IPL 2026: Full Squads and their Best Playing XIs

Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) Full Squads

The Indian Premier League is back with another blockbuster edition, and IPL 2026 already promises to be one of the most competitive seasons yet. With squads reshaped through auctions and smart signings, every franchise seems to have assembled a strong blend of youth, experience, and match-winning talent.

We look at all the squads in IPL2026, a few strengths and weaknesses and their best playing XIs.

IPL 2026 Squad, Strengths & Weaknesses and Best Starting XI

Chennai Super Kings (CSK), * = Overseas Players

Full Squad: MS Dhoni, Anshul Kamboj, Gurjapneet Singh, Jamie Overton*, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis*, Noor Ahmad*, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Shivam Dube, Shreyas Gopal, Syed Khaleel Ahmed, Ayush Mhatre, Dewald Brevis*, Urvil Patel, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Rahul Chahar, Matt Henry*, Akeal Hosein*, Matthew Short*, Zak Foulkes*, Sarfaraz Khan, Aman Khan.

• Solid Indian core

• Inexperienced Pace Attack

Best Starting XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Ayush Mhatre, Prashanth Veer, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Akeal Hosein*/Jamie Overton*, Noor Ahmad*, Matt Henry*, Rahul Chahar, Khaleel Ahmed

Delhi Capitals (DC)

Full Squad: Abhishek Porel, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, Axar Patel (c), Dushmantha Chameera*, Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Kuldeep Yadav, Madhav Tiwari, Mitchell Starc*, Mukesh Kumar, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, T. Natarajan, Tripurana Vijay, Tristan Stubbs*, Vipraj Nigam, Auqib Dar, Pathum Nissanka*, Kyle Jamieson*, Lungi Ngidi*, Ben Duckett*, David Miller*, Prithvi Shaw, Sahil Parakh.

• Strong bowling attack

• Fiery top-order but inconsistent

Best Starting XI: Prithvi Shaw, KL Rahul, David Miller*, Tristan Stubbs*, Nitish Rana, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Starc*, T. Natarajan, Mukesh Kumar, Dushmantha Chameera*.

Gujarat Titans (GT)

Full Squad: Anuj Rawat, Glenn Phillips*, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Ishant Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Jos Buttler*, Kagiso Rabada*, Kumar Kushagra, Manav Suthar, Mohammad Siraj, Mohd. Arshad Khan, Nishant Sindhu, Prasidh Krishna, R. Sai Kishore, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan*, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Shubman Gill (c), Washington Sundar, Jason Holder*, Tom Banton*, Ashok Sharma, Luke Wood*, Prithviraj Yarra.

• Exceptionally balanced top-order

• Star bowlers

• Middle-order issues

Best Starting XI: Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler*, Sai Sudharsan, Glenn Phillips*, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan*, Washington Sundar, Kagiso Rabada*, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Anukul Roy, Harshit Rana, Manish Pandey, Ramandeep Singh, Rinku Singh, Rovman Powell*, Sunil Narine*, Umran Malik, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Cameron Green*, Matheesha Pathirana*, Tejasvi Singh, Rachin Ravindra*, Finn Allen*, Tim Seifert*, Akash Deep, Rahul Tripathi, Daksh Kamra, Sarthak Ranjan, Prashant Solanki, Kartik Tyagi.

• All-round depth

• Quality spin attack

• Over-reliance on stars

Best Starting XI: Tim Seifert, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Cameron Green*, Rovman Powell*, Sunil Narine*, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Umran Malik, Matheesha Pathirana*, Harshit Rana

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)

Squad: Abdul Samad, Aiden Markram*, Akash Singh, Arjun Tendulkar, Arshin Kulkarni, Avesh Khan, Ayush Badoni, Digvesh Singh, Himmat Singh, Manimaran Siddharth, Matthew Breetzke*, Mayank Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Mitchell Marsh*, Mohsin Khan, Nicholas Pooran*, Prince Yadav, Rishabh Pant (c), Shahbaz Ahmed, Josh Inglis*, Mukul Choudhary, Akshat Raghuwanshi, Anrich Nortje*, Wanindu Hasaranga*, Naman Tiwari.

