This weekend, one of the world's greatest T20 shows gets under way in India, with the biggest hitters and finest bowlers from across the globe taking part in a seven-week jamboree. The Cricketer answers all the pressing questions
It's almost time for the off.
This weekend, one of the world's greatest T20 shows gets under way in India, with the biggest hitters and finest bowlers from across the globe taking part in a seven-week jamboree.
The Cricketer answers all the pressing questions before the tournament gets under way.
Oh come on now. Do you really need to ask? It’s only the behemoth that is the Indian Premier League. Installment number 11. Arguably the biggest T20 competition in the world.
The first game takes place on Saturday, April 7 - that’s Mumbai Indians against Chennai Super Kings - and it runs right the way through until the final week of May, with the final scheduled to take place at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 27.
Eight franchises take part in the tournament, although the identities of the teams have changed a little since last season. Out go Gujarat Lions and the frustratingly-named Rising Pune Supergiant (why only one Supergiant when you could have dozens?!).
In their place return two teams who found themselves at the centre of a spot-fixing scandal in 2013 and, in 2015, were subsequently banned for two seasons.
They are the bright yellow machine of Chennai Super Kings and the winners of the first ever IPL, Rajasthan Royals.
Well, it’s Twenty20, played in a round robin group stage.
After the franchises have finished dualling in the group round, there is a qualifying play-off system leading to a grand final.
Some of the biggest names from around the world make up the overseas quotas for each team, including all bar two of the top 10 in the Player Performance Index - a standings of all players involved in T20 franchise activity over the past three years.
Each team can have eight overseas players in their squad but only four may play in any given match.
At the start of the year, a total of 1,122 players made themselves available for the IPL auction. That list was then whittled down to 578 names and the teams started bidding.
Contracts range from the obscene (the £1.37million Rajasthan paid for Ben Stokes) to the, well, really quite cheap (the bottom rung is 10lakh, which is roughly equivalent to £1,000).
OTHER TOP-PRICED DEALSJaydev Unadkat, Rajasthan Royals: £1.26m; KL Rahul, Kings XI Punjab: £1.2m Manish Pandey, Sunrisers Hyderabad: £1.2m; Chris Lynn, Kolkata Knight Riders: £1.05m; Glenn Maxwell, Delhi Daredevils: £992,200; Rashid Khan, Sunrisers Hyderabad: £992,200; Krunal Pandya, Mumbai Indians: £970,300; Sanju Samson, Rajasthan Royals: £882,100
Below you’ll find the full squad listings for each franchise, along with their Player Performance Index rating.
MS Dhoni (57), Ravindra Jadeja (56), Suresh Raina (16), Kedar Jadhav (147), Dwayne Bravo (12), Karn Sharma (206), Shane Watson (6), Shardul Thakur (256), Ambati Rayudu (199), Murali Vijay (467), Harbhajan Singh (103), Faf du Plessis (210), Mark Wood (558), Sam Billings (159), Imran Tahir (40), Deepak Chahar (947), Lungisani Ngidi (374), Asif KM (-), N Jagadeesan (-), Kanishk Seth (-), Monu Singh (-), Dhruv Shorey (-), Kshitiz Sharma (-), Chaitanya Bishnoi (-)
Top 10s: 1
Top 100s: 5
Highest rank: Shane Watson (6)
Average: 572.8
Rishabh Pant (119), Shreyas Iyer (167), Chris Morris (5), Glenn Maxwell (1), Kagiso Rabada (113), Amit Mishra (160), Shahbaz Nadeem (451), Vijar Shankar (360), Rahul Tewatia (836), Mohammad Shami (307), Gautam Gambhir (90), Trent Boult (114), Colin Munro (32), Dan Christian (25), Jason Roy (68), Naman Ojha (366), Prithvi Shaw (-), Gurkeerat Singh Mann (-), Avesh Khan (1,224), Abhishek Sharma (-), Jayant Yadav (757), Harshal Patel (623), Manjot Kalra (-), Sandeep Lamichhane (-), Sayan Ghosh (-)
