Kolkata Knight Riders Shah Rukh Khan has draped his knights from neck to toe in dark purple and gold this year,perhaps hoping the purple cap stays with his team longer than their opening game against Chargers. Having acquired Shane Bond,KKRs fling with tearaways continues,but Brendon McCullum and Bond (also West Indian Chris Gayle) are expected to make late entries onto their stage,giving enough time for Bengal's home-coming boys Manoj Tiwary and Rohan Gavaskar to shine early. In a squad with variety in its pace Ajit Agarkar and Ishant Sharma,theres also the hidden pace package of Varun Aaron. Mumbai Indians The richest Indian bought the richest player,but Mumbai Indians has the buzz going for them for reasons beyond Keiron Pollard. With Zaheer Khan fit and raring to let rip this time,and Sachin Tendulkar in as prosperous form as anytime before,Mumbai Indians will also hope that their men behind the scenes in TA Sekar and Robin Singh help put the pieces of the puzzle together. Their middle-order woes should find an antidote in ICL returnee Ambati Rayudu,and Mumbai Indians will hope that playing at their citadel CCI fetches them their first semi-final. Chennai Super Kings With the smartest and most cost-effective buy this season in Justin Kemp,the south-side powerhouse has added more firepower to their arsenal alongside existing big guns Jacob Oram,Albie Morkel and Matthew Hayden. Finalists in the inaugural year,and semi-finalists in the next,Chennai Super Kings has that settled look about them with the Wessels-Dhoni combo in charge. Sri Lankan Thissara Perera is an exciting T20 prospect,and local lad C Ganapathy has had a good season with Tamil Nadu. Kings XI Punjab A change in captaincy with Kumar Sangakkara taking over the reins,also means Yuvraj Singh should be free to concentrate on what he likes doing best hitting sixes. They also have Reetinder Singh Sodhi from Punjab and Luv Abhlish,who had scorched domestic tracks with his pace. Kings XI Punjab also sneaked in the batting hero of the Trinidad and Tobago Champions League finalists Adrian Barath,the pint-sized Test centurion at Gabba. Bangalore Royal Challengers The red and gold brigade have finally settled down with Anil Kumble to clear their captaincy conundrum at the beginning of last season,having surprisingly made the final last year. But its the young tyros Manish Pandey,Virat Kohli,besides pace find Abhimanyu Mithun and Steven Smith who will lead their challenge. Deccan Chargers The Chargers forced to call three venues their home,will look to settle frayed nerves with their experienced galaxy of stars Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs . They also have Barbadian pacer Kemar Roach,and U-19 World Cup-winning captain Mitchell Marsh. Ryan Harris,their revelation last year,comes here mighty pleased with what the IPLs done to his career. Rajasthan Royals Jaipur seems like a nice place for a reunion,and this year Shane Warne has on board former Test touch artist Damien Martyn. He has a few plans up his sleeve,with Hampshires Michael Lumb expected to do a few star turns. Graeme Smith,Mornie Morkel and Johan Botha have been around in India,and will not find the conditions alien. But it is Rajasthan's bunch of T20 specialists Yusuf Pathan,Naman Ojha and Dimitri Mascarenhas,who should sizzle alongside their sling-shot shock weapon Shaun Tait. Delhi Daredevils Another unit with a new captain in Gautam Gambhir,Delhi Daredevils,forever the smart spenders have invested in the effective all-rounder Wayne Parnell,a SA Colts captain in 2008. With match-winners in Tillakaratne Dilshan and AB de Villiers,Delhi also have David Warner as another option. Dirk Nannes and Wayne Parnell add to their bowling armoury.
