Less than six months after Chennai Super Kings lifted the IPL title in Dubai in October, the biggest T20 league in the world is back - at home and in front of fans.
Chennai Super Kings open the season against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday, with talismanic Super Kings leader Mahendra Singh Dhoni no longer the captain having handed over the reins to Ravindra Jadeja.
Fans will be allowed at the four venues in western India that will host the league phase of the tournament - Wankhede Stadium, DY Patil Stadium and the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai and the MCA Stadium in Pune. Crowds will, initially at least, be limited to 25 percent capacity.
The league has been expanded to 10 teams, with the two new franchises - set up at a combined cost of $1.6 billion - being Gujarat Titans, owned by CVC Capital Partners, and Lucknow Super Giants, backed by Indian tycoon Sanjiv Goenka.
The teams will be divided into two groups of five, based on their previous IPL records, for a 70-match regular season that is set to be the first completed entirely in India since 2019 because of the pandemic.
The franchises hit the reset button earlier this year, splurging $75 million to buy 204 players in the auction with Mumbai Indians bringing back Ishan Kishan for over $2 million.
England batter Liam Livingstone was the most expensive overseas player, costing the Punjab Kings $1.5 million.
All eyes will once again be on Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians, who are the most successful IPL team having won a record five titles.
Sharma will be in the spotlight as he is now the all-format captain of the Indian cricket team and fellow teammate Virat Kohli is no longer the leader of the national side or his franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore.
There was some good news ahead of the season opener, with India's cricket board announcing it plans to launch the women's edition of the IPL next year.
"It has to be approved by the annual general meeting," Sourav Ganguly, president of the Indian cricket board, said on Friday. "We plan to start it by next year hopefully."
IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said the process to launch the women's version has "started" and that it could be a five or six-team league.
