IPL 2024 Preview Part 2: Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan, RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Top Order Cricket Podcast

In this episode of the show, Binksy, Baldy, Stu and Raj preview the IPL tournament, covering Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan, RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Wall-to-wall T20 cricket is about to begin, with the IPL followed by the T20 World Cup and in this episode (part 2 of 2) we focus on five teams, discussing squad news, why each team can win, potential weaknesses, key players and predicted finishing order. We also give our overall tournament predictions, including semi-finalists, champions and the winners of the purple and orange caps.

Teams covered are:

Mumbai Indians: Mumbai have arguably the best batting lineup in the competition, stacked with local talent. There's the return of Hardik Pandya and what that might mean for the harmony of the side with him taking the captaincy from Rohit Sharma, plus a few question marks about their spinners - but does that even matter when Jasprit Bumrah is in your side?

Punjab Kings: There's an English flavour to this squad, with Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes and Sam Curran all set to feature during the tournament. Add the likes of Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada and Harshal Patel to that and the bowling attack looks solid, but can Shikhar Dhawan and co score enough runs to take them to the playoffs?

Rajasthan Royals: T20 opening partnerships don't get much better than Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler, and the addition of Shane Bond to the coaching staff has the New Zealanders excited for 2024. There's great spin depth, batting firepower and lovely Trent Boult, but where are the allrounders?

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli! Faf du Plessis! Glenn Maxwell! Cameron Green! Mohammed Siraj! The RCB lineup won't be short on matchwinners, but who will fill the fourth overseas spot in the XI? And will their bowling lineup be able to defend anything under 200?

Sunrisers Hyderabad: It was a busy auction for Daniel Vettori and the Orange Army. Pat Cummins joined as captain, plus Travis Head and Wanindu Hasaranga to round out a remarkably strong collection of 8 overseas players. Which four will they choose from game to game? We debate this, plus discuss whether Umran Malik can get back to his best, how much we'll miss Dale Steyn's hair and whether Captain Cummins's golden run is set to continue in 2024.

We'll be back again regularly during the tournament with more news and views, but until then please take the time to give us a like, follow, share or subscribe on all our channels (@toporderpod on Twitter & Facebook, and @thetoporderpodcast on Instagram & YouTube) and a (5-Star!) review at your favourite podcast provider, or tell a friend to download. It really helps others find the show and is the best thing you can do to support us. You can also find all our written content, including our Hall of Fame series, at our website.

You can also dip back into our guest episodes - including a recent conversation with Mike Hesson, plus chats with former World Cup stars Shane Bond and Mike Hussey, current players such as Matt Henry, Sophie Devine and Ish Sodhi, coaches Gary Stead, Jeetan Patel and Luke Wright, as well as Barry Richards, Frankie Mackay, Bharat Sundaresan and many more fascinating people from all across the cricketing world.

And if you'd like to reach out to us with feedback, questions or guest suggestions, get in touch at [e-mail].

Thanks for listening.

0:00 Intro

2:20 Mumbai Indians Preview

12:52 Punjab Kings Preview

22:50 Rajasthan Royals Preview

33:15 RCB Preview

43:40 SRH Preview

54:15 Predictions

1:02:00 Outro

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