Top 10s: 2
Top 100s: 6
Highest rank: Glenn Maxwell (1)
Average: 592.96
Axar Patel (30), KL Rahul (109), Ravichandran Ashwin (243), Andrew Tye (28), Aaron Finch (27), Marcus Stoinis (69), Karun Nair (178), Mujeeb Zadran (768), Ankit Singh Rajpoot (583), David Miller (67), Mohit Sharma (138), Barinder Singh Sran (505), Yuvraj Singh (118), Chris Gayle (10), Ben Dwarshuis (270), Akshdeep Nath (1,290), Manoj Tiwary (294), Mayank Agarwal (666), Manzoor Dar (-), Pardeep Sahu (938), Mayank Dagar (-)
Top 10s: 1
Top 100s: 6
Highest rank: Chris Gayle (10)
Average: 444.43
Sunil Narine (2), Andre Russell (89), Chris Lynn (24), Tom Curran (166), Dinesh Karthik (82), Robin Uthappa (72), Kuldeep Singh Yadav (189), Piyush Chawla (250), Nitish Rana (283), Kamlesh Nagarkoti (-), Shivam Mavi (-), Mitchell Johnson (75), Shubman Gill (-), Cameron Delport (49), Javon Searless (-), Apoorv Vijay Wankhade (-), Ishank Jaggi (940)
Top 10s: 1
Top 100s: 7
Highest rank: Sunil Narine (2)
Average: 511.89
Rohit Sharma (35), Hardik Pandya (22), Jasprit Bumrah (29), Krunal Pandya (88), Ishan Kishan (326), Kieron Pollard (4), Pat Cummins (141), Evin Lewis (44), Suryakumar Yadav (357), Ben Cutting (107), Mustafizur Rahman (64), Rahul Chahar (941), Pradeep Sangwan (652), Mitch McClenaghan (58), JP Duminy (39), Saurabh Tiwary (495), Tajinder Dhillon (-), Akila Dhananjaya (-), Nidheesh MD Dinesan (-), Aditya Tare (-), Siddhesh Dinesh Lad (-), Mayank Markande (-). Sharad Lumba (-), Anukul Roy (-), Mohsin Khan (-)
Top 10s: 1
Top 100s: 9
Highest rank: Kieron Pollard (4)
Average: 676.44
Ben Stokes (26), Heinrich Klaasen (356), Jaydev Unadkat (123), Sanju Samson (136), Jofra Archer (157), Krishnappa Gowtham (-), Jos Buttler (50), Ajinkya Rahane (81), Darcy Short (124), Rahul Tripathi (276), Dhawal Kulkarni (190), Zahir Khan Pakteen (-), Ben Laughlin (120), Stuart Binny (338), Dushmantha Chameera (332), Anureet Singh (805), Aryaman Vikram Birla (-), Midhun S (-), Shreyas Gopal (1,458), Prashant Chopra (-), Jatin Saxena (-), Ankit Sharma (880), Mahipal Lomror (-)
Top 10s: 0
Top 100s: 3
Highest rank: Ben Stokes (26)
Average: 693.87
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Virat Kohli (15), AB de Villiers (7), Sarfaraz Khan (843), Chris Woakes (155), Yuzvendra Singh Chahal (46), Umesh Yadav (140), Brendon McCullum (41), Washington Sundar (186), Navdeep Saini (-), Quinton de Kock (177), Mohammed Siraj (348), Nathan Coulter-Nile (60), Colin de Grandhomme (78), M Ashwin (781), Parthiv Patel (128), Moeen Ali (351), Mandeep Singh (309), Manan Vohra (239), Pawan Negi (117), Tim Southee (65), Kulwant Khejroliya (-), Aniket Choudhary (630), Pavan Deshpande (-), Anirudha Ashok Joshi (-)
Top 10s: 1
Top 100s: 7
Highest rank: AB de Villiers (7)
Average: 446.66
Alex Hales (80), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (20), Manish Pandey (66), Rashid Khan (9), Shikhar Dhawan (34), Wriddhiman Saha (146), Siddarth Kaul (318), Deepak Hooda (314), Syed Khaleel Ahmed (-), Sandeep Sharma (1,490), Kane Williamson (63), Carlos Brathwaite (23), Shakib al Hasan (18), Yusuf Pathan (202), Shreevats Goswami (-), Mohammed Nabi (11), Chris Jordan (54), Basil Thampi (409), T Natarajan (799), Sachin Baby (658), Bipul Sharma (470), Syed Mehdi Hasan (598), Ricky Bhui (-), Tanmay Agarwal (-)
Top 10s: 1
Top 100s: 10
Highest rank: Rashid Khan (9)
Average: 471.44
Sky Sports have the UK rights to this year’s competition, so it’ll be a mixture of Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket - the extra subscription channel within the subscription channels.