• Power-hitting Prowess

• Quality bowlers

• Middle-overs can get stagnant

Best Starting XI: Rishabh Pant, Aiden Markram*, Nicholas Pooran*, Himmat Singh, Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Shami, Anrich Nortje*, Mayank Yadav, Wanindu Hasaranga*

Mumbai Indians (MI)

Squad: Allah Ghazanfar*, Ashwani Kumar, Corbin Bosch*, Deepak Chahar, Hardik Pandya (c), Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande, Mitchell Santner*, Naman Dhir, Raghu Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Robin Minz, Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton*, Shardul Thakur, Sherfane Rutherford*, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Trent Boult*, Will Jacks*, Quinton de Kock*, Mayank Rawat, Atharva Ankolekar, Mohammad Izhar, Danish Malewar.

• Experience and fire-power

• World class bowling led by Jasprit Bumrah

• Middle-order inconsistency

Best Starting XI: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock*, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David*, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner*, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult*, Deepak Chahar

Punjab Kings (PBKS)

Squad: Arshdeep Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai*, Harnoor Pannu, Harpreet Brar, Lockie Ferguson*, Marco Jansen*, Marcus Stoinis*, Mitch Owen*, Musheer Khan, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Iyer (c), Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Xavier Bartlett*, Yash Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ben Dwarshuis*, Cooper Connolly*, Vishal Nishad, Pravin Dubey.

• Strong all-round base

• Quality spin attack, effective pace attack

• Finishing games can be an issue

Best Starting XI: Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis*, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai*, Harpreet Brar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson*, Marco Jansen*

Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Squad: Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira*, Jofra Archer*, Kwena Maphaka*, Lhuan-Dre Pretorious*, Nandre Burger*, Ravindra Jadeja, Riyan Parag (c), Sam Curran*, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer*, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Yudhvir Charak, Ravi Bishnoi, Adam Milne*, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, Kuldeep Sen, Brijesh Sharma, Aman Rao Perala, Vignesh Puthur, Yash Raj Punja.

• Explosive top-order

• Inconsistent middle-order

Best Starting XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer*, Ravindra Jadeja, Donovan Ferreira*, Jofra Archer*, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Nandre Burger*

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)

Squad: Abhinandan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell*, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood*, Krunal Pandya, Nuwan Thushara*, Phil Salt*, Rajat Patidar (c), Rasikh Dar, Romario Shepherd*, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Tim David*, Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal, Venkatesh Iyer*, Mangesh Yadav, Jordan Cox*, Kanishk Chouhan, Vihaan Malhotra, Vicky Ostwal, Satvik Deswal.

• Virat Kohli and explosive top-order

• Improved bowling

• Death-over bowling struggles

Best Starting XI: Virat Kohli, Phil Salt*, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Tim David*, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood*, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma

SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH)

Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Aniket Verma, Brydon Carse*, Eshan Malinga*, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel, Heinrich Klaasen*, Ishan Kishan, Jaydev Unadkat, Kamindu Mendis*, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Pat Cummins (c) , Smaran Ravichandaran, Travis Head, Zeeshan Ansari, Liam Livingstone*, Jack Edwards*, Salil Arora, Shivam Mavi, Krains Fuletra, Praful Hinge, Amit Kumar, Onkar Tarmale, Sakib Hussain, Shivang Kumar.

• Explosive batting unit

• No bowling depth

Best Starting XI: Travis Head*, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Heinrich Klaasen*, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Liam Livingstone*, Pat Cummins*, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat, Shivam Mavi, Zeeshan Ansari

IPL 2026 is shaping up to be a fiercely competitive tournament, with every team equipped to mount a serious title challenge. Some sides lean on experience, others thrive on youthful energy, while many have found a smart balance between the two. With such fine margins, consistency will ultimately separate the contenders from the rest.

From Chennai’s composed leadership to Mumbai’s sheer firepower, Gujarat’s well-rounded approach to Hyderabad’s attacking intent, each team comes in with a distinct identity and clear ambition. As the season unfolds, unexpected moments are bound to emerge, and that unpredictability is what makes the IPL truly special.