Mumbai: The Indian Premiere League (IPL) Season 15 is all set to kick off today in a grand manner with champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on KKR in Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
Interestingly the organisers have decided to give the opening ceremony a miss, for fourth year in a row. Last time, when such a gala event took place to mark the beginning of cricketing extravaganza was in 2018. This year, two new teams namely Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans have been added in the list.
This year the format is going to be a little different, wherein the 10 teams will be split into two groups – Group A and B.
Group A – Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Lucknow Super Giants, Delhi Capitals
Group B – Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gujarat Titans, Punjab Kings
Each existing team was allowed to retain a maximum of four players, whereas the two new teams were allowed to pick a maximum of three players before the auction. The retained players of the existing eight teams were announced on 30 November 2021, and the two new teams named their players on 22 January 2022.
The auction took place on 12 and 13 February 2022 in Bangalore. Ishan Kishan was the most expensive buy of the auction, bought by Mumbai Indians for Rs 15.25 cr. The most expensive foreign player was Liam Livingstone, bought by Punjab Kings for Rs 11.50 cr.
Three venues in Mumbai and one in Pune will host the league stage matches. The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai will host 20 matches each, whereas Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium and the MCA International Stadium in Pune will host 15 matches each. Every team will play four matches each at the Wankhede and the DY Patil Stadium, and three matches each at the Brabourne and the MCA Stadium. The final will take place on 29 May.
All eyes on Jadeja
In IPL 2022, CSK will be under a new captain with Ravindra Jadeja receiving the baton from MS Dhoni on Thursday. The defending champions will be without some of last season’s star performers in the guise of Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur and Josh Hazlewood. Meanwhile, the side will also have some new faces with Devon Conway and Adam Milne joining ranks.
The franchise will be heavily reliant on the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Dhoni, Jadeja and Ambati Rayudu in the upcoming game. Star all-rounder Moeen Ali will be missing the opener vs KKR.
KKR also have a new captain with Shreyas Iyer replacing Eoin Morgan as skipper. KKR purchased Iyer for a huge sum of Rs 12.25 crore during the mega auction this year. Even KKR will be without some crucial players, with the likes of Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi and Lockie Ferguson not a part of the squad anymore.
The likes of Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine will be crucial to KKR’s ambitions this season.
Both sides have faced each other a total of 28 times, with CSK coming out on top with 18 wins. KKR have won nine times and one match ended as a no-result encounter.
Farewell season for Dhoni?
Dhoni has done a Dhoni by giving up CSK captaincy three days before their opening game. While his decision did not come as a shock, it has fuelled speculation whether he would feature in all the games.
The 40-year-old stepping aside has also put the spotlight on Ravindra Jadeja, who will be captaining a high-profile team for the very first time.
Jadeja’s stellar form in international cricket over the last couple of years would surely give him the confidence to lead from the front and in times of crisis, he will anyway have Dhoni by his side.
Time for Iyer, K L and Hardik to enhance captaincy credentials
Having led Delhi Capitals to their first ever final, Iyer was sidelined from captaincy following a shoulder injury. He decided to go back into the auction and KKR paid big money for his services.
The stylish batter has shown rich form for India of late and he will be hoping to carry that into the IPL and inspire KKR to their third title.
His India teammate Hardik Pandya’s progress will be followed closely over the course of the IPL. Having lost his place in the Indian team due to his inability to bowl regularly following a back surgery in 2019, Hardik has a point to prove.
It is still not clear if he would bowl often in the IPL, making his form with the bat all the more crucial. Either way, he will have to come up with something special to resurrect his career and also ensure first timers Gujarat put up a competitive show.
Hardik’s close friend K L Rahul will also need to inspire a young unit. Success eluding him as captain, both at India and IPL level, the opener will be eyeing another prolific season with the bat besides leading an exciting bunch of cricketers.
No home advantage for MI?
Rohit Sharma has insisted that there will be no home advantage for Mumbai Indians but he and the likes of Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishan Kishan won’t certainly mind playing in their own backyard.
Having let go of Pandya brothers and Trent Boult, the team doesn’t look the same formidable outfit at least on paper.
At Royal Challengers Bangalore, all eyes will be on Virat Kohli like usual, though, he has happily relinquished the captaincy.
With the burden of leading the side off his shoulders, the former India skipper is expected to come back to his batting best and play an important role in taking the team to its elusive title.
Longtime CSK batter Faf du Plessis has been given the captaincy with a hope that he would be able to do what has not been done before at RCB.