Around 65 per cent of Indian Premier fans expect to see a new winner this year, with Royal Challengers Bangalore the favourite to lift the trophy, a survey has revealed.
The 23 Watts Insights Studio conducted a survey of more than 5,000 cricket fans, including Gen Zs, and found that 12 per cent of fans want to see Delhi Capitals win the title while 7 per cent rooted for Punjab Kings.
The survey was conducted till May 5.
The survey, titled The IPL Pulse, explores how Indian cricket fans, especially among Gen Zs, are engaging with the league, reacting to its evolving format, and rallying behind both legacy icons and new talent.
The 23 Watts survey also stated that an overwhelming 73 per cent of fans want Chennai Super Kings' talisman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni to continue playing, highlighting the strong support Thala still receives from fans all over the country.
Around 37.77 per cent believe that Dhoni is struggling but is still valuable, while 35.13 per cent say that he is the soul of CSK.
Among rising talents in the IPL, fans voted Vaibhav Suryavanshi of Rajasthan Royals as the most impressive IPL 2025 debutant with 31.4 per cent of the consensus wooed by his cricketing skills. He is followed by Mumbai Indians' emerging bowler Ashwani Kumar with 21 per cent of votes.
Around 78 per cent of the fans believe that the introduction of Impact Players rule has made the game more strategic and engaging, while 20 per cent reckon that the rule is overhyped and unfair to all-rounders.
Gujarat Titans, RCB and Punjab Kings have made it to IPL 2025 playoffs while Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals are in contention for the final play-offs spot as of May 19.
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