Much-anticipated IPL 2024 kicks off huge T20 season

A bumper season for the T20 format starts March 22 with the 16th edition of the IPL setting the stage for the World Cup in June, with certain developments whetting the appetite and pricking animated discussions between fans of several franchises.

How will Rishabh Pant fare in his return to cricket? How will Hardik Pandya and Rohit Sharma get along at Mumbai Indians? Is Shreyas Iyer fit enough to last a full season? Can Royal Challengers Bengaluru emulate their women’s franchise and win a trophy? Will Virat Kohli, away from cricket since January, nail down his T20 World Cup spot? Can Gautam Gambhir’s return to Kolkata Knight Riders revive the franchise? Are Pat Cummins – yet to captain any team in a professional T20 game – and Mitchell Starc worth the ridiculous pay deals they won in December? Will this be MS Dhoni’s final IPL?

There are just some of the big questions leading into IPL 2024, whose answers will be revealed across the next two months. But looming large on the horizon is the World Cup, for which all participating nations must announce their squads by May 1. Thus, this edition of the IPL assumes greater significance, particularly where India’s selection is concerned given that unlike the other 19 teams at the World Cup, each of their squad members will play the tournament.

This is no ordinary IPL for India’s all-formats captain Rohit, who saw himself replaced as Mumbai captain once a backdoors switch from Gujarat Titans moved Pandya back to the franchise where he made a name for himself. At 36, Rohit has played his last ODI World Cup and this summer’s T20 World Cup is his final shot at winning the biggest prize in T20 cricket. Rohit heading to North America and the Caribbean with runs under his belt will only benefit India, so for a man who has not had a bumper IPL in six seasons these next two months are critical. Same for Kohli, who made 29 and 0 in his first appearances in T20I cricket since the 2022 World Cup and whose strike-rate has been a concern.

Pandya has not played since he got injured during the ODI World Cup last October, and he needs to return to bowling and batting form if India are to seriously push for the T20 title this June. KL Rahul is another key player returning to cricket after a long gap, while Ishan Kishan’s off-field troubles must quickly be shed if he hopes to book himself a spot in the T20 squad.

It is premature to speculate on Pant’s chances at the World Cup, but for the likes of Jitesh Sharma – who has played nine T20Is – and the uncapped Dhruv Jurel, the first month of the IPL is huge. Success and failure could easily tip either of them in or out of India’s World Cup squad, given that both are contenders for the wicketkeeper and finisher’s role. Then there is Shubman Gill, who has seen his T20I stocks dive with the arrival of Yashasvi Jaiswal and the return of Rohit after 14 months. Saddled with the burden of captaining a depleted Gujarat franchise while being their best batsman by a mile, Gill must now find a way to stay in the mix for the T20 World Cup.

Beyond the Indian angle of major talking points, there is a distinct Australian flavour to this IPL season. Several Australian World Cup winners scored big IPL deals at the player auction in December, none bigger than Starc who smashed his skipper and team-mate Cummins’ auction record with a jaw dropping Rs 24.75 crore payday. Cummins, who led Australia to the World Test Championship and ODI World Cup titles in 2023, had set the all-time IPL purchase record when Sunrisers Hyderabad splurged Rs 20.50 to acquire him, but less than an hour later it was Starc who smashed that benchmark as he went back to Kolkata Knight Riders after six seasons.

Other Aussies to earn big bucks at the auction were World Cup final hero Travis Head, who joined Cummins at SRH with a Rs 6.8 crore deal; breakout pace star Spencer Johnson who was valued at a whopping 10 crore by Gujarat Titans; fast bowler Jhye Richardson (5 crore) to Delhi Capitals; and batsman Ashton Turner (1 crore) to Lucknow Super Giants. And beyond these recent additions, there is a franchise like DC who are coached by Ricky Ponting and who count David Warner and Mitchell Marsh in their top three, as well as young batting sensation Jake Fraser-McGurk who landed a replacement player deal recently. The rookie joins the IPL after a breakout summer in which he enjoyed success with Melbourne Renegades in the BBL, smashed a world-record 29-ball century for South Australia in the Marsh One-Day Cup and then hit 41 off 18 balls on his ODI debut against West Indies.

Because of India’s general elections, to be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1, the BCCI has announced the schedule for the first 21 matches of the IPL until April 7. And for IPL 2024 there a couple new rule tweaks: bowlers will be permitted to send down two bouncers per over, and a Smart Replay System has been introduced to enhance the accuracy of reviews.
Indeed, this is no ordinary IPL.