Outright Betting Odds On 2020 IPL Winner
The 2020 IPL is set to commence from 19 Sep and run till 10 Nov. There have been a lot of challenges for the IPL governing body and the players in the lead up to the 2020 IPL due to the COVID-19 situation. The BCCI and IPL franchises are following strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) to pull off a 53-day tournament that is free from controversy.
IPL franchises and their players are looking to put all of those distractions behind them and focus on the job at hand. It is going to be difficult for all involved and the team that could end up winning the 2020 IPL may not be the team that is the most talent stacked but rather the team that is the strongest mentally.
We take a look at how the oddsmakers have rated each IPL franchise and see who are the top 3 teams in the running for the 2020 IPL championship. Do note that these rankings and odds will change as we get closer to the tournament.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
If you were expecting the Mumbai Indians or Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to be the favorite with the bookmakers, you are in for a surprise. The favorites as of now to win the 2020 IPL Championship are Sunrisers Hyderabad who has odds of 5. David Warner will be back to lead the Sunrisers, and this is one of the main reasons why they are the favorites.
This team is nicely balanced with a good set of overseas players including Kane Williamson, Mitchell Marsh and domestic players like W Saha and Vijay Shankar.
Mumbai Indians
The defending champions are ranked second with odds of 6. Rohit Sharma will once again lead Mumbai to see if they can capture their 5th IPL Championship. Mumbai will be without the services of L Malinga, but they still have a stacked line-up of great overseas players including Kieron Pollard, Quinton de Kock, Chris Lynn and Trent Boult.
Chennai Super Kings
CSK has had a rough start with 2 players and 11 staff testing positive for COVID. They have also lost the services of S Raina who has returned to India. However, with MS Dhoni still at the helm, CSK has odds of 6.
Delhi Capitals
They have never won the IPL so far but have a great chance to do so in 2020 with odds of 7. Young Shreyas Iyer did a great job captaining the side in 2019 and will once again have to be innovative as he does not have a lot of talent to play with. The top players in this squad include Alex Carey, Marcus Stoinis and KG Rabada.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
RCB has always had a talent stacked team but has never been able to play to their potential in any edition of the IPL. V Kohli has performed poorly as a captain in the IPL and will want to rectify things by leading his squad to their first IPL Championship. They have odds of 8 to win this year’s IPL. Key players in this squad include AB Devilliers, Aaron Finch, Chris Morris and N Saini.
Kolkata Knight Riders
KKR also has odds of 8 at the time of this writing, even though they have won the IPL on two occasions. KKR need to sort out their squad composition and batting order to pose a challenge this year. Dinesh Karthik will continue to lead the squad and will rely on premier all-rounder Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav.
Kings XI Punjab
Has odds of 10 as no one expects them to pull off a championship win. KL Rahul will be leading this squad for the first time, and he will want to stamp his authority on the squad and show that they can make it to the playoffs and win. They don’t have a talent stacked squad, but the few players they have are match winners. These players include Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran and Chris Gayle.
Rajasthan Royals
Tied up Kings XI and have odds of 10. They will be captained by Steve Smith, who will be happy to take on the skipper’s role again. RR has shown in the past that they can come from behind and surprise the rest of the competition, and that is exactly what they will want to do in 2020. Key players in this squad include Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Butler and Sanju Samson.
