The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) got off to a grand start with Gujarat Titans (GT) defeating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a thrilling opening game by five wickets. The launch of the much-awaited league sparked great zeal among fans.
Before the tournament’s commencement, cricket enthusiasts didn’t shy away from predicting the top teams of the IPL 2023 and shared their choices on various social media platforms. The cricketing legends, including AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle, also joined the buzz and came up with bold picks about the teams which they think can finish in the top four of the ongoing IPL’s points table.
Notably, both De Villiers and Gayle have represented Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) franchise in the previous seasons of the cash-rich league and are currently part of the Jio Cinema commentary panel for IPL 2023. The Bangalore-based franchise even gave tribute to the dynamic duo for their phenomenal services by retiring their jerseys in the RCB Unbox event ahead of this year’s tournament.
While the former South Africa captain named RCB, CSK, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and GT as his top picks, Gayle chose Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), GT, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Rajasthan Royals (RR).
GT remained the common choice of both the veteran cricketers. However, the 43-year-old former West Indies opener picked five times champions MI and last year’s finalist LSG compared to De Villiers’ SRH and RCB. Meanwhile, the 39-year-old former Proteas skipper’s CSK also differed from Gayle, who listed RR instead.
Talking about RCB, the Faf du Plessis-led side will start their IPL 2023 campaign against MI on April 2 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The star-studded line-up of the Bangalore-based team features the likes of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga, Michael Bracewell and many such big names.
