There’s a bit of déjà vu as the Indian Premium League kicks off yet again with a brand new season. It’s only been a couple of weeks since the ICC World Cup drew to a close and all our favorite cricket heroes are back in action – this time in the color of their IPL teams rather than in national colors.
So Mitchell Johnson will be taking on Glenn Maxwell rather than share a team talk with him. Morne Morkel and AB de Villiers may be the best of friends, but in the IPL, friends will turn into enemies as Morkel finds out just why every international bowler hates bowling to his national team captain, reckoned to be the best batsman in the world.
So, this IPL, look out for contests such as that in every match. What else should you expect?
Explosive Batting
This IPL should be a run fest because we expect the batsmen who missed out on the World Cup show the stuff they are made of, and make a case for future selection in their respective national teams. There are at least a couple of dozen young cricketers in India who would be wondering why Stuart Binny is a part of the national side and they are not. They will be looking to prove a point to national selectors in this IPL. Expect lot of runs to be scored, sixes to be hit and balls to disappear out of the cricket ground. And yes, Chris Gayle will be back – that’s all you need to know!
All Out Attack
Bowlers really had a rough time in the recently concluded World Cup and they must have had enough of it. We expect the bowlers to bowl with more pace, aggression and control. They are going to be a lot freer in this IPL and not under any kind of pressure, as they were in Australia. Bowlers will have a lot of fun, and guess what – Sunil Narine will feature in this IPL! Narine is the best bowler in IPL history and he will be back after his bowling action was cleared by the IPL screening committee. Batsmen beware!
More Indian Umpires!
It’s a crying shame that India does not have even one umpire at the international level. But this IPL will see more Indian umpires than foreign ones, so a lot of young umpiring talent in India should come to the fore. Who will be the next S. Venkatraghavan, the last respected umpire India had at the international level? Perhaps we will know this IPL season.
More On-field Banter
Or should we just call it sledging? Indian players were never known to sledge the opposition, but all of that has changed since the IPL became popular in India and the likes of rich, brash and supremely confident young cricketers such as Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli came into their own. Cricket is no longer a gentleman’s game played by the likes of Rahul Dravid or VVS Laxman, perhaps the nicest men you will ever meet. Cricket is today played by young gunslingers such as David Warner, Mitchell Starc and Kohli who give it all on the cricket field and are certainly not shy about charming the opposition with their judicious use of language, so to speak! Expect more of that in this IPL.
We will be covering this season of the IPL 2015 for you on IndiaBet. We are not afraid to tell you just what we think, so you may expect the most opinionated match previews and reports from us. We look forward to your company here on IndiaBet!
