The usual procession of global cricket stars like Virat Kohli and Ben Stokes will be reinforced by so-called impact players in the latest innovation for the Indian Premier League in season 16.
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The biggest and richest franchise tournament in the sport is set to open Friday with the defending champion Gujarat Titans against four-time champion Chennai Super Kings.
There's a tremendous buzz for the 2023 edition with a mix of the old and new, returning to the home-and-away format across 70 matches in the first phase, with four knockouts to follow.
The initial 65,000 tickets put on sale for the season-opening game between Gujarat and Chennai at Ahmedabad were sold out within hours. A sell-out crowd is expected for the 135,000-seat stadium.
The Titans, led by Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya, won the title in their debut season. The franchise has the world's foremost T20 bowler Rashid Khan on their books and has been further bolstered by bringing in former New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson.
Ahmedabad fans, like millions across India, will be hoping to catch a glimpse of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the former India captain who is a colossal figure for Chennai Super Kings.
The 41-year-old Dhoni will be leading again after a failed experiment with a replacement captain last year, and there's increased speculation this will be his last playing season. Chennai will be fielding a stronger squad with England's Test skipper Stokes and allrounder Moeen Ali in the group.
Allrounder Cameron Green enters the IPL for the first time with Mumbai Indians after playing a big role for Australia on the recent tour to India.
Five-time champions, the Indians, who finished last in the league in 2022, snapped up Green in one of the most lucrative deals in this year's player auctions.
As well as new players, there's a host of new rules for the 2023 season.
The biggest one pertains to an Impact Player, giving teams a chance to bring in a substitute player at any time during the game. Any Indian player can act as an Impact Player, while an overseas player can only be used in the role if the team hasn't used the full quota in the starting XI.
As a standard rule, IPL teams can contain a maximum of four overseas players in their starting line-up.
For this purpose, the rules around the coin toss have been changed. Captains can now confirm a starting line-up after the toss, instead of before, depending on if they're batting or bowling first. Not everyone is convinced it's the best way forward.
"This rule almost negates the role of allrounders," Delhi Capitals head coach and former Australia captain Ricky Ponting said.
"Unless they are absolutely world class, and are getting picked either as batsman or bowler, not sort of bits and pieces guys, I don't think we will see many teams this season who actually use allrounders that might bat at No.7 and bowl an over or two. Because you don't need those guys anymore."
Australian Associated Press
