Annapurna Times: IPL 2016: It’s rush hour again

The dust has barely settled on a white-knuckle ICC World T20 before the ninth season of the Indian Premier League is upon us.

No more dream team? Dhoni has admitted that he had still not
‘moved on’ from CSK. Photo: Akhilesh Kumar

Ek India Happywala is the broadcaster’s catch-phrase this time — a dose of IPL joy for a nation in churn. But there is, it seems, not the same happiness greeting the tournament everywhere. The Bombay High Court is hearing a petition against holding IPL matches in drought-hit Maharashtra. However right or wrong linking the water crisis directly to the IPL may be, it is not a pleasant backdrop against which to begin.

The curtains will go up on the competition on Saturday, when Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants, two teams from Maharashtra, meet at the Wankhede Stadium.

CSK legacy

Pune will be led by M.S. Dhoni, who in February admitted that he had still not ‘moved on’ from Chennai Super Kings. “After eight years of IPL, it feels very different to play for any other team.

“All of a sudden if you want me to say that I am very excited to play for a new team, don’t give credit to CSK and the fans for the love and affection they have given us, it will be wrong,” he said at Pune’s jersey-launch function.

And this is the other issue this year’s IPL must contend with: the absence of CSK and Rajasthan Royals, two of the competition’s more popular and successful sides, now suspended.

Stars from the two outfits will still be in action, and there are two new franchises in Pune and Gujarat Lions, but as both Suresh Raina and Dwayne Bravo — former CSK heroes — have recognised in recent days, things will never be the same.

Dhoni and Raina, the Pune and Gujarat captains respectively, have a hard task on their hands for they are up against six settled teams.

Mumbai, the defending champion, will be among the leading contenders again. The absence of Lasith Malinga will be a blow but Jos Buttler’s arrival will reinforce a side whose core has remained unchanged.

RCB’s batting might

In the south of the country, Royal Challengers Bangalore has assembled a batting unit that resembles someone’s fantasy league roster: Shane Watson, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, and A.B. de Villiers. The extent of Samuel Badree’s shoulder injury is not certain, but RCB ought to be considered favourite for the IPL upon his arrival.

Badree, Kohli and Watson emerged from the World T20 as the ICC’s top-ranked bowler, batsman and all-rounder, and the aftertaste of that competition will continue to linger through the IPL.

A week to the day after his unforgettable role in an unforgettable final, Carlos Brathwaite will return to the Eden Gardens with Delhi Daredevils.

Delhi will hope Brathwaite’s confidence — and the presence of Rahul Dravid and Paddy Upton at the helm — can inspire a revival after three poor seasons.

Kolkata Knight Riders, meanwhile, will have to get used to life without Trevor Bayliss. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kings XI Punjab arrive with renewed expectations.

Mumbai and KKR have split the last four titles between them, but last season’s outcome was anything but predictable. At the end of the league stages, only three points separated first from fifth: it was that close. More of the same may be in store.

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