Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League 2026 Teams: Season 3 Squads, Captains and Contenders

In a twelve-day tournament played at a single venue, squad depth matters — but captaincy matters more.

The captain who reads the surface fastest, rotates his bowlers before the opposition settles, and knows when to swing the batting order, wins tight games. In Season 3 of CCPL, those tight games will decide everything.

The Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League 2026 teams are the Bilaspur Bulls, Rajnandgaon Panthers, Raipur Rhinos, Bastar Bisons, Surguja Tigers, and Raigarh Lions.

They meet at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Nava Raipur from June 3 to June 14 for 18 matches that compress quickly. By day five, the playoff picture already starts narrowing.

Look across the six captains, and the quality gap is visible immediately. Shashank Singh brings IPL 2026 match experience. Amandeep Khare has led at the national age-group level.

Ajay Jadav Mandal steered a side to a joint title last season. Below those three, the other captains are capable but untested at that standard. That gap shapes everything that follows.

Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League 2026 Teams

 

CCPL Season 3: What You Need to Know Before Picking a Team

The basics first.

Eighteen matches in twelve days at one ground means the surface will change across the tournament. The first few games often play quicker before the pitch settles and slows down. Teams that can bat on both types of surface — not just one — have a real advantage in the second week.

All Six CCPL 2026 Teams Ranked by Title Chance

The rankings below weigh captain pedigree, batting depth, bowling variety, and how each squad handles pressure when the game is in the balance.

Complete Squad Breakdown: Every Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League 2026 Team

Here are all six CCPL 2026 squads covered in full — each with captain profile, bowling and batting lens, key player, and the full player list.

1. Bilaspur Bulls

Captain: Shashank Singh | Wicketkeeper: Harsh Sahu | Playing Style: Chase-first, death-overs dominant

The Bulls are built around a simple idea — bat second, trust Shashank Singh to finish. It’s not a complicated blueprint, but it works because the man at the centre of it arrived straight from IPL 2026 with Punjab Kings. He’s been closing games at the highest domestic level right before this tournament starts. That matters in ways that don’t show up in a squad list.

• Captain’s Edge: Shashank has one quality that sets him apart from every other captain in this competition — he’s been in high-pressure finishes recently. Not last season, not two years ago. Right now, in June 2026. That current sharpness is a real advantage in crunch overs.
• Bowling Side: Mohammad Irfan gives the Bulls something genuinely rare at this level — left-arm pace that moves away from right-handers in the powerplay. When the surface offers something early, Irfan can make the toss feel irrelevant. He doesn’t need conditions to be in his favour for long; six to eight overs of movement is enough.
• One Concern: The top three need to fire for the Bulls to post competitive totals. When they don’t, the innings relies on Shashank bailing things out — and that puts too much on one batter, even a brilliant one.
• Full Squad (20): Shashank Singh (C), Aayush Pandey, Shobhit Sharma, Mohit Raut, Prateek Yadav, Mohammad Irfan, Varun Singh Bhue, Rudra Pratap, Ankit Kumar, Harsh Rathore, Ravi Roshan Singh, Shubham Maurya, Bharat Gondwani, Anurag Mishra, Shahbaz Hussain, Rishabh Sharma, Aditya Shrivastava Jr, Abhijeet Tah, Deepak Singh Baghel, Harsh Sahu (WK)
• Season 3 Outlook: Top of the pile. The Bulls have the best captain and the most dangerous finisher. If Shashank bats, they win most games. The question is whether the top order can take enough pressure off him.

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2. Rajnandgaon Panthers

Captain: Ajay Jadav Mandal | Wicketkeeper: Pawan Parnate | Playing Style: Controlled aggression, spin-heavy middle phase

Defending champions don’t automatically arrive with a target on their back — they arrive with something more useful. They’ve already handled finals pressure, come-from-behind positions, and opposition teams studying them in detail. The Panthers have been through that process in Season 2 and emerged joint winners. That experience runs through how Ajay Jadav Mandal leads this side.

