Last year’s tournament was shifted to UAE but the 14th edition returns to India, where COVID-19 situation has worsened.
Five stars could be the key to stopping defending champions Mumbai Indians from winning for a third straight year.
Top players from around the world have gathered for the 14th Indian Premier League (IPL), which starts on Friday for a 52-day Twenty20 extravaganza to be played in empty stadiums because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Five stars could be the key in stopping defending champions Mumbai Indians from winning for a third straight year.
Kohli reacts after losing his wicket during an IPL 2019 match between the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad in Bangalore [File: Aijaz Rahi/AP Photo]
He led his team to an improved showing last year with 466 runs in 15 matches as Bangalore made the playoffs in the United Arab Emirates. He has said he would open the batting in T20 internationals and in the IPL.
But with critics, including former India opener Gautam Gambhir, suggesting there needs to be a changing of the guard at Bangalore, “King” Kohli will be determined to shine ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.
Stokes reacts while bowling against Sunrisers during an IPL match in Hyderabad [File: Mahesh Kumar A/AP]
The Royals, who will be captained by India’s Sanju Samson this season, finished bottom of the eight-team table last year, with Stokes joining the team late due to his late father’s illness.
He scored 285 runs, including an unbeaten 107, in eight matches for a team that ran hot and cold.
The Royals’ new director of cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, believes Stokes is “exactly the type of player any side would want”.
Smith plays a shot during a 2019 IPL match between the Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur [File: Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
Smith, who captained the Royals last year, could find it tough to make the starting XI in a power-packed Delhi lineup including skipper Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw and Shimron Hetmyer.
But coach Ricky Ponting insists Smith, a prolific top-order batsman who has amassed 2,333 runs in 95 IPL matches, will be hungry to perform in a T20 World Cup year.
“I think the fact that he’s been released from the franchise that he’s been at for a long time will make him a bit hungry as well this year,” Ponting said on the Cricket Australia website.
He added Smith’s chance to play would be in the top three of the batting order.
Morris appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of India’s MS Dhoni during the Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and India at the Hampshire Bowl in Southampton, England [File: Aijaz Rahi/AP]
Morris, who has claimed 80 wickets and scored 551 runs in 70 IPL games, admitted the price “blew my mind”.
“There is a little bit of added pressure, but the pressure that you get from a price tag doesn’t affect you on a cricket field at the end of the day,” Morris said.
Gayle raises his bat after completing 50 runs during the 2019 IPL match between Delhi Capitals and Kings XI Punjab at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in New Delhi [File: Sajjad Hussain/AFP]
The self-styled “Universe Boss” exploded last season after making the side midway through the tournament to hit three half-centuries in seven matches.
Punjab missed out on a play-offs spot, but the destructive left-hander, who is targeting his third T20 World Cup title with West Indies later this year, said he believed the change in the team’s name from Kings XI Punjab would also bring them a change in luck.