The eyes of the cricket world will be on India again when the Indian Premier League begins on March 22 with Chennai Super Kings facing Royal Challengers Bangalore.
There is no dearth of flashy kits and big hits of franchise cricket at this time of the year. But there is nothing quite like the IPL, where the very best compete for a slice of the great fortune and recognition that awaits.
This year's IPL will have an added layer of importance as the T20 World Cup begins straight after (June 2-29), which means many national teams will rely on performances in the IPL when selecting their final squads for the showpiece event in the Caribbean and US.
As we prepare for another thrilling season of IPL, here is everything you need to know.
When does IPL 2024 start?
The IPL starts on Friday, March 22, with a clash between defending champions Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The match begins at 6.30pm UAE time.
Schedule
Why is the complete schedule not out yet?
There was a lot of uncertainty over this year's IPL as it coincided with general elections in the country. For a period, there was a feeling the tournament could be split between India and an overseas location.
This time, the Indian board is taking it one step at a time and ensuring security clearances in advance in order to avoid the chaos of the ODI World Cup. There, the board had to redraw plans after announcing the fixtures due to scheduling conflict with local authorities.
Hence, only a part of the schedule has been confirmed. There are reports that the second half of the tournament could be held outside India.
Squads
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (captain, wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Maheesh Theekshana, Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana, Shardul Thakur, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, Ajay Mandal, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Tushar Deshpande, Avanish Aravelly, Shaik Rasheed, Sameer Rizvi
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (captain), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Kane Williamson, David Miller, Matthew Wade (wk), Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Azmatullah Omarzai, Shahrukh Khan, Noor Ahmad, Rashid Khan, Abhinav Manohar, B. Sai Sudharsan, Robin Minz, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Kartik Tyagi, Spencer Johnson, Sai Kishore, Manav Suthar, Darshan Nalkande, Sushant Mishra
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Chennai Super Kings players celebrate after their win in the IPL final against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, India, on Tuesday. AP -
The Super Kings took their fifth title, equalling Mumbai Indians, in a rain-interrupted Twenty20 final. AFP -
The Super Kings celebrate at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. AFP -
Fireworks at the Narendra Modi Stadium after the Chennai Super Kings' victory. AFP -
Chennai Super Kings help skipper MS Dhoni to victory in what might be his IPL swansong. AFP -
Sai Sudharsan hits out on his way to top scoring for Gujarat Titans with a total of 96 off 47 balls. Getty -
Sai Sudharsan of the Gujarat Titans bats. Getty -
Gujarat Titans' captain Hardik Pandya embraces Sai Sudharsan during the 2023 IPL final. Getty -
Teammates applaud Gujarat Titans' Sai Sudharsan (23) as he walks off the field after losing his wicket. AP -
Gujarat Titans' Wriddhiman Saha, left, celebrates his half century - on his way to a total of 54 off 39 - with batting partner Sai Sudharsan. AP -
Gujarat Titans' Shubman Gill is stumped Chennai Super Kings' wicketkeeper and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni after making 39 off 20. AFP -
Gujarat Titans' Shubman Gill plays a shot. AFP -
Chennai Super Kings' players celebrate after the dismissal of Gujarat Titans' Shubman Gill. AFP -
Chennai Super Kings' Matheesha Pathiranatook two wickets for 44 runs off his four overs, including the scalps of Sai Sudharsan and Rashid Khan. AP -
Gujarat Titans' captain Hardik Pandya plays a shot on his way to 21 runs off 12 balls. AP -
Chennai Super Kings' Devon Conway plays a shot. AP -
Chennai Super Kings' Devon Conway, left, and Ruturaj Gaikwad. AP -
Chennai Super Kings' Devon Conway plays over the top. AP -
Ruturaj Gaikwad of the Chennai Super Kings bats during the 2023 IPL final. Getty -
AHMEDABAD, INDIA - MAY 29: Ruturaj Gaikwad of the Chennai Super Kings hits out. Getty -
Gujarat Titans' Noor Ahmad celebrates with teammates after taking the wicket of Chennai Super Kings' Devon Conway. AFP -
Noor Ahmad of the Gujarat Titans celebrates the wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad. Getty -
Noor Ahmed of the Gujarat Titans bowls during the 2023 IPL final. Getty -
Chennai Super Kings' Ajinkya Rahane plays a shot. AP
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (captain), Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Vishnu Vinod, Romario Shepherd, Mohammad Nabi, Piyush Chawla, Shreyas Gopal, Nehal Wadhera, Nuwan Thushara, Jasprit Bumrah, Jason Behrendorff, Gerald Coetzee, Dilshan Madushanka, Shams Mulani, Shivalik Sharma, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Arjun Tendulkar
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Faf du Plessis (captain), Virat Kohli, Will Jacks, Anuj Rawat (wk), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Tom Curran, Suyash Prabhudessai, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Lockie Ferguson, Mahipal Lomror, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh, Karn Sharma, Mayank Dagar, Himanshu Sharma, Saurav Chauhan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Rajan Kumar