• Captain’s Edge: Mandal’s batting flexibility is the tactical advantage the Panthers carry over most sides. When the wickets fall around him, he adjusts. He can rebuild from number three or accelerate from number six. Not many captains at this level give their team that kind of adaptability.
• Bowling Side: The Panthers lean into spin through the middle overs, and at Nava Raipur, that’s a smart approach. Sumit Ruikar’s all-round contribution amplifies the bowling depth by adding a genuine option that doesn’t drain the main spin attack’s resources.
• One Concern: Blueprint familiarity works against them in Season 3. Every opposing coach has watched footage from last year. The Panthers need to show at least one tactical wrinkle that opposition sides haven’t prepared for.
• Full Squad (19): Ajay Jadav Mandal (C), Sanjeet Desai, Ashish Dahariya, Aishwary Marya, Sahil Shariff, Abhyuday Singh, Dev Aditya Singh, Satyam Dubey, Aryan Jaiswal, Sumit Ruikar, Rahul Naik, Jivesh Butte, Shubham Patel, Vikalp Tiwari, Gaurav Mishra, Ayush Sinha, Shivam Singh, B Balaji, Pawan Parnate (WK)
• Season 3 Outlook: Very much in the title race. The defending champion DNA and Mandal’s flexible batting make the Panthers dangerous across all four match phases.

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3. Raipur Rhinos

Captain: Amandeep Khare | Wicketkeeper: Daksh Kumar Parakh | Playing Style: Tempo control through an established top order

Amandeep Khare brings a captaincy profile that most teams in state-level T20 cricket can’t match. India U-19 and Chhattisgarh senior captaincy gives him decision-making experience across pressure formats, not just the experience of playing under one. When overs get tight and the match hangs on a bowling change or a batting shuffle, that kind of leadership history counts.

• Captain’s Edge: Khare reads match situations early. The Rhinos rarely find themselves two overs behind the run rate in a chase because their captain sets the tempo in the first ten overs rather than reacting in the last five.
• Bowling Side: The Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League 2026 squads list shows the Rhinos carrying 20 players — the joint-largest group in the tournament. That depth lets Khare rotate workloads without weakening his XI. By the second week, when other squads start looking tired, the Rhinos can freshen up their pace and spin options.
• One Concern: The Rhinos’ batting identity is tied to the top three. Get two of those wickets quickly on a tricky surface and the order below has to rebuild in T20 time — which is far harder than it sounds.
• Full Squad (20): Amandeep Khare (C), Anuj Tiwari, Harsh Sharma, Shreyam Sundram Kamal, Sahban Khan, Vaibhav Sahu, Mayank Yadav Jr, Ashish Chouhan, Prashant Painkra, Sudhanshu Verma, Lavin Coster, Amit Kumar Yadav, Kritesh Sahu, Arin Dwivedi, Prabhash Shukla, Gaurav Chaturvedi, Mohammad Sohail, Krishna Taunk, Tejasvi Kalb, Daksh Kumar Parakh (WK)
• Season 3 Outlook: Likely top three in the group stage. The Rhinos are consistent rather than explosive — exactly the profile that wins knockout cricket more often than people expect.

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4. Bastar Bisons

Captain: Sourabh Majumdar | Wicketkeeper: Shashank Chandrakar | Playing Style: Powerplay disruption, pace-led attack

The Bisons are the most volatile team on this Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League 2026 team list. On a morning surface that offers something to pace, they can dismantle any top order in the first six overs. On a flat evening pitch with dew, the same attack gets hit. That’s the trade-off Sourabh Majumdar navigates every game.

