Top teams in the spotlight as IPL action begins
THE 17th season of the cash-rich Indian Premier League (IPL) began on Friday with Chennai Super Kings taking on Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Before the match, Bollywood actors Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff, singer Sonu Nigam and maestro AR Rahman performed in the opening ceremony at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
The focus is on the top five teams in the points table of the IPL 2023.
The Chennai Super Kings had a glorious time in IPL 2023, winning their fifth title in a nail-biting final against Gujarat Titans that lasted three days due to rain in Ahmedabad. They will be aiming to grab their sixth title, as MS Dhoni comes back in action.
The IPL 2022 winners and IPL 2023 runners-up, the Gujarat Titans have undergone a tectonic shift in their leadership. Hardik Pandya, the leader behind their stellar runs in the last two seasons, has moved to Mumbai Indians.
Gujarat have now handed the leadership reins to Shubman Gill.
They also suffered another blow when ace pacer Mohammed Shami was ruled out of the season because of surgery on his injured ankle.
One of the newer IPL teams, the Lucknow Super Giants have had successive playoff appearances, though they have never progressed beyond the eliminators. The Lucknow Super Giants have a question to answer on KL Rahul’s availability and the role he will play.
For the Mumbai Indians, news of Pandya as captain in place of Rohit Sharma brought varied reactions from all quarters. The side has also boosted its overseas fast-bowling resources in Gerald Coetzee and Dilshan Madushanka.
The Mumbai Indians still look as one of the most well-balanced teams in IPL 2024. In his second year as head coach at the Mumbai Indians, Mark Boucher said he would be looking forward to his association with Pandya.
Rajasthan Royals, the IPL 2008 champions, became runners-up in the 2022 season, but failed to make it to the playoffs in 2023.
In the auction, they roped in Avesh Khan. Rajasthan have a super solid batting line-up in Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel, along with spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.