Our analysis on who can win the IPL 9 - the favourites and the dark horses

In fact, from the defending champions Mumbai Indians to the newcomers Gujarat Lions and Rising Supergiants, every team looks strong – at least on paper. But do they? A deeper analysis of the teams and their strengths in the batting and bowling department reveals more and here are our picks for who seem the likely winners and losers as we head into IPL 2016.

Batsmen: Rohit Sharma, Siddhesh Lad, Unmukt Chand, Ambati Rayudu, Nitish Rana, Lendl Simmons*

All-rounders: Kieron Pollard*, Corey Anderson*, Shreyas Gopal, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kishore Kamath, Deepak Punia, Jagadeesha Suchith

Fast Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah, Vinay Kumar, Mitchell McClenaghan*, Marchant de Lange*, Lasith Malinga*, Tim Southee*, Nathu Singh

Spinners: Harbhajan Singh, Akshay Wakhare

The team looks the most settled and will once again be the favourites for the title. The luxury of having all-rounders of all kinds was a major reason for Mumbai’s title-winning run, and they have now added leg-spinning all-rounder Kishore Kamath, and left-arm spinner and handy middle-order batsman Krunal Pandya bringing, even more, variety.

Their weakness will be the absence of a top-order Indian batsman, who could replace Rohit Sharma, or Ambati Rayudu when needed. Also apart from Lendl Simmons, the team doesn’t have any foreigner, who could bat in the top-3, and the Caribbean's form will play a big part in Mumbai’s season.

Batting Points: 8.5

Bowling Points: 9

* for overseas players

2. Royal Challengers Bangalore (Third -2015)

All-rounders: David Wiese*, Shane Watson*, Stuart Binny, Akshay Karnewar, Praveen Dubey, Parvez Rasool

Wicket-keepers: AB de Villiers*, Travis Head*

Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, Samuel Badree, Iqbal Abdulla

RCB finished third last IPL after losing to CSK in the second qualifier. The team has always been top-heavy, and now with the addition of Watson to the trio of Gayle, Kohli and AB de Villiers, they should strike fear into any opening bowler. Their bowling also looks formidable with Starc, Richardson and Milne along with Indian pacers Varun Aaron, Harshal Patel and Sreenath Arvind.

Chahal, Badree, Rasool and Abdulla are good spinners, but none of them can be called a match-winner. An experienced India spinner would have provided Kohli with much better variety. They also lack top-quality backups for their big top-order.

Pragyan Ojha, who went unsold in the auction, could have been a decent addition to the team with two slots remaining in the roster.

Bowling Points: 8.25

Likely XI: Gayle*, Watson*, Kohli (c), De Villers*, Kedar Jadhav (wk), Sarfraz Khan, Binny, Chahal, Aaron, Aravind, Starc*

Batsmen: Gambhir, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn*

All-rounders: Andre Russell*, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan*, John Hastings*, Jason Holder*, Rajagopal Sathish, Manan Sharma, Colin Munro*

Fast Bowlers: Umesh Yadav, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot, Morne Morkel*

Spinners: Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine*, Brad Hogg*

Spin was KKR's strength in their title-winning season, and, this time, around also the fortunes will be dependent on Sunil Narine’s performance. The arrival of John Hastings and Jason Holder also gives KKR more options in the all-rounders department.

KKR’s struggles away from home have been down to the inability of their pace bowlers, and it doesn’t look rectified with only Umesh Yadav, Unadkat and Rajpoot in the team as Indian pacers. The lack of quality back-up options in the top order will also cause problems to the team in case of an injury.

Batting Points: 8.25

Bowling Points: 8.75

4. Sunrisers Hyderabad (Sixth -2015)

Batsmen: Dhawan, Warner*, Eoin Morgan*, Kane Williamson*, Ricky Bhui, Tirumalasetti Suman

Wicket-keepers: Naman Ojha, Aditya Tare

Fast Bowlers: Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, A Nehra, Barinder Sran, Trent Boult*, Mustafizur Rahman*, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ben Cutting*

The Hyderabad team finished sixth last season and said goodbye to their pace spearheads Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma. In come, Yuvraj Singh and Ashish Nehra from India’s World T20 squad. The team looks much stronger, this time, around, and in fact, have an embarrassment of riches in the fast-bowling department with Nehra, Bhuvneshwar, Boult, Muztafizur and Sran in addition to Siddarth Kaul and Abhimanyu Mithun. The middle order also looks much better with Yuvraj Singh's arrival, giving them the much-needed Indian presence in the middle overs. The spin department looks a bit weak though with only Karn Sharma and Bipul Sharma.

