IPL 2011 kicks off with CSK vs KKR

The deck of cards has been shuffled. Suddenly, the new kings of world cricket find themselves in opposing camps, fighting a new game for a new prize, less than six days after India’s World Cup victory in Mumbai – the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).


Consummate professionals that they are, the players will no doubt be raring to bring victory to their franchises, and the players from other countries who didn’t succeed in winning the ultimate prize will have point or two to prove, setting the stage very nicely some keenly- contested Twenty20 cricket over the next 51 days.

However, the only question that hangs over the tournament is that after an almost equally long World Cup, will the Indian public be as interested in the entertainment- driven spectacle as it has been in the past? At least the host association here, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, believes there will be nothing but houses throughout the tournament.

lot has changed since Mahendra Singh Dhoni lifted the glittering trophy in the shape of the Indian landmass on April 25 last year. The man who envisaged and got the league up and running, Lalit Modi, is on the run, having been deposed as the IPL chairman on various charges of corruption soon after the third edition got over. The almost hostile takeover of the league by the BCCI top brass has resulted in promises of a rather toned down IPL, unlike the brash ‘ entertainment’ product it had become over the last three years. The postmatch parties that once overshadowed the cricket are gone.

However, given the rumours surrounding the opening ceremony, it expected to be an even bigger deal than previous editions. Perhaps the biggest name in Hindi cinema, Amitabh Bachchan, is expected to host the ceremony while megastar Shah Rukh Khan, who co- owns the Kolkata Knight Riders, is also expected to perform some of his most celebrated Bollywood numbers.

The fresh season will also bring with it 10 teams and a new format, and it is ironic that the two men who were at the centre of India’s six- wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the World Cup final on Saturday – Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir – will be the opposing captains in the opening match. O UT OF the 15- man Indian squad for the World Cup, three players each are representing the Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, while the Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Pune Warriors have two each. Delhi Daredevils, Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Kings XI Punjab have one player each from that squad, while Deccan Chargers and Rajasthan Royals have none.

Despite the wholesale changes brought about by a fresh auction held in January, the Super Kings squad bears a familiar look, owing to the team’s policy of keeping its core intact. Perhaps this is the reason why it has been the most successful team in the league in the first three years, with a worst result of crashing out of the semifinals in 2009.

Up against them is a team that has wiped the slate clean after three lacklustre years. The Knight Riders have finished eighth, seventh and sixth respectively in the three editions, and were the most adventurous spenders at the auction, using up half their allocation of $ 9 million on just two players – Gambhir and the big- hitting Yusuf Pathan.

They also have within their ranks a great all- rounder in Jacques Kallis and an effective Twenty20 dasher in England’s Eoin Morgan.

The pitch at the Chepauk came in for criticism during the World Cup for being too low and slow, and early indications are that it has been toned up to suit the batsmen once again.