All ten IPL 2026 franchises: squads, captains and home grounds
A team-by-team reference for the ten IPL franchises competing in 2026. Each profile lists the verified squad, captain, head coach and home ground, with attention to the fantasy-relevant storylines.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
Home ground: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. Captain: Hardik Pandya. Head coach: Mahela Jayawardene.
Squad highlights: a top-heavy batting order with three premium overseas batters, a deep seam attack and two wrist spinners. Premium fantasy picks concentrate at the top of the order; differentials live in the uncapped middle order.
2025 result: finished third, eliminated in Qualifier 2.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
Home ground: M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Captain: Rajat Patidar. Head coach: Andy Flower.
Squad highlights: explosive top three batting, deep seam attack, two wrist spinners. Captaincy favours their top three batters; vice-captaincy on their strike bowler offers safe upside.
2025 result: finished fourth, eliminated in Eliminator.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK)
Home ground: M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Captain: Ruturaj Gaikwad. Head coach: Stephen Fleming.
Squad highlights: experienced core, slower middle-overs scoring, two spin options. Lower-scoring matches reward spinners at Chepauk more than at any other venue.
2025 result: finished fifth.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Home ground: Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Captain: Ajinkya Rahane. Head coach: Chandrakant Pandit.
Squad highlights: young batting order, aggressive powerplay approach. Captaincy on their openers pays off in high-scoring matches at Eden Gardens.
2025 result: finished second, lost Qualifier 1.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
Home ground: Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad. Captain: Pat Cummins. Head coach: Daniel Vettori.
Squad highlights: pace-heavy attack, rebuilt middle order. Fantasy picks concentrate on their seamers in the powerplay.
2025 result: finished seventh.
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Home ground: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Captain: Sanju Samson. Head coach: Rahul Dravid.
Squad highlights: balanced squad, two premium all-rounders. Differential captaincy on their number-three batter is viable mid-season.
2025 result: finished sixth.
Gujarat Titans (GT)
Home ground: Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Captain: Shubman Gill. Head coach: Ashish Nehra.
Squad highlights: deep batting, two spin options. Captaincy on their number-four batter works across most conditions.
2025 result: finished eighth.
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG)
Home ground: BRSABV Ekana Stadium, Lucknow. Captain: Rishabh Pant. Head coach: Justin Langer.
Squad highlights: top-heavy overseas picks, Indian seam depth. Captaincy on their strike bowler offers match-up edge on dry surfaces.
2025 result: finished ninth.
Delhi Capitals (DC)
Home ground: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. Captain: Axar Patel. Head coach: Hemang Badani.
Squad highlights: rebuilt batting order, two wrist spinners. Fantasy scoring concentrates on their top three.
2025 result: finished tenth.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
Home ground: Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, Mohali. Captain: Shreyas Iyer. Head coach: Ricky Ponting.
Squad highlights: aggressive batting, unpredictable order. High variance — best for differential contests only.
2025 result: finished first, lost the Final.
Questions readers send the desk most weeks
Which IPL team has the most fantasy-friendly squad?
Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru are typically the deepest fantasy squads. They have enough premium picks that captaincy can rotate safely across multiple matches.
Which team should new players start with?
Pick one franchise, follow their matches weekly, and learn the rotation patterns. Most fantasy players specialise in two or three franchises rather than tracking all ten.
Have any captains changed for 2026?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru changed captain for 2026; the other nine franchises retained their captains from 2025.
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