'IPL 2025 frauds and scammers team': Rishabh Pant captain, five CSK, two SRH players; one each from DC, PBKS, RCB, KKR

'IPL 2025 frauds and scammers team': Rishabh Pant captain, five CSK, two SRH players; one each from DC, PBKS, RCB, KKR (BCCI/AP Photos)

The internet went crazy on Monday as Iceland Cricket's official social media account, which has a history for posting blunt messages about cricket-related topics, shared an odd post about the ongoing IPL 2025. A playing XI and an impact player were selected based on the current season's poorest performances, and the team was dubbed the "IPL 2025 frauds and scammers team".

Five Chennai Super Kings players, two Sunrisers Hyderabad players, and one each from the Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Lucknow Super Giants made up the 12-man squad. The team also included Rishabh Pant (INR 27 crore) and Venkatesh Iyer (INR 23.75 crore), two of the three most expensive acquisitions in IPL history. Pant was selected as the team's captain and wicketkeeper.

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Rahul Tripathi and Rachin Ravindra of CSK were selected as openers, while Pant and Ishan Kishan completed the top-order lineup. Iyer joined international players Glenn Maxwell and Liam Livingstone to complete the middle-order lineup. Deepak Hooda was selected as the finisher.

Two fast bowlers, Mohammed Shami and Matheesha Pathirana, and one specialist spinner, R Ashwin, made up the bowling squad. Mukesh Kumar of the Delhi Capitals was selected as the "no impact player".

Iceland Cricket captioned the post on X: “On a rain day in Reyjavík, we give you our IPL 2025 frauds and scammers team: R Tripathi, R Ravindra, I Kishan, R Pant (c & wk), V Iyer, G Maxwell, L Livingstone, D Hooda, R Ashwin, M Pathirana, M Shami; No impact player: M Kumar.”

On a rain day in Reyjavk, we give you our IPL 2025 frauds and scammers team:R TripathiR RavindraI KishanR Pant (c & wk)V IyerG MaxwellL LivingstoneD HoodaR AshwinM PathiranaM ShamiNo impact player: M Kumar
Iceland Cricket (@icelandcricket) May 5, 2025

Pant and Iyer suffered a terrible 2025 season thus far, adding two more victims to the IPL's price tag pressure. Iyer, KKR's vice-captain, scored just 142 runs at a strike rate of 139.22 in 11 innings, including one score of fifty or more. Pant scored 14 less runs with a strike rate of just 99.22 in as many games.

Meanwhile, both of their teams are having a hard time despite being in the contention for the playoffs. Both teams have won five of their past eleven matches, but KKR are one spot above LSG in the standings at sixth because of a draw against Punjab Kings after a wash-out in Chandigarh late last month.