Four Things Which Will Be Different in IPL 2024

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IPL 2024 is here knocking at the door. The seventeenth edition of the world's biggest T20 league league on the planet kicks off on Friday, March 22 as defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) take on Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Chepauk.

Apart from the usual nail-biters, heated exchanges, fan frenzy, smashing fours and gigantic sixes, the IPL 2024 will bring with it a few features which have never been witnessed in the history of the league. Have a look.

T20 World Cup Audition: The IPL 2024 is the audition stage for cricketers eyeing for a spot in their national squad for T20 World Cup 2024. Not only Virat Kohli, Ravi Bishnoi, KL Rahul will see it as an opportunity to seal a spot, but someone like Jhye Richardson, and Will Jacks will also look to pounce on the opportunity.

This is expected to make the 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) a lot more competitive. There would be competition even within teams and this will make the two-month-long tournament even more spicier.

An IPL without Dhoni, Kohli and Rohit as captain: It would be the first time since the inaugural edition in 2008, that MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli would play an entire season as a non-captain.

Virat Kohli stepped down from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captaincy after IPL 2021, while Mumbai Indians' (MI) Rohit Sharma was removed from the position before the start of this season. The two greatest India batters of this generation will be playing as specialist batters for the first time together in one decade.

On the eve of the IPL 2024 opener, MS Dhoni passed the CSK captaincy to Ruturaj Gaikwad. This marks the inaugural season where neither Dhoni, Rohit, nor Kohli - the three gods of the Indian cricketing pantheon - will hold captaincy positions.

End of MS Dhoni Era Certain: MS Dhoni after the IPL 2023 final said that he would want to play one more season for his fans despite a troublesome knee. He went for surgery immediately after winning the fifth trophy for CSK and is now raring to entertain the fans for one last (most probably).

Few experts still believe this might not be Dhoni's last IPL season, but we believe it is. Dhoni himself passing on the baton of the joint-most successful franchise in the tournament's history to Gaikwad ahead of the IPL 2024 CSK vs RCB opener is a possible indication towards the same.

Unlike all the uncertainties of the previous few seasons, we can assume that we are watching 42-year-old 'Captain Cool' in the cash-rich league for one last time.

Three first-time captains: IPL 2024 will also witness three captains who will lead for the first in their IPL career. Shubman Gill will lead Gujarat Titans (GT) after the departure of Hardik Pandya. Gaikwad will lead CSK, while Pat Cummins will captain the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) franchise.