New teams, a fresh format, fast and furious action — cricket in India has barely had time to take a deep breath after the victorious World Cup campaign before it plunges headlong into the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League with defending champions Chennai Super Kings meeting 2010 wooden-spooners Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai on Friday.
Seventy-four matches in all will be played over the next 52 days at 12 venues across the country, from Kochi in the far south to Dharamsala in the northern Himalayas. The games will feature the cream of cricketing talent from across the world, and many new faces and combinations are expected to emerge in this extended churn.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will have undergone a swift transformation — from national icon, he will now don the CSK leader’s cap — and crossing swords with him will be the man who helped set up India’s victory charge with a century partnership in Mumbai last Saturday: Gautam Gambhir.
In fact, such has been the movement and forced migration of captains and players that Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne are the only three skippers of the past season to take up the reins of their teams in the new season.
Also, with two fresh teams added to the lineup — Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers — the tournament will be played in a new format than in previous years with each team playing seven home games and as many away.
While some teams are already identifiably stronger than the rest of the pack, the extended schedule gives stragglers plenty of time to pick up on the pace, gel as a unit and push the rated sides — as the Rajasthan Royals had done in IPL’s Edition One.
What will be watched with more than passing interest is how the 10 captains adapt to the demands of “quick cricket”, which will present them with a whole new set of challenges. Some of them — Kumar Sangakkara of losing World Cup finalists Sri Lanka and Daniel Vettori of semi-finalists New Zealand — have even swapped national leadership duties to take on IPL teams. The former will captain IPL-2 champions Deccan Chargers, while Vettori will helm Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Brothers-in-arms till last week, the five Indians leading teams at IPL-4 are expected to show no mercy as the multi-million dollar extravaganza gets rolling and while Dhoni, Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag were till the other day singing Tendulkar’s praises, it will be a very different ball game over the next seven weeks and more.