There will be plenty of coverage right here on The Cricketer, for those of you who don’t have time to tune in.
Most matches are due to start at 3.30pm BST, with some weekend clashes a little earlier - at 11.30am BST - when there are two ties being played in the same day.
The full fixture list is below.
Saturday, 7 April: Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings (3.30pm)
Sunday, 8 April: Kings XI Punjab vs Delhi Daredevils (11.30am); Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (3.30pm)
Monday, 9 April: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals (3.30pm)
Tuesday, 10 April: Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (3.30pm)
Wednesday, 11 April: Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Daredevils (3.30pm)
Thursday, 12 April: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians (3.30pm)
Friday, 13 April: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab (3.30pm)
Saturday, 14 April: Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils (11.30am); Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (3.30pm)
Sunday, 15 April: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Rajasthan Royals (11.30am); Kings XI Punjab vs Chennai Super Kings (3.30pm)
Monday, 16 April: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Delhi Daredevils (3.30pm)
Tuesday, 17 April: Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (3.30pm)
Wednesday, 18 April: Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders (3.30pm)
Thursday, 19 April: Kings XI Punjab vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (3.30pm)
Friday, 20 April: Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals (3.30pm)
Saturday, 21 April: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Kings XI Punjab (11.30am); Delhi Daredevils vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (3.30pm)
Sunday, 22 April: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings (11.30am); Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians (3.30pm
Monday, 23 April: Delhi Daredevils vs Kings XI Punjab (3.30pm)
Tuesday, 24 April: Mumbai Indians vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad (3.30pm)
Wednesday, 25 April: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings (3.30pm)
Thursday, 26 April: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kings XI Punjab (3.30pm)
Friday, 27 April: Delhi Daredevils vs Kolkata Knight Riders (3.30pm)
Saturday, 28 April: Chennai Super Kings vs. Mumbai Indians (3.30pm)
Sunday, 29 April: Rajasthan Royals vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (11.30am); Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Kolkata Knight Riders (3.30pm)
Monday, 30 April: Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils (3.30pm)
Tuesday, 1 May: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians (3.30pm)
Wednesday, 2 May: Delhi Daredevils vs Rajasthan Royals (3.30pm)
Thursday, 3 May: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings (3.30pm)
Friday, 4 May: Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians (3.30pm)
Saturday, 5 May: Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (11.30am); Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Delhi Daredevils (3.30pm)
Sunday, 6 May: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders (11.30am); Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals (3.30pm)
Monday, 7 May: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (3.30pm)
Tuesday, 8 May: Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab (3.30pm)
Wednesday, 9 May: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians (3.30pm)
Thursday, 10 May: Delhi Daredevils vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (3.30pm)
Friday, 11 May: Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings (3.30pm)
Saturday, 12 May: Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders (11.30am); Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Daredevils (3.30pm)
Sunday, 13 May: Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (11.30am); Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals (3.30pm)
Monday, 14 May: Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (3.30pm)
Tuesday, 15 May: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Rajasthan Royals (3.30pm)
Wednesday, 16 May: Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab (3.30pm)
Thursday, 17 May: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad (3.30pm)
Friday, 18 May: Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings (3.30pm)
Saturday, 19 May: Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (11.30am); Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Kolkata Knight Riders (3.30pm)
Sunday, 20 May: Delhi Daredevils vs Mumbai Indians (11.30am); Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab (3.30pm)
IPL play-offs
Tuesday, 22 May: TBC vs TBC - Qualifier 1 (3.30pm)
Wednesday, 23 May: TBC vs TBC - Eliminator (3.30pm)
Friday, 25 May: TBC vs TBC - Qualifier 2 (3.30pm)
IPL final
Sunday, 27 May: 3.30pm
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