The clock is ticking down to the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), with the annual T20 extravaganza getting set to return on March 23.
As was the case in 2018, the original eight franchises of the IPL will battle it out for supremacy with MS Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings looking to defend their crown.
With the dates of the impending general elections in India yet to be announced, the BCCI has so far only released the schedule for the opening two weeks of the 2019 IPL. The remainder of the fixture schedule will be released once the Election Commission of India announces the dates for the general elections.
The eight teams will once again battle it out in a double round-robin format where each franchise will take on the others twice (home and away). At the end of the league stage, the top-four teams will advance to the play-offs.
In the play-offs, the third and fourth ranked teams will meet in the Eliminator 1 where the winner shall advance to Eliminator 2. The top two ranked teams, meanwhile, will clash in the Qualifier with the winner progressing straight to the final. The loser of the Qualifier shall then take on the winner of Eliminator 1 for a place in the final.
Defending champions Chennai Super Kings will get the 2019 IPL under way on March 23 when they take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chennai.
TEAM PROFILES
Chennai Super Kings
Skipper: MS Dhoni
Best Finish: Champions (2010, 2011 and 2018)
Coach: Stephen Fleming
Squad: MS Dhoni (C), Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Mohit Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Faf Du Plessis, Sam Billings, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Asif KM, N Jagadeesan, Monu Singh, Dhruv Shorey, Chaitanya Bishnoi, David Willey and Mitchell Santner.
Delhi Capitals
Skipper: Shreyas Iyer
Best Finish: Third (2009 and 2011)
Coach: Ricky Ponting
Squad: Shreyas Iyer (C), Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Manjot Kalra, Colin Munro, Chris Morris, Jayant Yadav, Bandaru Ayyappa, Rahul Tewatia, Harshal Patel, Amit Mishra, Hanuma Vihari, Axar Patel, Ishant Sharma, Ankush Bains, Nathu Singh, Colin Ingram, Sherfane Rutherford, Keemo Paul, Jalaj Saxena, Kagiso Rabada, Trent Boult, Sandeep Lamichhane, Avesh Khan, Shikhar Dhawan, Bandaru Ayyappa.
Kings XI Punjab
Skipper: Ravichandran Ashwin
Best Finish: Runners-up (2014)
Coach: Mike Hesson
Squad: Ravichandran Ashwin, KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Andrew Tye, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karun Nair, David Miller, Moises Henriques, Nicholas Pooran, Varun Chakaravarthy, Sam Curran, Mohammad Shami, Sarfaraz Khan, Hardus Viljoen, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Prabhsimran Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Skipper: Dinesh Karthik
Best Finish: Champions (2012 and 2014)
Coach: Jacques Kallis
Squad: Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Nitish Rana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Rinku Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Carlos Brathwaite, Lockie Ferguson, Anrich Nortje, Nikhil Naik, Harry Gurney, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe.
Mumbai Indians
Skipper: Rohit Sharma
Best Finish: Champions (2013, 2015 and 2017)
Coach: Mahela Jayawardane
Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar, Anukul Roy, Siddhesh Lad, Aditya Tare, Quinton de Kock, Evin Lewis, Kieron Pollard, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne, Jason Behrendorff, Pankaj Jaiswal, Rasikh Dar, Yuvraj Singh, Lasith Malinga, Anmolpreet Singh, Barinder Sran, Jayant Yadav.
Rajasthan Royals
Skipper: Ajinkya Rahane
Best Finish: Champions (2008)
Coach: Paddy Upton
Squad: Ajinkya Rahane, Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Aryaman Birla, Sudhesan Midhun, Prashant Chopra, Stuart Binny, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mahipal Lomror, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Shubham Ranjane, Manan Vohra, Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Skipper: Virat Kohli
Best Finish: Runners-up (2009, 2011 and 2016)
Coach: Gary Kirsten
Squad: Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Colin de Grandhomme, Parthiv Patel, Pawan Negi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Moeen Ali, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Tim Southee, Washington Sundar, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Gurkeerat Singh, Devdutt Padikal , Shivam Dube, Heinrich Klaasen, Himmat Singh, Milind Kumar, Prayas Ray Barman, Akshdeep Nath.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Skipper: Kane Williamson
Best Finish: Champions (2016)
Coach: Tom Moody
Squad: Kane Williamson, David Warner, Basil Thampi, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Hooda, Manish Pandey, T Natarajan, Ricky Bhui, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Shreevats Goswami (wk), Khaleel Ahmed, Yusuf Pathan, Billy Stanlake, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi, Shakib Al Hasan, Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha, Martin Guptill.
TV GUIDE AND SCHEDULE
Viewers in the UAE can catch all the 2019 IPL action on beIN Sports.
IPL INITIAL TWO WEEKS FIXTURES
Saturday, March 23
Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore – 18:30 GST, Chennai
Sunday, March 24
Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers Hyderabad – 14:30 GST, Kolkata
Mumbai Indians v Delhi Capitals – 18:30 GST, Mumbai
Monday, March 25
Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab – 18:30 GST, Jaipur
Tuesday, March 26
Delhi Capitals v Chennai Super Kings – 18:30 GST, Delhi
Wednesday, March 27
Kolkata Knight Riders v Kings XI Punjab – 18:30 GST, Kolkata
Thursday, March 28
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians – 18:30 GST, Bengaluru
Friday, March 29
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Rajasthan Royals – 18:30 GST, Hyderabad
Saturday, March 30
Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians – 14:30 GST, Mohali
Delhi Capitals v Kolkata Knight Riders – 18:30 GST, Delhi
Sunday, March 31
Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore – 14:30 GST, Hyderabad
Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals – 18:30 GST, Chennai
Monday, April 1
Kings XI Punjab v Delhi Capitals – 18:30 GST, Mohali
Tuesday, April 2
Rajasthan Royals v Royal Challengers Bangalore- 18:30 GST, Jaipur
Wednesday, April 3
Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings – 18:30 GST, Mumbai
Thursday, April 4
Delhi Capitals v Sunrisers Hyderabad 18:30 GST, Delhi
Friday, April 5
Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kolkata Knight Riders – 18:30 GST, Bengaluru