IPL 2024 - Which Teams and Players to Watch Out For

The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 is fast approaching, and although an official start date has yet to be confirmed, reliable sources have said that the 17th edition is likely to run from March 22 until May 26 (give or take a few days).

Let’s dive straight in to look at which teams and key players everyone will be keeping a close eye on this year.

Who are the teams to watch this year in the 2024 Indian Premier League?

According to today’s most trusted sports information and reporting websites that cover cricket, the three teams to watch this year in the 2024 Indian Premier League are the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Mumbai Indians (MI).

At today’s most trusted IPL predictions websites and online bookmakers, these three teams have the best chance of winning the 2024 IPL season outright.

And which key players will cricket fans be keeping a close eye on?

Here are some of the key players people will be keeping a close eye on this year, some of which may even break IPL records

- Team: Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Captain: MS Dhoni. Key players to watch: Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Ruturaj Gaikwad

- Team: Gujarat Titans (GT). Captain: Hardik Pandya. Key players to watch: Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan

- Team: Mumbai Indians (MI). Captain: Rohit Sharma. Key players to watch: Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishan Kishan

Honourable mentions

Some of the other key players to watch this year are David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, and Axar Patel of the Delhi Capitals, Nicholas Pooran, Umran Malik, and Glenn Maxwell of the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), and Jofra Archer, Jos Butler, and Yuzvendra Chahal of the Rajasthan Royals (RR).

For the Punjab Kings (PBKS), the three key players who many fans will be paying close attention to are Liam Livingstone, Shikar Dhawan, and Kagiso Rabada. The three key players of the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) are Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stonis, and Ravi Bishnoi.

You also have Pat Cummins, Andre Russell, and Venkatesh Iyer of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), to name just a few key players to watch this season.

Which team will win the 2024 IPL?

To get a more accurate understanding of which IPL team will most likely come out on top this year and win the tournament outright, the best thing to do would be to look at the latest IPL 2024 outright winner odds on any of the trusted Indian online sports betting sites suggested by reputable iGaming review sites like TheTopBookies, and then compare those odds.

For example, at the time of writing, CSK (Chennai Super Kings) are currently the odds-on favorite team to win IPL 2024 outright, and both GT (Gujarat Titans) and MI (Mumbai Indians) are both the joint-second odds-on favorite teams with the next most favorable odds.

Here are the latest ‘average’ odds in the decimal, fractional, and American/moneyline odds formats, along with the IPR (implied probability rate) for each outcome:

1. Team: CSK. Odds: 5.75 (decimal), 19/4 (fractional), +475 (American/moneyline). IPR: 17.40%

2. Team: GT. Odds: 6.50 (decimal), 11/2 (fractional), +550 (American/moneyline). IPR: 15.40%

3. Team: MI. Odds: 6.50 (decimal), 11/2 (fractional), +550 (American/moneyline). IPR: 15.40%

Based on these latest odds, betting on CSK to win IPL 2024 outright would be the safer of the three bets. However, anything can happen in cricket, so placing a ‘back-up’ bet on GT and/or MI might also be worth it.

The teams least likely to win are the Delhi Capitals (13.00, +1,200, 12/1), with only a 7.70% chance of winning, and the Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, who are both currently priced at around 12.00, +1,100, 11/1), with only an 8.30% chance of winning.

Final note

The 17th edition of the IPL looks set to be one of the most thrilling yet. The current reigning champions, CSK, who won in 2023, will be looking to win their sixth IPL title.

The Mumbai Indians are the only other team to have won the IPL on five separate occasions and will also be looking to secure their sixth title. A total of 74 matches will be played between ten teams in the world’s biggest Twenty20 domestic cricket league, which is fast approaching.