Mumbai: Speaking on Star Sports & JioHotstar, JioStar experts Faf du Plessis, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Aakash Chopra, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Kaif, Hanuma Vihari, Piyush Chawla, Saba Karim, Sanjay Bangar and Lakshmipathy Balaji shared their predictions for the playoff contenders in the TATA IPL 2026. While Mumbai Indians were a unanimous favourite across most experts, the last year’s two finalists, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings, also found strong backing.
Faf du Plessis picked MI, RCB, PBKS and one out of DC or CSK as his four teams to make it to the playoffs.
Irfan Pathan went with MI, DC, PBKS and RR as his playoff contenders.
Harbhajan Singh named only three, while going with MI, SRH and PBKS among his picks.
Aakash Chopra also backed the five-time champions MI, apart from DC, RCB and PBKS to qualify for the playoffs.
Cheteshwar Pujara opted for GT, CSK, MI and KKR as his top four teams.
Mohammad Kaif picked Shreyas Iyer’s PBKS, joint-five-time champions MI, as well as DC and defending champions RCB for the playoff spots.
Hanuma Vihari selected SRH, DC, PBKS and MI as his contenders for the top four in TATA IPL 2026.
Piyush Chawla chose three of his former teams, MI, PBKS and KKR, apart from the defending champions RCB, for the playoffs.
Saba Karim went with RCB, MI, DC and CSK as his top four.
DC emerged as an overwhelming favourite among JioStar experts, apart from the two finalists from last year, RCB and PBKS and the joint-five-time champions MI, with 7 out of 11 picking the Axar Patel-led side to make the top four. Sanjay Bangar also had all four of them as his picks for the playoffs.
Lakshmipathy Balaji named CSK, MI, RCB and SRH among his choices for the teams to reach the playoffs.
