It will be a battle of youngsters with the likes of Nitish Rana, Hardik Pandya on one side and the new star in the horizon Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan with his variations on the other side.
However, Hyderabad had clearly done their homework as Rashid grabbed the top wicket-taker's 'purple cap' on Sunday after his 3-19 set up a comprehensive win over Gujarat Lions.
Saurashtra left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat has been recalled, while India also have three first-timers in Washington Sundar, Basil Thampi and Deepak Hooda for the three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka.
The mountain of runs that he has plundered so far in first-class cricket has ensured that the focus will be firmly on Delhi youngster Rishabh Pant as India 'A' take on the visiting England XI, in the second and final warm-up match in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Mumbai Indians will look to continue their rampaging run when they take on the formidable Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Season 9 of the IPL has seen many youngsters punch above their weight. Some of them make Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com's Young Guns XI.
Last season's early elimination still fresh in his mind, Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir, on Saturday, said his team would not take anything for granted.
Kings XI Punjab captain David Miller was full of praise for young opener Manan Vohra, whom he feels has started to focus on building his innings.
'I don't think he (Karthik) will be under pressure. First and foremost thing will be to give guidance to this group. He has got a lot of experienced players around him, particularly in overseas group, and there's the likes of Piyush Chawala, Vinay Kumar and Robin Uthappa.'
Swashbuckling West Indies opener Chris Gayle smashed a blistering half-century before Yuzvendra Chahal returned with a three-wicket haul as Royal Challengers Bangalore outclassed Gujarat Lions by 21 runs in their Indian Premier League match in Bengaluru, on Tuesday.
Buoyant Kolkata Knight Riders will look to continue their winning momentum when they face defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
'We have a quality group of players and we need to be smart about how we use them against opposition. I thought we played a very good game given the fact that what they had to offer. But definitely (Harbhajan was) not dropped in the way that you want me to say it. Just that it was a tactical decision'
Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels 'different' about captaining a new team in the Indian Premier League for the first time in eight years and says he has not moved on from his days at the now suspended Chennai Super Kings.
Teams play safe, retain star players, total purse at Rs 148 crore versus Rs 198 crore last year
Bowler Jaydev Unadkat in another player to watch out for as the three-match series in the shortest format kicks off in Johannesburg on Sunday
While KKR suffered their heaviest defeat of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their last game, Pune looked to have found their mojo in the business end of the tournament having registered consecutive wins in their last two matches.
Facing early elimination, two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders need to record a win to stay afloat when they take on table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Royal Challengers Bangalore thrashed Kings XI Punjab by 82 runs via D/L method in a rain-hit IPL clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Back in the top half of the league table after a convincing win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils will look to build on the winning momentum when they take on defending champions Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League match in Visakhapatnam on Sunday.
A supremely confident Delhi Daredevils return to their den and have a struggling and injury-ravaged Rising Pune Supergiants in their firing line up next in the Indian Premier League, in New Delhi, on Thursday.
Their winning momentum punctured after a loss to Rising Pune Supergiants, Sunrisers Hyderabad would look to get back to their winning ways when they take on a struggling Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League Twenty20 match, in Hyderabad, on Saturday.
Erratic Sunrisers Hyderabad look to bounce back against inconsistent Mumbai Indians.
The Bombay high court on Tuesday allowed the Board of Control for Cricket in India to host Indian Premier League matches in Maharashtra only till April 30 after which it has asked the organisers to shift the matches outside the state.
He was on the Marquee List. His base price was a meagre Rs 50,000. Yet batting sensation Martin Guptill failed to find a buyer at the IPL auction.
Rajneesh Gupta's fascinating look at the routes RCB and Sunrisers Hyderabad took to the IPL 9 final.
Sharply divided maulanas appear to have paved way for a smooth sailing for Bharatiya Janata Party nominee Santosh Kumar Gangwar in Bareilly.
Two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders would look to assert their supremacy, while Sunrisers Hyderabad will have revenge on mind when the two teams clash in the Indian Premier League (IPL) Eliminator in New Delhi on Wednesday. Both Sunrisers and KKR finished their league engagements on 16 points each but the Gautam Gambhir-led side ended fourth behind Sunrisers due to inferior net run rate. But going into the do-or-die game, KKR have psychological advantage over the Sunrisers having beaten them on both the occasions during the league stage. KKR thrashed Sunrisres by eight wickets in their first meeting this season and came out victorious by 22 runs in a must-win match last Sunday to qualify for the play-offs.
For days now, the fan has sat in front of the telly every night hoping to see an IPL contest that would leave the nerves jangling. Instead, he is served an insipid display that forces him to slumber the evening away, says Dhruv Munjal.
Simply blown away by their pyrotechnics, West Indies left-hander Chris Gayle compared Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to Marvel comics' superheroes 'Batman' and 'Superman', as the duo lit up the Indian Premier League with some dazzling display of top quality batsmanship.
Young batsman Krunal Pandya produced a blinder of an innings scoring 86 runs off only 37 balls as Mumbai Indians defended their massive 206-4 against Delhi Daredevils to record a convincing 80-run victory at Visakhapatnam on Sunday. This win by a huge margin has also boosted the net run-rate of Mumbai at a crucial time as they move above Gujarat Lions to third place in the points table. Pandya's knock was laced with half a dozen towering sixes and seven boundaries as he shared a 98-run fiery stand with opener Martin Guptill to power Mumbai to a commanding 206 for four.
Key was not to be left behind and quipped that he is thankful to Modi for not raising his country's poor performance in the series so far. New Zealand were whitewashed 0-3 in the Test series and are trailing in the ongoing five-match ODI series as well.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected plea of the Mumbai Cricket Association and the Maharashtra Cricket Association against the Bombay high court's order to shift the Indian Premier League matches out of drought-hit Maharashtra.
Dhoni has to ponder over both the batting and bowling departments of his team.
Perennial under-achievers Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab will look to recover from opening losses and put their campaign back on track.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes became the most expensive overseas purchase -- bought by Rising Pune Supergiants for a whopping Rs 14.50 crore even as some unheralded Indian domestic players trumped seasoned names to land lucrative deals at the Indian Premier League players' auction.
Rajneesh Gupta presents how the teams have performed in eight seasons of the IPL.
Even on paper, there is not much to choose, especially with Pune beating MI thrice this season including a comprehensive victory in Qualifier 1. But a impressive show by Mumbai in the final cannot be ruled out.
Team India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja tells Haresh Pandya what attracted him to Reeva Solanki.
The IPL, all of a sudden, may have some catching up to do with the Big Bash.
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