Which team has the best bench strength in IPL 2025?

Updated At: 2025-03-19

One of the important aspects for every franchise in the Indian Premier League is to have a good amount of backup players who are ready to perform whenever the team needs them. A franchise with solid bench strength always has an advantage in tough times.

These players on the bench can act as an injury replacement or can be used to replace a non-performer in playing XI. The backup players are also useful for the franchise to help their primary players in the practice session before a crucial game.

As IPL 2025 comes closer, we have ranked every team with the best bench strength for the upcoming season. The unique combination of playing XI and bench squad will impact the betting odds of all the teams on the IPL betting apps.

1) Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders are the defending champions this year. During the auctions, they have built a good squad with a good lineup of batters and an experienced bowling attack who can be a match-winner under pressure. At the top order, Kolkata Knight Riders will have Quinton de Kock, Ajinkye Rahane, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, and Sunil Narine. They also carry a good replacement strength with Manish Pandey, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, and Luvnith Sisodia in the team.

On the bowling front, Spencer Johnson, Anrich Nortje, Varun Chakaravarthy, Moeen Ali, and Harshit Rana will play a key role. In the backup, Kolkata will have Chetan Sakariya, Mayank Markande, Vaibhav Arora, and Anukul Roy will handle the command. Kolkata Knight Riders have a good strength of bench players who are experienced and can be used immediately to replace any player in their playing XI.

2) Chennai Super Kings

The five-time IPL champions, Chennai Super Kings come second on the list. This is after a long time Chennai Super Kings is coming back in action with a good mix of young players. Even when it comes to their benched players, Chennai will have some well-known names.

Vijay Shankar, Jamie Overton, Anshul Kamboj and Nathan Ellis are a few players who will be on the bench but ready to be used in any difficult situation. In their batting unit, they will have 3 young guns of Indian cricket - Shaik Rasheed, Vansh Bedi, and C Andre Siddarth. Shreyas Gopal, Deepak Hooda, and Ramakrishna Ghosh will be part of their all-rounder segment. Not only this, but Chennai also has the presence of Gurjapreet Singh and Kamlesh Nagarkoti in their bowling unit.

3) Punjab Kings

The Punjab Kings have come out as a weaker team in every season of the league. To make things better, they will have IPL trophy winner skipper - Shreyas Iyer. During the auctions, Punjab Kings built their complete squad because they only retained two players - Shashank Singh and Prabhsimran Singh.

When it comes to their bench, Punjab Kings will have experienced names like Vishnu Vinod and Nehal Wadhera in the squad. Harnoor Singh and Priyansh Arya are the two youngsters who are part of Punjab’s batting unit. Suryansh Shedge will be part of their all-rounder segment but the Punjab Kings have also signed Musheer Khan who is not at all useful when it comes to the T20 format. In their bowling unit, the team will have Praveen Dubey, Kuldeep Sen, and Vijaykumar Vyshak.

4) Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore have elected a new skipper this year and it will be interesting to see how things shape up for the team. However, during the IPL 2025 mega auction, Bangalore were slow at the start but by the end of the second day, they had a good amount of players and some backup players who could be useful when they experienced players needed rest.

For example, if Liam Livingstone fails to perform, RCB can go with Manoj Badndage from the benched squad. They will also have Mohit Rathee as one more option to perform the duties of an all-rounder. RCB will also have Rasikh Salam, Suyash Sharma, and Swapnil Singh in their bowling unit who will be expected to be used if their primary bowlers fail to perform.

5) Delhi Capitals

Delhi Capitals are in big trouble after the withdrawal of Harry Brook from the team. They have not yet signed a replacement and their benched players are also not as good as Brook. Karun Nair and Donovan Ferreira are the two players who can replace Harry Brook in the team but the team management won’t be confident about the two.

However, Delhi Capitals only have Abishek Porel when it comes to their batting unit. But he can’t be replaced by Harry Brook because of his top-order batting position. Manvanth Kumar, Ajay Mandal, Ashutosh Sharma, and Madhav Tiwari will be part of the all-rounder segment for the team. Vipraj Nigam and Tripurana Vijay are the only two options for the team in the bowling unit and hence they are ranked 5th in the list.

6) Gujarat Titans

Gujarat Titans are coming back in action after going through a nightmare in the previous edition of the league. However, this year they have some of the best playing XI but the team management has missed out on hiring a good bunch of backup players. Kumar Kushagra is the only option for the team in the batting unit. Manav Suthar and Nishant Sindhu are part of their all-rounder segment but both players are not reliable because of their average performance in domestic cricket.

Gujarat Titans have a good lineup of benched players when it comes to their bowling unit. Arshad Khan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Gurnoor Brar, and Ishant Sharma are a few big names who will be present on the bench to be used by the team whenever needed.

7) Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians are known to nurture the young talent in the country and prepare them for bigger challenges. However, this year, Mumbai Indians have focused more on reviving their own performance in the league after a debacle in the last season. Krishnan Shrijith, Naman Dhir, and Robin Minz will be part of their benched batting unit.

Raj Bawa is the only all-rounder option they will have on the bench. Vignesh Puthur, Ashwani Kumar, Karn Sharma, Satyanarayana Raju, Arjun Tendulkar, and Reece Topley build up their bowling strength on the bench. Their bowling unit at the bench has multiple options and can be used in easy games.

8) Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad were the runner-ups of the previous edition and they have retained their core players for the upcoming season. For the bench, they don’t have any option in their batting unit because their batting unit is the strongest in the league. Surprisingly, Abhinav Manohar and Atharva Taide are the only two options when it comes to Hyderabad’s all-rounder segment.

Zeeshan Ansari and Simarjeet Singh are the only two options when it comes to their bowling unit on the bench. Sunrisers Hyderabad have very limited options and are ready to handle the pressure of IPL matches and that might impact the squad in tough situations.

9) Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals have got their core players intact except for Jos Buttler who has joined Gujarat Titans. They also have Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana who will be the spin duo for the team in playing XI.

However, their void comes when the team has to look beyond playing XI. The team lacks experienced bench players who can take the position of any playing XI player. Kunal Singh Rathore is the only option for the team in their batting unit. Yudhvir Singh, Sandeep Sharma, and Akash Madhwal are the three options in their bowling unit. They also have Kumar Kartikeya who is expected to be part of playing XI because of his exceptional performance in SMT 2024-25.

10) Lucknow Super Giants

Lucknow Super Giants have completely failed to design a perfect squad. They don’t have a designated top order and their bowling unit also has some major void. Himmat Singh is the only benched player in their batting unit but he is not trained to handle the pressure of IPL. Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, and Shahbaz Ahmed will be part of their all-rounder segment.

Digvesh Rathi and Manimaran Siddharth are the benched players in their bowling unit. However, the biggest disadvantage for Lucknow Super Giants is that they don’t have any overseas player on the bench who can come out as a saviour of the team in order to replace a non-performing player in the league.