Another coming-of-age story is that nine of 10 designated captains in IPL-18 will be Indians.
| Photo Credit: X@IPL
When the Indian Premier League baby was born in 2008, it had a burden to carry. Birthed by Lalit Modi and blessed by the ruling BCCI, the IPL came into existence to mainly thwart the rebel Indian Cricket League and maintain the governing body’s monopoly over the sport in the country.
In the 17 years since then, it is safe to say that the reactionary child has lived up to expectations. With the foundational goal met pretty early, an unshackled IPL has experienced life to the fullest. Even corruption and betting scandals have been overcome, like how canny adolescents tackle the struggles and uncertainties that mark boyhood and youth.
And come Saturday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, when the clock strikes half past seven in the evening, the IPL will turn a major, fully ready to march ahead with even more clarity, strength and confidence.
Such is its independent mind that it hasn’t shied away from introducing bespoke changes outside of international cricket — Impact Player rule, naming XIs after the toss, revoking of saliva ban and a ball change in the middle of the second innings to counter the effect of dew. It has even taken to banning players for last-minute pull outs (Harry Brook)!
Another coming-of-age story is that nine of 10 designated captains in IPL-18 will be Indians. Of the nine, only three – Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians), Axar Patel (Delhi Capitals) and Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals) – are regulars in the National T20 team and India captain Suryakumar Yadav is a stand-in leader at MI! Signs of the League maturing or a twist of fate, time will tell.
How these men marshal their new-look teams in the aftermath of the mega auction will be keenly watched. While Mumbai, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have retained their cores, the other outfits will need to gel quickly. With the T20 World Cup only in February 2026 and India set to play a lot of T20Is in the lead-up, this IPL is not necessarily make-or-break.
Interesting storylines
More than player selection, the interesting storylines thus will be R. Ashwin’s return to CSK, MI’s response after last season’s wooden-spoon finish amidst a leadership fiasco, Shreyas Iyer’s shift from KKR — whom he led to the title in 2024 — to Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s novel superstar-agnostic approach.
Rahul Dravid, India’s T20 World Cup-winning coach, and Englishman Jofra Archer are back at Rajasthan Royals even as Jos Buttler has moved to neighbouring Gujarat Titans. SRH, helmed by Aussie Pat Cummins, revolutionised T20 batting in the previous edition — albeit aided by the comfort of potentially having an extra batter via the Impact Player rule — and it remains to be seen if the benchmark rises further.
The Shubman Gill-led Titans will hope to look like a T20 team rather than the One-Day team it was last year while PBKS — forever in refresh mode — will pray that the Shreyas-Ricky Ponting captain-coach combo works like it did at Capitals in 2020 (runner-up finish). Rishabh Pant and K.L. Rahul have swapped places at Lucknow Super Giants and Capitals, and LSG will especially want high returns for the record ₹27 crore it paid for the maverick southpaw.
The originals
Eyeballs will also be fixated on the seemingly ageless trio of Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The three have played since the IPL’s inception, contributed immensely to the competition becoming the world’s best T20 extravaganza and steadfastly refused to set a career end date. 18 Til I Die?
Published – March 21, 2025 08:42 pm IST