This time two new teams will make their IPL debut in the form of Lucknow Supergiants and Gujarat Titans.
Mumbai, The Indian Premier League 2022, which has given Indian cricket a hefty price and a new identity, is all set to spread its color at home with 10 teams, whose first match is here on Saturday against defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and last year’s team. The runner-up will be played between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). This will be the first time since 2011 that 10 teams will clash for the most coveted T20 trophy in world cricket.
This time two new teams will make their IPL debut in the form of Lucknow Supergiants and Gujarat Titans. After the situation of COVID-19 in the country is under control, cricket fans will get a chance to enjoy the matches by visiting the stadium for the first time since 2019. All IPL matches will be played in India and 25 percent of the stadium’s capacity will be able to see the spectators in the stadium. With the addition of two new teams, the total number of matches has increased from 60 to 74, taking the tournament to more than two months. All the teams, however, will play only 14 matches in the league stage.
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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had a tough lesson in 2021 when it had to postpone the tournament midway due to the outbreak of the pandemic and later complete it in the UAE. Keeping this in mind, at present the league stage matches will be held at three locations in Mumbai and Pune so that there is no need to travel by air. It will be a challenge for the pitch curators to keep the pitches alive for two months but there is every possibility of big scores in the tournament.
With the T20 World Cup to be played in Australia this year, the IPL will decide the fate of some Indian players as well. Mumbai Indians team will play at their home ground but its captain Rohit Sharma has made it clear that they will not get any extra benefit from it. However, players like Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Jasprit Bumrah and Ishan Kishan would like to take full advantage of the favorable conditions.
At Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), all eyes will be on Virat Kohli who has stepped down as captain. Faf du Plessis, who was associated with CSK for a long time, has been given the captaincy of RCB. It remains to be seen whether the team’s fortunes turn under his leadership. This could be the last season of the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the IPL. He left the captaincy before the first match and handed over the command to Ravindra Jadeja. All eyes will be on Jadeja as he has to lead a team that Dhoni has been leading since 2008 which is a four-time champion.
This time the leadership skills of Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Mayank Agarwal will also be tested. Iyer will lead KKR while Rahul will take charge of Lucknow and Hardik Gujarat. Agarwal has been made the captain of Punjab. Iyer has previously captained Delhi Capitals while Rahul has captained Punjab Kings. For Hardik, this will be his first experience of captaincy in the IPL. His progress will also be closely watched by the Indian team management as he lost his place in the national team for not bowling regularly. (agency)