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (captain, subject to fitness), Phil Salt, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey, Sherfane Rutherford, KS Bharat (wk), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Mitchell Starc, Gus Atkinson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Suyash Sharma, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sakib Hussain
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (captain & wk), Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Rovman Powell, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Donovan Ferreira, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nandre Burger, Abid Mushtaq, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Sharma, Kunal Rathore, Shubham Dubey
Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul (captain), Quinton de Kock, Kyle Mayers, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Devdutt Padikkal, Ashton Turner, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Amit Mishra, K. Gowtham, Yudhvir Singh, Mark Wood, Mohsin Khan, Shivam Mavi, David Willey, Naveen-ul-Haq, Yash Thakur, Arshin Kulkarni, Prerak Mankad, Mayank Yadav, Arshad Khan
Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (captain), David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Shai Hope, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel, Mitchell Marsh, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Ricky Bhui, Yash Dhull, Kuldeep Yadav, Abishek Porel, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Rasikh Salam, Jhye Richardson, Kumar Kushagra, Lalit Yadav, Sumit Kumar, Vicky Ostwal, Pravin Dubey
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (captain), Aiden Markram, Abhishek Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Travis Head, Rahul Tripathi, Glenn Phillips, Heinrich Klaasen, Marco Jansen, Wanindu Hasaranga, Washington Sundar, Anmolpreet Singh, Abdul Samad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan, Umran Malik, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Upendra Yadav, Sanvir Singh, Nitish Reddy, Mayank Markande, Shahbaz Ahmed, J Subramanyan, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rilee Rossouw, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Chris Woakes, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Vidwath Kaverappa, Harshal Patel, Atharva Taide, Harpreet Bhatia, Ashutosh Sharma, Shashank Singh, Shivam Singh, Vishwanath Singh, Tanay Thyagarajann, Prince Choudhary
How to watch matches in the UAE?
The IPL will be shown live on CricLife 1 via the STARZPLAY app in the UAE.
What is new this year?
Well, for starters, Australia's all-conquering pacer Mitchell Starc returns to the IPL after a gap of eight years. Almost the entire 2023 ODI World Cup winning Australia squad will be in India, with Pat Cummins also announced as captain of Sunrisers Hyderabad.
On the other hand, one of the most successful captains in IPL – Rohit Sharma – saw his stint as Mumbai Indians leader come to end when the franchise parachuted in Hardik Pandya in his place. That has led to a lot of hand wringing in the Mumbai camp, which will make for interesting TV.
Also, bowlers will be allowed to bowl two bouncers per over, which could challenge the more traditional power hitters, who are used to plating their foot down and smashing across the line.
IPL 2023 team of the year
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Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans, 890 runs at 59.33, SR 157.80) Three centuries to drive his team to within an ace of defending their title, and all scored with the utmost elegance. AFP -
Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rajasthan Royals, 625 runs at 48.07, SR 163.61) His team might have imploded in the second half of the season, but the former pani puri seller shone throughout. AFP -
Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore, 639 runs at 53.25, SR 139.82) Finished with centuries in successive innings. Only Gill managed more than that across the whole season. AFP -
Suryakumar Yadav (Mumbai Indians, 605 runs at 43.21, SR 181.13) Could scarcely have done more to try to drag Mumbai back into the IPL winner’s circle, but they fell short. AP Photo -
Rinku Singh (Kolkata Knight Riders, 474 runs at 59.25, SR 149.52) Gave the season its most indelible memory with the five consecutive sixes to beat Gujarat Titans. AP Photo -
Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings, 20 wickets, econ 7.56; 190 runs, SR 142.85) Both incisive and thrifty with the ball, and ice cool with the bat when needed in the final. AP Photo -
MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings, 104 runs at 26, SR 182.45) Selected on the basis that him captaining almost guarantees success. And in the hope he will play on for one more year. Getty Images -
Rashid Khan (Gujurat Titans, 27 wickets at 20.44, econ 8.23; 130 runs, SR 216.66) Brilliant standard with the ball. His brutal batting was a bonus for the tournament runners up. Getty Images -
Tushar Deshpande (Chennai Super Kings, 21 wickets at 21.55, econ 9.92) A net bowler for CSK when IPL was exiled to the UAE in 2021, his wickets helped them become champions this time. Getty Images -
Mohammed Shami (Gujarat Titans, 28 wickets at 18.64, econ 8.03) Gujarat had the three leading wicket-takers in the tournament. Shami was out front, ahead of Rashid Khan and Mohit Sharma. AFP -
Mohit Sharma (Gujarat Titans, 27 wickets at 13.37, econ 8.17) Took a wicket every 9.81 deliveries he sent down, on average. Might have been the fall guy at the end, but was a hero until that point. AFP
