Your guide to IPL 7

Live streaming of Pepsi IPL 2014 can be seen via the link below (it may not work in some regions).

Watch Live: https://www.youtube.com/user/indiatimes 

Live Scores: Follow here

Season seven of the Indian Premier League will feature eight franchises fighting it out for T20 glory, and of course, the AUD$2.3million first prize.

This season’s auction was one of the biggest on record, with India’s Yuvraj Singh pocketing AUD$2.5million as the highest-paid player, one of five instant millionaires including Australians Mitchell Johnson (AUD$1.15million) and Glenn Maxwell (AUD$1.07million).

Security concerns surrounding the current elections in India have forced the tournament to begin in the United Arab Emirates on April 17 before returning to India on May 21 and then finishing on June 2. 

Twenty-three Australians will participate in the tournament, six of which play for the Rajasthan Royals which are led by reigning IPL Most Valuable Player, Shane Watson.

So who is going to win this thing? I reckon Kings XI will beat RCB in the final, with Chennai claiming the bronze and Rajasthan rounding out the top four.

Chennai Super Kings

Squad: MS Dhoni (c), Ravichandran Ashwin, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Francois du Plessis, Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Ben Hilfenhaus, John Hastings, Samuel Badree, Matt Henry, Mithun Manhas, Vijay Shankar, Ronit More, Baba, Aparajith, Pawan Negi.

Last year – Runners-up
Two-time IPL champions Chennai gave themselves every chance to make it three last season, topping the points table after the regular season and thumping eventual winners Mumbai in the first qualifying final. Mike Hussey led the Super Kings and the league with the most runs, but not even Mr Cricket could stop Sachin Tendulkar bowing out on a high.

One to watch
In a squad that boasts no less than four international captains, finding a standout player isn’t difficult. But in a game dominated by batsmen, Ravi Ashwin has the skill set to restrict runs and take crucial wickets. The right-arm off-spinner had a terrific World T20 tournament in Bangladesh, capturing 11 wickets at 11.57, including that ball…

Delhi Daredevils
Squad: Kevin Pietersen (c), Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay, Mohammad Shami, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Quinton de Kock, Manoj Tiwary, Jaidev Unadkat, JP Duminy, Ross Taylor, Kedar Jadhav, Rahul Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Laxmi Ratan Shulka, Jimmy Neesham, Wayne Parnell, Shahbaz Nadeem, Saurabh Tiwary, Siddarth Kaul, Rahul Shukla, Jayant Yadav, HS Sharath, Milind Kumar.

Last year – wooden spoon
Three victories from 16 starts rooted Delhi to the foot of the ladder last season, losing their last six to push the now defunct Pune to eighth and resign them to last. The Daredevils were stuck in the middle of David Warner’s Twitter controversy too, rendering the star Australian batsman to a mere ghost of his brilliant best.

One to watch
Who else but Kevin Pietersen. The walking headline strolls into the Delhi set-up free of international stresses thanks to the English Cricket Board and its decision dump its leading run-scorer across all formats. Handed the captaincy for this season, KP’s influence will be felt from bottom to top at the Daredevils, and let’s not forget, he’s a very, very good batsman.

Kings XI Punjab
Squad: George Bailey (c), David Miller, Manan Vohra, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Virender Sehwag, Rishi Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Shaun Marsh, Cheteshwar Pujara, Beuran Hendricks, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Thisara Perera, Gurkeet Mann Singh, Murali Kartik, Sandeep Sharma, Mandeep Singh, Akshar Patel, Parvinder Awana, Shardul Thakur, Anureet Singh, Shivam Sharma, Karanveer Singh.

Last year – 6^th place
In major league terms, Kings XI went .500 last year. Eight wins and as many losses kept them two points adrift the top four, despite winning their final three matches. Rarer than the ‘blood moon’, Adam Gilchrist signed off his IPL career with his first and only wicket, that of Harbhajan Singh, prompting the worst version of Gangnum Style captured on film.

One to watch
Welllll, it’s the Big Show! Glenn Maxwell led the way for Australia in the recent World T20 in Bangladesh with the bat and in the field. He played every shot in the textbook, often both ways, and enters this tournament in a purple patch of form. Punjab will hope Maxwell can keep it up throughout the tournament to justify spending a million bucks on him. And even though he says he hates his nickname, there is no better show to watch when Maxwell is in a mood.

Kolkata Knight Riders
Squad: Gautam Gambhir (c), Sunil Narine, Jacques Kallis, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Morne Morkel, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Manish Pandey, Chris Lynn, Pat Cummins, Ryan ten Doeschate, Suryakumar Yadav, Andre Russell, Manvinder Bisla, Veer Pratap Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Debabata Das, Sayan Mondal.

Last year – 7^th place
Not even the wizardry of Sunil Narine and the legendary allround skill of Jacques Kallis could save the Knight Riders from finishing a lowly seventh last season. It could have been so different for KKR, losing three last-over finishes that stifled their momentum and movement up the points table.

