kings but if Ponting and Iyer can get this well-balanced side to click, they could be the team to keep an eye on as the tournament progresses.

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What about the other English players?

Jos Buttler’s reign as England white ball captain is over and so is his long-term association with Rajasthan Royals as Gujarat Titans won the bidding war for his services in the region of £1.4m, where any hopes will largely depend on his form at the top of the order with Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan to do much of the heavy lifting.

The fitness of Jofra Archer will be of interest to many as he returns to the unfancied Rajasthan Royals, who will be reliant on the England quick to spearhead the pace attack after failing to sign a single seam bowling all-rounder in the auction.

Sam Curran – currently overlooked by England but a name discussed as a potential successor to Buttler as white ball captain – also returns to a former team in CSK, alongside IPL debutant Jamie Overton.

The pair could play a crucial role with both bat and ball in what is a somewhat stale middle order and spin-focused attack.

Will Jacks was picked up by the Mumbai Indians, looking to revive their fortunes after a 10th-placed finish last year, and could force his way back into the England reckoning if he impresses batting with the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya.

Reece Topley is also on the books there but will be behind fellow left-armer Trent Boult in the pecking order and see his opportunities only further limited once star man Jasprit Bumrah returns from injury.

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