Pragyan Ojha, who has taken 36 wickets so far in the Ranji Season, could have been a good addition to the team.

Bowling Points: 8.5

Likely XI: Dhawan, Warner* (c), Morgan*, Yuvraj, Ojha (wk), Henriques*, Bipul Sharma, Karn, Bhuvneshwar, Nehra, Boult*

Batsmen: Mayank Agarwal, Shreyas Iyer, Karun Nair, JP Duminy*

All-rounders: Jayant Yadav, Chris Morris*, Pawan Negi, Akhil Herwadkar, Mahipal Lomror, Carlos Brathwaite*

Fast Bowlers: Mohammed Shami, Nathan Coulter-Nile*, Zaheer Khan, Joel Paris*, Pawan Suyal, Chama Milind, Khaleel Ahmed

Spinners: Amit Mishra, Shahbaz Nadeem, Imran Tahir*, Pratyush Singh

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Their tactics to go for unproven and untested youngsters instead of high-profile stars may help them in the long run, although their chances for this season look bleak. The lack of high-profile or marquee stars is the only problem area for the Delhi team. They have enough options in all positions after buying voraciously in the auction.

Bowling Points: 8.25

Likely XI: Quinton de Kock* (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Sanju Samson, JP Duminy* (c),Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Carlos Brathwaite*, Chris Morris *, Pawan Negi, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami

Batsmen: Manan Vohra, Murali Vijay, Shaun Marsh*, David Miller*, Nikhil Naik, Armaan Jaffer

All-rounders: Rishi Dhawan, Axar Patel, Glenn Maxwell*, Farhaan Behardien*, Marcus Stoinis*, Pardeep Sahu, Gurkeerat Singh

Fast Bowlers: Mitchell Johnson*, Shardul Thakur, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Kyle Abbott*

Spinners: KC Cariappa, Swapnil Singh

The biggest problem for the team will be the captain, with no player standing out as captaincy material. Quality back-ups for Maxwell, Miller and Marsh are also missing from the roster. The form of the Australian trio of Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell and Shaun Marsh will decide the fortunes of the team.

A good quality spinner to partner Axar Patel could have helped in the balance of the team. Kings XI also doesn’t have a back-up for wicketkeeper Saha.

Batting Points: 8.5

Bowling Points: 8.25

7. Gujarat Lions

Batsmen: Suresh Raina, Aaron Finch*, Paras Dogra, Umang Sharma, Jaydev Shah, Akshdeep Nath

Wicket-keepers: Brendon McCullum*, Dinesh Karthik, Eklavya Dwivedi, Ishan Kishan

Fast Bowlers: Dale Steyn*, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Andrew Tye*, Pradeep Sangwan, Amit Mishra

The newcomers did really well in the IPL draft, that took place in December, by picking Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo and James Faulkner. With a strong T20 core in hand, the Rajkot-based franchise added 19 more players in the auction to string up a respectable squad.

Brendon McCullum-Aaron Finch look deadly at the top, with the team having the luxury of Dwayne Smith on the bench. Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Bravo and Ishan Kishan will form the rest of the middle order. Ravindra Jadeja and James Faulkner will boost the lower-order.

Indian batsmen Manoj Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi and Rohan Prem, who had good performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, could have been good back-ups to the high-profile stars.

Batting Points: 8.75

Likely XI: Finch, McCullum, Raina (c), Karthik (wk), Dwayene Bravo, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Tambe

8. Rising Pune Supergiants

All-rounders: Irfan Pathan, Mitchell Marsh*, Thisara Perera*, Rajat Bhatia, Albie Morkel*

Wicket-keepers: MS Dhoni, Ankush Bains, Peter Handscomb*

Spinners: R Ashwin, M Ashwin, Ankit Sharma, Adam Zampa*

Rising Pune Supergiants has MSD captain and Stephen Fleming as coach. The similarity with CSK doesn’t end there, and they have inherited the same problem CSK had – the fast bowling. Ishant Sharma, RP Singh, Ishwar Pandey and Ashok Dinda are the Indian pacers for the Pune side, and none of them have gathered acclaim for their death bowling. Scott Boland is the overseas option apart from all-rounders Irfan Pathan, Albie Morkel and Mitchell Marsh.

Batting Points: 9.25

Bowling Points: 8.5

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