• Captain’s Edge: Majumdar doesn’t hold back his best bowlers. He leads the pace attack himself and uses it early. That creates match-winning pressure in the powerplay — but it also means the second half of his bowling innings needs Suryakant Tiwari to carry the load.
• Bowling Side: Suryakant Tiwari is the glue that holds the Bisons’ bowling plan together after the new ball phase. His capacity to bowl long spells through overs seven to fifteen prevents the middle from turning into a run-fest when the aggressive options go flat.
• One Concern: The batting has upside but not depth. A top-order failure on a green surface — when the Bisons are supposed to be at their strongest — can leave the middle order chasing an imposing total on a pitch that’s already played its best tricks.
• Full Squad (19): Sourabh Majumdar (C), Rahul Pradhan, Sangeet Soni, Rishi Sharma, Karthik Naidu, Abdul Anas Khan, Shashank Tiwari, Tejas Morey, Naman Dhruw, Utkarsh Tiwari, Suryakant Tiwari, Avnish Dhaliwal, Vijay Yadav, Manraj Singh Dhillon, Ambrish Kumar Singh, Ayan Upadhay, Chinmay Vishwakarma, Shivam Yadav, Shashank Chandrakar (WK)
• Season 3 Outlook: Pick them to beat any top-three side at least once. Whether that translates into a playoff berth depends on surface luck and Suryakant’s fitness across the schedule.

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5. Surguja Tigers

Captain: Ashutosh Singh | Wicketkeeper: Abhishek | Playing Style: Partnership-heavy chases, steady wrist spin

The Tigers are a second-innings team. They absorb pressure well, they don’t lose wickets in silly ways, and their partnership-building through the middle overs makes chasing 160 look more manageable than it should. The issue is the flip side of that identity — when they bat first, the attacking gear isn’t there.

• Captain’s Edge: Ashutosh Singh’s value is knowing what his side can do. He doesn’t over-reach. The Tigers rarely try to chase 200 or bowl out a team with pace on a flat pitch. That self-awareness reduces costly decisions, even if it caps the team’s ceiling.
• Bowling Side: Wrist spin is the Tigers’ bowling signature. At Nava Raipur, where the surface tends to grip more by the second week, that becomes a sharper weapon than it looks in the team preview. Night-game surfaces in June also favour spin variation over raw pace.
• One Concern: The toss problem. If the Tigers win the toss and have to bowl first, they need their spinners to hold a total together. That’s ask-able. But if they’re set 175-plus and the surface is flat, the chase template comes under real strain.
• Full Squad (19): Ashutosh Singh (C), Gagandeep Singh, Sanidhya Hurkat, Pratham Jachak, Anand Rao, Harsh Yadav, Shubham Singh, Dhananjay Nayak, Snehil Chadda, Amitesh Pandey, Shashwat Sharda, R Krish Chopra, Janendra Sidar, Upendra Kumar Yadav, Vashudev Bareth, Diwakar Tamrakar, Vivek Yadav Jr, Rohan Taank, Abhishek (WK)
• Season 3 Outlook: Alive for playoffs until the final group game. The Tigers are hard to eliminate early because they don’t blow up in chases — but they need a few results to go their way to sneak a top-four spot.

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6. Raigarh Lions

Captain: Rishabh Tiwari | Wicketkeeper: Alok Sahu | Playing Style: Disciplined bowling, ground fielding as a weapon

The Lions carry the smallest Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League 2026 squad of the six teams — 15 players against squads of 19 and 20 elsewhere. That matters in a 12-day tournament with no breaks. Fatigue decisions and injury cover become genuine problems by matchday eight or nine for a group this lean.