One to watch
Tormentor of Michael Clarke and Australia in the recent Test series in South Africa, Morne Morkel’s extreme height and lethal trajectory are welcome assets to Kolkata. Unpredictability is the key in T20 cricket, and in Morkel, captain Gautam Gambhir has a bowler who can bang it in, pull it back, fire it in full and bowl at speeds over 150k/h.

Mumbai Indians
Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Michael Hussey, Corey Anderson, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Kahn, Aditya Tare, Jasprit Bumrah, Jalaj Saxena, Josh Hazlewood, Marchant de Lange, Krishmare Santokie, Ben Dunk, CM Gautam, Apporv Wankhade, Pawan Suyal, Sushant Marathe, Shreyas Gopal.

Last year – Champions
Initially under the leadership of Ricky Ponting, Mumbai lost only five games in the regular season on the way to second place and with it a second bit of the cherry. They’d need it, losing to CSK in the first qualifying final before bouncing back to knock off Rajasthan in the elimination match and then exact revenge by beating Chennai in the final. The form of Mitchell Johnson and Harbhajan Singh, along with the fireworks of Kieron Pollard, propelled Mumbai to its first title, with its two biggest names – Ponting and Tendulkar – sitting out the final.

One to watch
He captained his country to the World T20 title and is arguably the greatest T20 bowler ever, Lasith Malinga is the kind of guy that can change games in a matter of deliveries. Owning an action that is difficult to read and unorthodox at best, Malinga is the trump card in Mumbai’s deck, and if history is anything to go by he’ll be just as destructive this year.

Rajasthan Royals
Squad: Shane Watson (c), Stuart Binny, James Faulkner, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith, Brad Hodge, Fajat Bhatia, Tim Southee, Dhawarl Kulkarni, Abhishek Nayar, Kane Richardson, Ben Cutting, Karun Nair, Unmukt Chand, Iqbal Abdulla, Deepak Hooda, Dishant Yagnik, Kevon Cooper, Vikramjeet Malik, Ankit Sharma, Rahul Tewatia, Ankush Bains, A Mishra, Pravin Tambe.

Last year – 3^rd place
Another stellar T20 tournament from Shane Watson carried the Royals to the finals where they ended Hyderabad’s fairy tale run after losing to them in the final round. A determined Mumbai outfit outgunned Rajasthan in the elimination final, putting a stop to title number two. James Faulkner took 28 wickets and Brad Hodge provided more cameos than Stan Lee. It’s another mini-Australia at the Royals this season, with six men hailing from Down Under.

One to watch
With Michael Bevan set firmly in his sights; James Faulkner is on track to becoming the game’s best finisher. He did it India last year, at home this summer and even though injury hampered his impact in the World T20, Faulkner is ready to attack IPL 7 with both bat and ball.

Royal Challengers Bangalore
Squad: Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle, Yuvraj Singh, Mitchell Starc, Albie Morkel, Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda, Parthiv Patel, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravi Rampaul, Nic Maddinson, Harshal Patel, Vijay Zol, Abu Nechim, Sachin Rana, Shadab Jakati, Sandeep Warrier, Tanmay Mishra, Yogesh Takawale, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Last year – 5^th place
Possessing a roster that includes the biggest names in T20 cricket, it’s hard to imagine how RCB didn’t make the finals. Kohli, Gayle and de Villiers should alone win you 10 games, but alas, it’s the other names, most notably the remaining seven Indian players, that determine an IPL season. Three losses in their last five games proved the difference, missing out on the finals by a solitary win. The season wasn’t a complete waste, Chris Gayle broke almost every batting record when he plundered 175 not out against Pune. How does someone score 175 in a T20 match?

One to watch
Chris Gayle. Why? 175 not out.

Sunrisers Hyderabad
Squad: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Dale Steyn, David Warner, Amit Mishra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Aaron Finch, Karn Sharma, Darren Sammy, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Moises Henriques, Lokesh Rahul, Parveez Rasool, Jason Holder, Venugopal Rao, Naman Ojha, Brendan Taylor, Prasanth Parameswaran, Amit Paunikar, Ashis Reddy, Srikkanth Anirudha, Ricky Bhui, Chama Milind, Manpreet Juneja.

Last year – 4^th place
Sunrisers Hyderabad’s inaugural season was made of fairy tale stuff. Underdogs from the first ball, Hyderabad didn’t have the strongest squad on paper, but as Rajasthan showed in IPL 1 that doesn’t mean much. Led by Cameron White for a majority of the season, the Sunrisers upset the big names thanks to Dale Steyn and Shikhar Dhawan, plus the subtle spin of Amit Mishra. They’ve bolstered their batting with Warner and Finch, and will hope to feature in the finals for two years running.

One to watch
He bowled more dot balls than any other bowler last year and bowls as fast as anyone, Dale Steyn is probably the best fast bowler, across all formats, since Wasim Akram (big ball?). In the pressure moments you call upon your clutch players, and Steyn’s performance in Bangladesh proved why he’s the best in the business. If fit, he’ll be a major reason why Hyderabad play finals this season.