After months of uncertainty due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the delayed season of the popular Indian Premier League will kick off in the United Arab Emirates this weekend with a clash between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings.
The IPL won't be coming to New Zealand says NZ Cricket. Photo: Photosport
The 2020 edition of the world's richest Twenty20 cricket league was originally scheduled to begin on March 29 in India but had to be postponed indefinitely by the country's cricket board due to worsening situation of the pandemic.
IPL's cancellation would have meant a potential billion dollar loss in revenue, leading the board to shift the tournament out of India, which is the world's second-worst affected country with over 5 million cases of coronavirus infections.
The postponement of this year's Twenty20 World Cup in Australia because of the pandemic also helped. It presented a window in the international cricket calendar for the eight-team league, which is attended by most of the world's top players.
The matches will be held in bio-secure bubbles in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi in front of empty stands but organisers are hoping to allow some fans during the later stages of the tournament, which will end on Nov. 10.
It will not be the first time that the competition has had to be held outside India.
The 2009 edition took place in South Africa as it coincided with India's general elections and the UAE hosted the early matches of the eight-team tournament five years later for the same reason.
The Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians, who beat Chennai by one run in last year's final to win their fourth title in seven years, once again look the team to beat with a balanced squad.
Trent Boult playing in the 2019 IPL. Photo: Photosport
There are two New Zealand coaches Stephen Fleming (Chennai) and Brendon McCullum (Kolkata) and six New Zealand players invloved, Mitchell Santner, James Neehsam, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult, Mitchell McClenaghan and Kane Williamson.
MUMBAI INDIANS
Last year: Champions
Best finish: Champions (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)
Captain: Rohit Sharma
Coach: Mahela Jayawardene (Fourth year)
Marquee players: Chris Lynn, Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah, James Pattinson, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Trent Boult, Suryakumar Yadav, Sherfane Rutherford, Mitchell McClenaghan, Rahul Chahar.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
Last year: Runners-up
Best finish: Champions (2010, 2011, 2018)
Captain: Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Coach: Stephen Fleming (10th year)
Marquee players: Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Murali Vijay, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwyane Bravo, Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Sam Curran, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Shardul Thakur, Josh Hazlewood, Piyush Chawla, Imran Tahir, Kedar Jadhav, Mitchell Santner.
DELHI CAPITALS
Last year: Third
Best finish: Third (2009, 2012, 2019)
Captain: Shreyas Iyer
Coach: Ricky Ponting (Third year)
Marquee players: Shreyas Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Axar Patel, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Alex Carey, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada, Ravichandran Ashwin, Amit Mishra.
SUNRISERS HYDERABAD
Last year: Fourth
Best finish: Champions (2016)
Captain: David Warner
Coach: Trevor Bayliss (First year)
Marquee players: David Warner, Manish Pandey, Kane Williamson, Vijay Shankar, Virat Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Priyam Garg, Mitchell Marsh, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreevats Goswami, Sandeep Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Last year: Fifth
Best finish: Champions (2012, 2014)
Captain: Dinesh Karthik
Coach: Brendon McCullum (First year)
Marquee players: Eoin Morgan, Tom Banton, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sunil Narine.
KINGS XI PUNJAB
Last year: Sixth
Best finish: Runners-up (2014)
Captain: KL Rahul
Coach: Anil Kumble (First year)
Marquee players: Karun Nair, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, James Neesham, Deepak Hooda, Glenn Maxwell, KL Rahul, Nicholas Pooran, Chris Jordan, Sheldon Cottrell, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Last year: Seventh
Best finish: Champions (2008)
Captain: Steve Smith
Coach: Andrew McDonald (First year)
Marquee players: Steve Smith, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Andrew Tye, Jofra Archer, Kartik Tyagi, Jaydev Unadkat.
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE
Last year: Eighth
Best finish: Runners-up (2009, 2011, 2016)
Captain: Virat Kohli
Coach: Simon Katich (First year)
Marquee players: Virat Kohli, Aaron Finch, AB de Villiers, Chris Morris, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Parthiv Patel, Dale Steyn, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa.
-Reuters