As we get into the 2026 edition of the Indian Premier League, we will have a look at key personnel changes and how the teams are shaping up at the beginning of the season. In this analytical preview, Eoin Morgan – Chief Cricket Analyst, Parimatch Sports, and Jonty Rhodes- Key Cricket Analyst, Parimatch Sports, two of the game’s most respected cricket minds – deliver a comprehensive breakdown of the dark horses for the 2026 edition of the IPL.

The 2026 season of the Indian Premier League has had plenty of action in the first week, and several legacy teams, including 5-time champions Mumbai Indians and defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru, have emerged as the favorites.

While MI and RCB have the strongest squads on paper, Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans have found a couple of players on the market who have further balanced their squads, probably helping them improve their performance from the last season.

Eoin Morgan praises the newly found balance in the Royals

The Rajasthan Royals have taken a very tough call of letting go of the face of their franchise to play for a different team in exchange for two invaluable all-rounders, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran, who could fill their gaping holes from the last season.

While letting go of a champion player like Sanju Samson takes a lot of courage, the Royals must have identified that they are getting two experienced players who would contribute in all three facets of the game.

Jadeja would also see this as a fresh challenge after spending more than a decade in the Chennai Super Kings’ camp, while Sam Curran brings his own set of variations in bowling and the ability to bat at any given position in the batting order.

Obviously, the emergence of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi last season has made the blow of losing Samson a bit softer, as Vaibhav can be paired up with Yashaswi Jaiswal at the top, with new skipper Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel following the two destructive left-handed opening batters.

In the previous IPL season, the Royals were the most destructive side in the powerplay overs but lost the most number of wickets in the middle phase, which signifies a need for a player like Curran in case Parag or Jurel run out of form during the upcoming IPL season.

If there is an early collapse, Curran could be sent in to fix things up and set the stage for the lower middle-order finishers to come in and do their job later, while Sam would also be happy to keep his feet up for the entire batting innings if required.

Jadeja is a bona fide finisher in the IPL and a banker when it comes to bowling his four overs economically. Paired up with another new signing, Ravi Bishnoi, Jadeja would be the bowler to look for in the middle overs alongside the leg-spinner.

Losing Trent Boult in the mega-auction made the RR bowling attack very right-heavy, and having the two left-arm bowlers in the playing team would allow the Royals to play the correct matchups whenever required.

While Sandeep Sharma was very effective in the death overs last season, RR would be very happy to have another option in Curran, who has great experience of bowling the tougher overs and would love the long boundaries at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

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Jonty Rhodes speaks highly of the value of proven match winners in the GT squad

Gujarat Titans are once again walking into an IPL season unnoticed as the Ahmedabad-based franchise has built an enviable squad full of like-for-like backups. Skipper Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler make up the top-order that broke records last season as the trio became the first set of three players from the same IPL team to cross 500 runs in a single season.

In my opinion, Gill would still be hurting from the omission from the Indian T20 World Cup squad, and the Punjab batter would be looking forward to the upcoming season, as he can prove his worth to the national team management.

Apart from Gill, Buttler would also be looking to prove his mettle after failing to make an impact at the T20 World Cup in any manner whatsoever, with England struggling for runs at the top throughout the tournament. If Buttler fails to rediscover his lost form, GT has managed to rein in his compatriot, Tom Banton, who is unproven at the IPL level but would be looking ahead to nail his spot in the Titans’ playing squad.

With Glenn Phillips and Jason Holder proving their worth in the recently concluded T20 World Cup held on Indian pitches, the Titans won’t miss Sherfane Rutherford, who scored plenty of runs for them last season. Washington Sundar could be given a bigger role with Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia also in the mix for the middle-order spots.

If the Titans decide to go ahead with three overseas all-rounders in the form of Phillips, Holder, and Rashid Khan, they can certainly allow the likes of Sundar and Shahrukh a licence to express themselves freely. Both Sundar and Shahrukh displayed a lot of potential in their performances last season and would be looking forward to carrying on from where they left off in the last season.

Rashid and R Sai Kishore also make up an enviable spin duo with Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kagiso Rabada, and veteran Ishant Sharma making up the first-choice seam quartet apart from other promising names in the squad.

The Titans have also assembled a world-class support staff, with Matthew Hayden and Vijay Dahiya joining Parthiv Patel and head coach Ashish Nehra, who would be looking forward to commanding the Titans into the playoffs yet again.

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