IPL 10 kicks off with some notable absentees
A clutch of Indian stars led by Kohli are out of this edition — either partially or fully, which certainly lessens the novelty factor for all the star gazers.
4 April 2017 4:33 PM GMT
Virat Kohli's colossal presence is sure to be missed when the 10th Indian Premier League (IPL) takes off on Wednesday after a build-up mired in administrative tug-of-war over funds.
A clutch of Indian stars led by Kohli are out of this edition — either partially or fully, which certainly lessens the novelty factor for all the star gazers.
Even off the field, the run-up to the tournament has been far from smooth. Several state units had expressed their inability to conduct matches, citing lack of funds, before the Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators stepped in to resolve the matter.
The COA will have the onerous job of continuing to keep an eye on officials to ensure that no such teething troubles crop up during the tournament. On to the cricketing issues, it will only be known next week when exactly Kohli will start playing in the league for Royal Challengers Bangalore as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury.
The dashing India captain, known as much for his feisty persona as for his peerless batting, would undoubtedly be missed the most when action kicks off on Wednesday in Hyderabad. Kohli had accumulated nearly 1000 runs last time and each of his four hundreds were T20 master-classes. Another big name set to be missing from early action would be South African swashbuckler AB de Villiers. Nursing a back injury, there is no clarity on his availability just yet.
Till the likes of Kohli and de Villiers come back, the onus of providing perfect "cricketainment" will lie with someone who responds to the name of Christopher Henry Gayle.
If Gayle just stands and delivers, RCB will again have a feast.
There will be curiosity regarding what T20 specialist Tymal Mills —bought for Rs 12 crore — will bring to the table and how stand-in captain Shane Watson uses him. Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin's absence from Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) means there would a bit less colour on the field.
A combative cricketer like Ashwin, whose multi-dimensional ability makes him special even though there were doubts about how much he could have contributed after bowling nearly 740 overs.
But all eyes will be on Ben Stokes, bought for Rs 14.5 crore by Pune. Each ball that the 'Big Ben' bowls and each run he scores will be equated with his pay package. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has no such worries apart from proving a point with his blazing blade — a fitting reply for being stripped off captaincy.
Injury-hit RCB takes on holders Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL opener
Hampered by injuries to some of their biggest stars, Royal Challengers Bangalore will have their task cut out when they take on defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL lung-opener on Wednesday.
Captain Virat Kohli and star batsman AB de Villiers will be unavailable forWednesday's match due to injuries. While Kohli is ruled out because of a shoulder injury, de Villiers is nursing a back problem. As Kohli is likely to miss the first few matches in the tournament, the team has named Shane Watson as its captain in the interim. They have also lost star batsman KL Rahul for the whole tournament owing to injury. In addition, RCB's young batsman Sarfaraz
Khan will most likely be unavailable for the entire season after hurting himself on the field during a practice match in Bengaluru.
Sarfaraz Khan was expected to partner Chris Gayle in the absence of Kohli.
RCB can still bank on Gayle and Watson who are both capable of destroying any opposition on their day. Kedar Jadhav, a rising Indian star, can rise to the occasion and fill the gap caused by Rahul's absence. Australian Twenty20 star Travis Head, Indian players Sachin Baby and Mandeep Singh, who have previous experience of playing in the IPL, are also valuable assets in the batting order.
RCB boasts of some deadly bowlers in English paceman Tymal Mills, an expensive buy at the IPL 2017 auction, and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Chahal's six-wicket haul had helped India clinch last year's series against England. West Indies' Twenty20 specialist leg-spinner Samuel Badree, Kiwi pacer Adam Milne and left-arm seamer Aniket Choudhary add to the bowling strength of the Bangalore outfit. Indian players like Sreenath Aravind, Stuart Binny and all-rounder Pawan Negi are also expected to help the team's cause.
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