With March 23, 2019, nearing, the wait to witness the Indian Premier League’s 12th edition almost comes to an end. Last season, it was the Chennai Super Kings who were crowned as champions for the third time, and are now neck and neck with the Mumbai Indians to have bagged the most trophies in the history of the IPL. The points table has always made us befuddled with most of the teams earning equal points until the final stages of the league matches. The Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals managed to get past the other teams by four and two points each to reach the playoffs. With the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals returning to the league, after serving their suspension period, the overall mood of the country seemed intensified, which was evident in the increase of about 10-15 per cent in the viewership in 2018, compared to the other seasons.
On the 23rd of this month, we will have the Royal Challengers Bangalore take on the Chennai Super Kings at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. Considering the ever existing rivalry between the two teams, it will actually be a good start to this season. We will be witnessing a lot of new and interesting changes and events, with the likes of Shimron Hetmyer, Sam Curran, Joe Denly and Varun Chakravarthy making their debut at the IPL, the Royal Challengers Bangalore signing up with the Interacting Technology Sports (an Israeli based analytics firm), Sourav Ganguly and Ricky Ponting monitoring the same team, and a lot more.
All of us are curious to find out who has the potential to lift the trophy this year? Well, it evidently depends on various factors such as strategy, teamwork, pitch analysis, on-ground performance, confidence, fitness and of course fan support. At this stage, even though the Chennai Super Kings and the Sunrisers Hyderabad look well-built, the presence of other major competitors such as the Delhi Capitals, the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders makes it crystal clear that it will be a tough competition for all the teams, and this season surely has the potential to surpass all the other editions for being the most entertaining one. May this season be as entertaining as always, with the best team winning, within the spirit of the game.
