With the 2025 IPL season kicking off in about two days, the predictions are rolling in! Big names like Virender Sehwag, Michael Vaughan, and Adam Gilchrist have shared their top four picks with Cricbuzz. Interestingly, almost all the experts are leaving out Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), except for Rohan Gavaskar. Sehwag thinks Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will also miss the playoffs.
Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle is backing RCB to be in the top four. SunRisers Hyderabad seems to be a favorite, with eight out of ten experts thinking they’ll make it to the final.
Here’s a look at the experts’ top four:
- Virender Sehwag: MI, SRH, PBKS & LSG
- Adam Gilchrist: PBKS, MI, SRH & GT
- Rohan Gavaskar: RCB, SRH, DC & MI
- Harsha Bhogle: SRH, MI, KKR & RCB
- Shaun Pollack: MI, CSK, SRH & PBKS
- Manoj Tiwary: SRH, PBKS, GT & KKR
- Simon Doull: CSK, KKR, SRH & PBKS
- Michael Vaughan: GT, MI, KKR & PBKS
- Mpumelelo Mbangwa: SRH, GT, KKR & LSG
Before the RCB vs. KKR match on Saturday, the BCCI has changed some IPL rules.
PTI reports these changes were decided at the IPL 2025 captains’ meeting in Mumbai this past Thursday.
Instead of banning captains for slow over rates, they’ll get demerit points.
This change comes after Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant got one-match bans in the 2024 season for repeated over-rate offenses.
Hardik will sit out the first game against CSK because of the ban.
Plus, the BCCI is letting players use saliva on the ball again after most captains agreed. IPL is the first big cricket competition to drop this COVID-19 restriction.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) banned saliva to shine the ball during the pandemic for hygiene reasons.
Now that the IPL has reversed the ban, the ICC might rethink their decision, too.
Also, the Impact Player rule is sticking around for the IPL, even though there were rumors it might be dropped.
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