IPL 2024: Outright Odds and Best Tournament Bets

IPL 2024 tournament predictions: 

• RCB to win the tournament - 8.50 @ 22Bet
• Shubman Gill to win the Orange Cap - 11 @ 22Bet
• Yuzvendra Chahal to win the Purple Cap - 14 @ 22Bet

Begins: Friday 22 March, 8:00pm IST

Opening Game: CSK v RCB @ MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Watch: Star Sports and Jio Cinema

Best Outright Odds: MI 5.00, CSK 6.00, GT 8.00, RR 9.50, RCB 9.50

A hectic three-and-a-half month period awaits the world’s best Twenty20 cricketers, many of whom will be jumping onto a plane immediately after their Indian Premier League (IPL) commitments to head to the Americas for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

It will be hard to live up to the magic of MS Dhoni lifting the title at age 41 in India’s biggest stadium last year following Ravindra Jadeja’s last-ball at 1:30am following the use of a reserve day, but this tournament often finds unique and unexpected ways to top itself.

There will be no shortage of entertainment both on and off the field, with best betting sites in India than ever before both for the whole season and for all 74 games.

Promotions for new players are also ramping up ahead of the 2024 IPL season, so there’s never been a better time to get amongst the action and share the thrills of what promises to be an exhilarating tournament, especially with exciting opportunities for IPL betting online.

The Numbers That Matter

• The last seven IPL winners finished in the top two of the league table
• Seam bowlers won 11 of the last 13 Purple Caps
• Only one Orange Cap winner also won the title (Gaikwad in 2021)
• Sunrisers are the only team to have not made playoffs in the last three IPLs

A potential trading opportunity awaits

It is a tough task to predict the IPL in any season let alone one where less than one-third of the fixture has been released just a few days before the tournament is due to begin.

Many readers may immediately turn their heads away at the thought of Royal Challengers Bangaluru (RCB) winning the title because of the curse that has hung over them for nearly two decades despite making the last three finals series.

But from what we can see of the fixture so far, there could be a chance to use our knowledge of “back and lay betting” to potentially take advantage of a reduction in their outright winner odds on IPL betting apps should they win what could be some easy fixtures on paper.

Following their season opener away to Chennai, RCB will host both Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders in the following week, two sides who are expected by most cricket betting sites to be at or near the foot of the table.

If they can upset CSK in Chennai on the opening night, there’s no reason why they can’t go 3-0 into a pair of games against LSG (home) and Rajasthan (away) and start the season on an outstanding note.

Should they do so, their odds to win the title will firm to the point where punters can guarantee themselves some profit by laying RCB at a shorter price. 

They will be served well by a refreshed Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell, an in-form Mohammed Siraj off the back of a 19-wicket season, whilst Faf du Plessis shows no signs of slowing down in this competition as he approaches his 40th birthday.

That’s not to mention the enormous potential of new recruit Cameron Green, who has already shown some of his best both in the IPL and at T20I level against India in their own backyard.

Prediction: RCB to win the tournament - 8.50 @ 22Bet

Gill to join Gayle in the history books

Only one man in the history of this competition has topped the tournament run scoring charts in successive seasons, and it came back in 2011 and 2012 when RCB’s Chris Gayle claimed the Orange Cap twice with 608 and 733 runs.

Shubman Gill topped that tally by a long way last season with 890 runs, second only to Virat Kohli’s phenomenal 973-run haul back in 2016. 

His T20I returns for India since the previous IPL left a lot to be desired, with six single digit scores from eight T20Is, but he also struggled to find consistency in that format prior to last year’s IPL.

Gill demonstrated some remarkable consistency throughout last season, clearing 30+ runs more often (13 times) than any other player, winning the Orange Cap despite fewer 50+ scores (seven) than his RCB rivals Faf du Plessis (eight 50+) and Virat Kohli (eight). 

He also dominated the powerplay overs with 356 runs at an average of 89 and scoring rate of 9.05rpo, often setting Gujarat up for many of their ten league stage wins.

That was before he top scored for the team twice in two of their three playoffs games, including that unforgettable 60-ball 129 against a helpless Mumbai in Qualifier 2.

Whereas the likes of David Warner and Kohli may have already reached their peak in this competition, the younger trio of Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal have seemingly limitless potential. 

Prediction: Shubman Gill to win the Orange Cap - 11 @ 22Bet

A make or break season for Yuzi…

…and we’re going with ‘make’! Chahal is jostling with Ravi Bishnoi and Kuldeep Yadav to join Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel as India’s spin options for this coming World Cup, and selectors have declared that this IPL will be decisive in determining who gets the seat on the plane.

Chahal has been super consistent throughout his ten-year history in this competition, putting together five 20+ wicket seasons including 21 last year and 27 the year prior.

He immediately responded to his 2023 ODI World Cup snubbing by recording a career-best six wicket haul in a Vijay Hazare Trophy for Haryana and rounded that particular tournament out with another four in the quarter-final.

But perhaps most importantly, there are some major queries surrounding some of the other leading contenders in the ‘most tournament wickets’ market.

Mitchell Starc has never played a T20I in India and is making his first appearance in an IPL since 2015. 

Rashid Khan is coming into this tournament from a long-term back injury, and whilst he was superb with eight wickets from three games against Ireland in Sharjah, there remains the risk of an aggravation.

Wanindu Hasaranga’s lead-in has been anything but ideal - he raised eyebrows by reversing his retirement from Test cricket to commit to two Tests during the IPL against Bangladesh, only to be hit with a two-game ban. 

It now seems he won’t miss SRH’s opening three games, though he is no guarantee to get picked in the starting XI anyway.

Mohammed Siraj has had only one standout in this season in the IPL, recording 11 or fewer wickets in the six seasons prior to his 19 last year. 

Favourite Jasprit Bumrah is hard to knock, especially given he’ll probably get some playoffs matches to add to his tally, but so too could Chahal if Rajasthan live up to their potential.

Prediction: Yuzvendra Chahal to win the Purple Cap - 14 @ 22Bet