As the 10th season of the Indian Premier League Twenty20 tournament gets underway on Wednesday, we look at the storylines likely to dominate the competition.
From red to white
India’s Test players more than earned their corn in the past nine months. Their Australian counterparts played 13 Tests, while their Ashes rivals played a game more in the period between May and December. England were most recently in white-ball mode, but a significant number of the Indian, Australian and South African contingents will need to make a rapid transition to the more helter-skelter rhythms of the Twenty20 format.
Dhoni in the ranks
Last season, MS Dhoni looked an impostor in the Rising Pune Supergiant jersey, separated from his beloved Chennai Super Kings yellow. With the side not challenging for the play-offs, the management divested him of the captaincy, giving it to Steve Smith. There have been plenty of platitudes about Dhoni in the days since, and how a man synonymous with IPL leadership reacts to a place in the rank and file could well be central to Pune’s tournament prospects.
Rule Britannia
Ben Stokes and Tymal Mills were two of the most expensive acquisitions at the auction. Stokes, whose game-changing qualities with bat and ball are beyond dispute, will play under Smith in Pune and be expected to deliver heroic performances. With no Mitchell Starc, and no Virat Kohli or AB de Villiers either for the opening game, Mills will be under immediate pressure as Royal Challengers journey to Sunrisers Hyderabad to take on David Warner and the defending champions. Better have those yorkers handy.
Sehwag, team director
Glenn Maxwell, nicknamed the “Big Show”, is captaining Kings XI Punjab. A steady hand at the coaching-mentoring tiller then? Not a chance. In his playing days, Virender Sehwag treated the day’s first and last ball with equal disdain. Far from being a handbrake for Maxwell, Sehwag could be the turbocharging button. Whatever the results, Kings XI are unlikely to be boring to watch.
Last hurrah for Slinga Malinga
With 143 wickets across seven seasons, Lasith Malinga has been the IPL’s standout bowler. His critics in Sri Lanka have always accused him of saving his best for the ‘other blue’ — Mumbai Indians. But after missing all of last season, Malinga, 33, who misses the first game because of international duty, will be desperate to make a big impact, with the clock seemingly winding down.
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