After 2019, one can actually get a feel of the Indian Premier League.
Like the rest of the things in life, the most popular and competitive T20 franchise league too is trying to come out of the clutches of Covid-19 and is back to the home-away format with packed houses expected at almost all the venues.
After quite some time, the IPL is all set to have a dazzling opening ceremony with the obvious presence of some Bollywood stars at the colossal Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad, on Friday. But the wait is on for the real stars of defending champions Gujarat Titans and four-time winners Chennai Super Kings when they cross swords in the IPL 2023 opener.
It will also be a battle between two captains: Hardik Pandya, who has done exceedingly well since last year’s IPL, and one of his mentors Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose charisma and presence — even after almost four years since he quit international cricket — continues to matter for the Super Kings as well for their opponents.
With the Impact Player and other rules and changes in playing conditions this year, it will be quite interesting to see how the Titans and the Super Kings make use of them. Particularly, the Impact Player. Knowing Dhoni and his style of operation, one shouldn’t be too surprised if he announces himself as the Impact Player of his team even though he is the skipper.
Teams cannot name an overseas recruit as their Impact Player if they already have named four foreigners in their XIs. So there appears to be a possibility of both teams going in with less than the stipulated four non-Indian players in their respective XI and then picking an overseas cricketer as the Impact Player during the course of the game.
In fact, doing so could make matters less complicated for the teams. The Super Kings do have the kind of overseas cricketers who seem quite capable of making an impact at a critical stage of the game.
Opener Devon Conway, the talismanic Ben Stokes and Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana could be their three confirmed foreigners in the XI. Depending on how the game proceeds, they can draft in highly effective spinner all-rounders like Moeen Ali and Mitchell Santner or even Sri Lankan Matheesha Pathirana with his sling-arm action.
What also bodes well for Dhoni and Co. is the return of pacer Deepak Chahar, who finally seems to have recovered from the stress fracture and quadricep injuries that kept him out of action for a good part of 2022. Chahar’s ability to swing the new ball does matter and if he gets it right, he could be a spoilsport for Titans opener Shubman Gill.
No matter how good a rhythm Gill is in at present, the moving ball does create problems for him. The Super Kings team management will have that in mind.
The new ball goes on to do a bit at the Motera, especially in the first half. So the Mohammed Shami-led Titans pace attack, too, could be a test for the Super Kings top order.
For captain Pandya and head coach Ashish Nehra, selecting an Impact Player shouldn’t be much of a problem as there are options like Australian wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade and the West Indies pacer all-rounder Odean Smith. But who opens with Gill?
Will the Titans continue with Wriddhiman Saha? Though Saha didn’t do a bad job last year, they do have an alternative in Kane Williamson or even KS Bharat, who can bat aggressively. Also, one can never doubt Williamson’s class regardless of his form.