• Captain’s Edge: Rishabh Tiwari’s side wins games by keeping bowling lines honest and fielding with unusual energy. That approach suits the Lions because it doesn’t require star batting power. It requires discipline — and discipline is coachable in ways that ball-striking talent isn’t.
• Bowling Side: Imtiyaj Khan’s left-arm spin is the Lions’ most valuable asset. He’s not just a holding option — he actively creates wickets in the middle overs by varying pace and angle in ways that right-arm off-spin can’t replicate. If he’s on form, the Lions are competitive. If he’s off, the bowling plan narrows sharply.
• One Concern: Fifteen players for 18 matches is a squad construction risk. Lose one batter to injury mid-tournament and the batting card thins to the point where the Lions struggle to post above 140.
• Full Squad (15): Rishabh Tiwari (C), Aditya Shingh, Shubham Agarwal, Anurag Sahu, Kivnoor Singh Chhabra, Aditya Agarwal, Imtiyaj Khan, Jitesh Kumar Verma, Aayush Thakur, Praveen Kumar Yadav, Rohit Netani, Lovyam Rajput, Ashish Pandey, Pawandeep Singh, Alok Sahu (WK)
• Season 3 Outlook: Won’t win the title. Will beat at least one team that expects to cruise. That’s the Lions’ role in this tournament, and they’ll play it with conviction.

Expert Insight: Why the Bowling Balance Separates the Top Three

Look at the three teams most likely to win this tournament, and there’s a clear pattern — they each carry a different primary bowling weapon.

The Bulls have left-arm pace that disrupts right-handers early. The Panthers use spin through the middle to slow scoring rates without burning their quicker options.

The Rhinos rotate both types across their 20-man squad. None of these approaches relies on conditions working out perfectly. All three can adapt when the surface doesn’t behave.

Compare that to the Bisons, who are heavily pace-dependent, or the Tigers, who rely on conditions favouring spin.

When the surface doesn’t suit their primary weapon, both sides lose a dimension entirely. The top three don’t have that problem.

In a single-venue tournament where the surface shifts over 12 days, bowling variety isn’t just a nice-to-have.

It’s the difference between maintaining pressure in weeks one and two and going flat by the midpoint.

Season 3 Title Prediction: The Case for All Three Contenders

The Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League 2026 all squads have three realistic trophy candidates. Here’s the honest case for each.

The pick is Bilaspur Bulls, and the logic is simple: Shashank Singh is the best captain in this competition right now, not in theory but in active match-fitness terms.

He left IPL 2026 and came straight to Nava Raipur. That form doesn’t go stale in ten days.

But in a tournament this short, any of those three could win it.

One bad toss decision, one dropped chance in the 19th over, one injury to the wrong player — the margins are that fine.

FAQ: Chhattisgarh Cricket Premier League 2026 Squads

Q1. What are all the team names in the CCPL 2026?

The six teams are Bilaspur Bulls, Rajnandgaon Panthers, Raipur Rhinos, Bastar Bisons, Surguja Tigers, and Raigarh Lions.

• Q2. When does the CCPL 2026 season start and finish?

Season 3 runs from June 3 to June 14, 2026, with the final scheduled for June 14.

• Q3. Which captain has the most high-level experience in CCPL 2026?

Shashank Singh of Bilaspur Bulls stands out — he captains a side in CCPL 2026 while also having played IPL 2026 with Punjab Kings in the same season.

• Q4. How does the Surguja Tigers’ bowling compare to the Rajnandgaon Panthers’?

The Tigers rely primarily on wrist spin suited to second-innings conditions. The Panthers use spin across more phases with better all-round support, giving them more flexibility on varied surfaces.

• Q5. Is squad size a real factor in a 12-day CCPL season?

Yes. Raigarh Lions carry 15 players while Bilaspur Bulls and Raipur Rhinos have 20 each. Over 18 matches in quick succession, injury cover, and player rotation make larger squads a meaningful advantage.

Wrapping Up

Season 3 of the CCPL has the most competitive top three the tournament has seen.

Bilaspur Bulls carry the edge on captaincy quality alone, but Rajnandgaon Panthers and Raipur Rhinos both have the squad construction to push them all the way to June 14.

The group stage finishes fast in a six-team competition. Four games in, the shape of the playoffs becomes clear.

Pick your side now and watch whether the captain’s decisions hold up when the tournament reaches its decisive stretch.