The Indian Premier League is set to begin on Friday with new rules introduced in the current season.
One of the biggest changes in this year’s IPL is the introduction of two bouncers in an over, which was earlier called ‘no-ball’.
Other changes include the debut of Smart Review System, which will feature eight high-speed cameras from Hawk-Eye. This new system will surely reduce the pressure of decisions on the third umpire.
The popular cricket league, which enters its 17th year, will be seeing a high-voltage clash between the fan-favorite teams of Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, on Friday.
For Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), winning the first game will be important as the Bengaluru franchise will be hoping to change their fortunes with the franchise name, jersey, and logo changed, but star player and former RCB skipper Virat Kohli is aware of how tough this task will be.
RCB has been trying to grab their hands on the prestigious IPL trophy for the last 16 years, but they are unable to do that. Whereas for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), this time they would be captained by young Ruturaj Gaikwad in place of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Recently, the women’s team of RCB won the second season of the Women’s Premier League on March 17.
On the other hand, CSK would be looking to retain the trophy with new captain Gaikwad.
Dhoni transferred his captaincy to Gaikwad on Wednesday, hinting that this would be his last IPL season.
The IPL this season has also seen many of the high-prolific moves, especially the most-talked-about trade of Hardik Pandya to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans.
The same day also saw the trade of Australian all-rounder Cameron Green from the Mumbai Indians to Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
This IPL season will also be a test for Hardik Pandya, who earlier led the Titans in the 2023 season but this season he has been appointed as the captain of the Mumbai Indians, succeeding Rohit Sharma.
IPL 2024 will be played in two legs, with the first leg starting on Friday and concluding with the game between the Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans on April 7th.
A total of 21 games will be played in the first leg of the IPL 2024 and the remaining schedule will be announced by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after the general elections.
The schedule for the IPL 2024 opening ceremony has also been announced, with stars like AR Rahman, Sonu Nigam, Tiger Shroff, and Akshay Kumar performing at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai from 6:30 p.m.
The broadcasters of the IPL 2024 will be Star Sports Network India, while Jio Cinema will telecast this tournament digitally.