The upcoming 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), IPL 2025, is all geared up to start on 22 March 2025 and will witness its final showdown on 25 May 2025. While the top-notch IPL franchises like Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) are all prepared to clinch their sixth IPL title this season, the underdog teams who couldn’t perform well in the last seasons of the Indian Premier League (IPL) are also looking forward to making a roaring comeback and earn a spot in the reputed winners list of the IPL.
In this article we will take a look at the top three most unexpected underdog teams that might dominate the IPL 2025 season.
IPL 2025: Top 3 Most Unexpected Underdog Teams
Delhi Capitals (DC)
At the first spot in our list of the top three underdog teams at the IPL 2025 season, we have the Delhi Capitals (DC) squad. The Delhi Capitals (DC) have made numerous path-breaking decisions and moves that could help them in clinching the ultimate winning title at the upcoming 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). With the unexpected and shocking departure of Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant, the Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise has secured KL Rahul, who is a seasoned IPL player and has played for multiple franchises in the past, including Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG).
Additionally, Delhi Capitals’ move to acquire Australian pacer Mitchell Starc for a staggering INR 11.75 crore could also prove to be a game changer for the squad and retain experienced spin bowlers Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav. The Delhi Capitals (DC) franchise has also significantly strengthened its batting unit by acquiring Faf du Plessis and retaining their exclusive opener, Jake Fraser-McGurk, who scored with a phenomenal strike rate of 234.04 in the previous edition of the IPL.
Delhi Capitals (DC) IPL 2025 Full Squad
Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Tristan Stubbs, Abhishek Porel, Mitchell Starc, KL Rahul, Jake Fraser-Mcgurk, T Natrajan, Karun Nair, Sameer Rizvi, Ashutosh Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Faf du Plessis, Darshan Markande, Vipraj Nigam, Dushmantha Chameera, Donovan Ferreira, Ajay Mandal, Manvanth Kumar, Tripurana Vijay, Madhav Tiwari.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Another team who can prove to be an underdog and become a major threat to the remaining teams in the upcoming 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is the Punjab Kings (PBKS). Having yet to secure their maiden IPL title, this season might be a game-changer for the PBKS franchise, keeping in mind their strategic acquisitions at the IPL 2025 mega auction held in Jeddah in November 2024.
The Punjab Kings (PBKS) franchise spent a staggering INR 119.65 crore at the IPL 2025 mega auction and successfully acquired some of the strongest players in the league. The Punjab Kings (PBKS) franchise successfully acquired one of the most reliable batsmen, Shreyas Iyer, for a staggering INR 26.75 crore and the league’s leading wicket-taker, Yuzvendra Chahal, for a whopping INR 18 crore. Additionally, the team also features annihilating pacer Arshdeep Singh and all-rounders Marcus Stoinis and Glenn Maxwell.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) IPL 2025 Full Squad
Shashank Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Shreyas Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell, Nehal Wadhera, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Yash Thakur, Josh Inglis, Lockie Ferguson, Marco Jansen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sai Kishore, Harnoor Pannu, Kuldeep Sen, Priyansh Arya, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Pyla Avinash, Pravin Dubey.
Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG)
At the third spot in our list of the top three underdog teams who can potentially dominate the upcoming IPL 2025 season, we have the Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG) franchise. The LSG franchise have made some spine-chilling changes ahead of the IPL 2025 season in order to clinch the coveted title.
The Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG) franchise acquired Rishabh Pant for a staggering INR 27 crore and also appointed him as the captain of the squad for the IPL 2025 season. Additionally, the LSG franchise has also acquired other seasoned IPL players, including Avesh Khan, David Miller, Adien Markram, Mitchell Marsh and a couple of others to strengthen the team in both the batting and bowling fields.
Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG) IPL 2025 Full Squad
Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Bishnoi, Mayank Yadav, Ayush Badoni, Mohsin Khan, Rishabh Pant, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Mitchell Marsh, Avesh Khan, Abdul Samad, Aryan Juyal, Akash Deep, Himmat Singh, M Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Shahbaz Ahmed, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Matthew Breetzke
