With the excitement building for IPL 2025, cricket experts are sharing their playoff predictions. Former cricketers like Virender Sehwag, Michael Vaughan, and Adam Gilchrist have revealed their top four teams for the season on Cricbuzz. Interestingly, most experts, except Rohan Gavaskar, have not included Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their predicted top four. Adding to the surprise, Virender Sehwag also believes Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will miss out on the playoffs.
Veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle is among those who support RCB for a top-4 finish. SunRisers Hyderabad emerges as a popular favorite, with eight out of ten experts predicting their place in the final four.
Here are the top 4 predictions by experts:
Virender Sehwag: MI, SRH, PBKS & LSG
Adam Gilchrist: PBKS, MI, SRH & GT
Rohan Gavaskar: RCB, SRH, DC & MI
Harsha Bhogle: SRH, MI, KKR & RCB
Shaun Pollack: MI, CSK, SRH & PBKS
Manoj Tiwary: SRH, PBKS, GT & KKR
Simon Doull: CSK, KKR, SRH & PBKS
Michael Vaughan: GT, MI, KKR & PBKS
Mpumelelo Mbangwa: SRH, GT, KKR & LSG
Ahead of the season opener between RCB and KKR on Saturday, the BCCI announced rule changes for the IPL during the captains’ meeting in Mumbai. A key change is regarding over-rate penalties. Captains will now receive demerit points instead of bans for slow over rates. This decision follows previous incidents in the 2024 season where Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant were banned for over-rate offenses.
Hardik Pandya will serve his ban in the first match of the 2025 season against CSK.
In another significant decision, the BCCI has lifted the ban on using saliva to shine the ball, a rule implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. This makes IPL the first major cricket competition to remove this restriction. The ICC may also reconsider its stance on this rule following the IPL’s decision.
Finally, the Impact Player rule will remain in IPL 2025, despite earlier speculations about its potential removal.
