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    Former captains predict IPL 2026 winner; ignore multiple-time champions

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    Runfyers
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    Former England captains, Michael Vaughan and Alastair Cook, made their title predictions for the 2026 IPL season, which starts on Saturday, March 28 (via The Overlap Cricket YouTube channel). Vaughan backed the Mumbai Indians (MI) to capture a record sixth IPL title, breaking their five-year drought.

    The franchise won its fifth title by repeating as champions in 2020, capping off an incredible 2010s in which they won five trophies. However, MI has missed the playoffs in three of the last five IPL seasons, including a bottom-placed finish in 2024.

    Yet, in Hardik Pandya’s second season as MI captain last year, the side showed glimpses of their dominant self, finishing third after suffering a heartbreaking defeat to the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Qualifier Two.

    On the other hand, Cook backed the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to make it back-to-back titles under head coach Andy Flower and skipper Rajat Patidar. The franchise broke a 17-year titleless run by capturing its first IPL trophy last year.

    RCB dominated the league stage, finishing second on the standings, before thumping table-toppers, PBKS, in Qualifier One and the final. If Patidar’s side wins the title in the upcoming IPL season, they will join MI and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as the only teams to win back-to-back IPL titles.

    Surprisingly, neither Vaughan nor Cook picked multiple-time IPL winners, CSK and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), to achieve ultimate glory in the upcoming season.

    Two other former England cricketers pick multiple-time champions to win IPL 2026

    Two other former England cricketers, David Lloyd and Phil Tufnell, backed CSK to add a sixth IPL title to their trophy cabinet in the upcoming 2026 edition. The Men in Yellow won two of the first three titles in the ongoing 2020s decade.

    However, they have slipped drastically over the past two IPL seasons, missing the playoffs and finishing at the bottom of the standings, respectively. Facing the danger of a hat-trick of playoff eliminations, the Chennai-based franchise traded for T20 World Cup 2026 Player of the Tournament, Sanju Samson, from the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

    It resulted in them letting go of one of the legendary performers, Ravindra Jadeja, and fellow all-rounder Sam Curran.