Match facts

Friday, March 12
Start time 2000 (1430 GMT)

Kolkata’s Owais Shah is set to make his IPL debut © Getty Images
Related Links
Dileep Premachandran : Crunch time for the IPL
Matches: Deccan Chargers v Kolkata Knight Riders at Mumbai
Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League
Teams: Deccan Chargers | Kolkata Knight Riders
Big picture

It’s the first of 60 matches: The defending champions taking on wooden-spoon winners, after a flashy opening ceremony, amid high security at a stadium neither calls home. What stakes does the first bout of IPL 2010 hold, when the contestants know they have 13 to follow? Not much in isolation, given the unpredictability of the format and the duration of the tournament, but Kolkata Knight Riders, who’ve won only nine out of 28 previous IPL matches during campaigns fraught with controversy, would love to hit the ground running.

Kolkata’s build-up to Friday’s opening game has been quieter than in the first two seasons. They appointed a coach who prefers to stay behind the scenes, and not quote Sun Tzu; they named one captain for the entire tournament rather than pass the responsibility around; and they’ve had fewer chest-beating advertisements on television. Their owner, Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, has, by his standards, flown under the radar. One of the few off-field developments that made headlines was their new purple and gold strip. They were even involved in the few trades that took place during the transfer window, and used it to strengthen their batting. Could the toning down of the razzmatazz that made the Knight Riders the most flamboyant team despite horrendous results engineer an on-field reform?

For proof that it can be done, they only need to look at their opponents. Deccan Chargers finished last in the opening season, winning only two games and none at home in Hyderabad. They too made significant changes - a new captain and coach - for the second season in South Africa and were surprise winners. However, they are not among the most formidable teams this season: their squad contains overseas players, who are either out of form or short on match-practice; their bowlers had struggled to contain on India’s flat batting surfaces and were more effective in South Africa.

Team talk

Kolkata have only six overseas players to choose from at the moment: Brad Hodge, Owais Shah, Ajantha Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Mashrafe Mortaza and Charl Langeveldt. The likes of Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, David Hussey and Shane Bond will join the squad only after their international commitments. It’s likely that Mendis and Mortaza will be the ones to miss out on the opening game. Ajit Agarkar did not train on the eve of the match because of a calf strain and is likely to sit out as well. Kolkata signed up an Under-19 player, Mandeep Singh, 48 hours ago and he is reportedly in their scheme of things.

Deccan don’t have a choice regarding their overseas players for the first game. They have only four in the squad so Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Andrew Symonds and Chaminda Vaas will play. It’s a bit of a concern since Gilchrist, Symonds and Vaas have been out of competitive cricket while Gibbs has been struggling for form with South Africa. They have a strong Indian contingent, though, with VVS Laxman and Rohit Sharma bolstering the batting, and RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha leading the bowling.

Previously…

Kolkata beat Deccan in both matches during the 2008 season: by five wickets at home and by 23 runs away. Deccan, however, won both matches during the 2009 season in South Africa, beating Kolkata by eight and six wickets.

In the spotlight

Charl Langeveldt v Deccan’s openers: Adam Gilchrist has spent another year without playing much competitive cricket and his opening partner Gibbs isn’t in prime form anymore. In Langeveldt, Kolkata possess a clever bowler capable of taking crucial wickets and Gilchrist’s will be the prize scalp. Langeveldt played only one game last season so, if given an opportunity tomorrow, he’ll be keen to stake his claim before Shane Bond arrives.

Owais Shah: Kolkata acquired Shah from Delhi this season, in exchange for Moises Henriques, to bolster a batting line-up that is missing McCullum, Gayle and Hussey during the early stages. Shah spent the entire season on the sidelines for Delhi in 2009 so he’ll be desperate to make an impact in his first IPL opportunity. Those who watched his 72 off 48 balls in an ODI in Bangalore, and his 98 against South Africa in the Champions Trophy will know what damage Shah can cause with his innovative technique.

Prime numbers

Kolkata possess the two highest run-scorers in Twenty20 cricket. Hodge has 2547 runs in 77 innings at a strike-rate of 129 and David Hussey has scored 2355 runs at a strike-rate of 139.
Adam Gilchrist was the second highest run-scorer in IPL 2009 - 495 at a strike-rate of 152. RP Singh was the tournament’s highest wicket-taker, with 23 at an economy-rate of just under seven an over.
The chatter

“Everyone team is affected by the international schedule. It is not a surprise. We are only one of the teams who are not full-strength as yet. But it is about the Indian contingent and how they perform that can often determine the results.”
Adam Gilchrist isn’t too concerned by the shortage of overseas players for the first game.

“It’s a new set up at KKR. We have done the best in everything we can, hopefully we will deliver. I am not too keen to talk about the past. We have a good atmosphere.”
Sourav Ganguly isn’t dwelling on poor campaigns of the past.

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Formula One will have 12 teams this season, instead of a planned 13, after a late replacement for the USF1 entry was ruled out by the governing body on Wednesday.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement that USF1 had “indicated that they will not be in a position to participate in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship.

“Having considered the various options, the FIA confirms that it is not possible for a replacement team to be entered for the Championship at this late stage.”

The decision ended the hopes of Serbian-backed Stefan GP, who were waiting in the wings to take the stricken American team’s place at next week’s season-opener in Bahrain.

The FIA said it would announce shortly details of a new selection process “to identify candidates to fill any vacancies existing at the start of the 2011 season.”

Charlotte, North Carolina-based USF1 had planned to become Formula One’s first all-American team in more than 40 years but struggled to raise funding during the worst economic downturn to hit America since the 1930s.

Principal Ken Anderson had said on Tuesday that his team, one of four newcomers planning to debut this season, had asked to defer their entry for a year and had meanwhile told employees to stop work at the factory.

USF1 had previously announced a deal for Argentine Jose Maria Lopez to drive for them. Lopez’s management has since terminated the contract.

Stefan GP, run by Serbian businessman Zoran Stefanovic and encouraged by F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, had agreed a deal with Toyota [ Images ] to use the cars they had built for this season before the manufacturer pulled out at the end of last year.

Japan’s [ Images ] Kazuki Nakajima [ Images ] would have been one of their drivers while Canada’s [ Images ] former world champion Jacques Villeneuve had also been in contact with the team, who had not taken part in any testing.

The absence of USF1 left Virgin Racing, Malaysian-backed Lotus Racing and the renamed HRT F1 (formerly Campos Meta) as the three completely new teams.

HRT are the only team still to confirm their second driver, although Indian Karun Chandhok [ Images ] is expected to be announced at a presentation in Spain on Thursday alongside already-signed Brazilian Bruno Senna.

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Brett Lee, Damien Martyn and Shane Warne are en route to the Indian Premier League and other Australian players are likely to follow as tensions ease regarding security plans.

The threat of overseas player withdrawals hung over the IPL so long as tournament organisers refused to provide evidence of their security plans to player unions around the world, but the air appears to have cleared.

Tim May, the president of the Federation of International Cricketers Associations (FICA), said the unions were now in possession of far more substantial information regarding security.

“This is a significant step forward. The more information you provide the players with, the greater the likelihood that they will attend the event,” May told BBC Sport.

“We have a significant amount of information we did not have previously, which will assist players making far more informed decisions about whether to go or not.

“We haven’t reached utopia yet, but the new information has given us greater confidence.

“Last week we were operating in an information vacuum.”

The most pointed threat against players had come from the “313 Brigade” offshoot of Al-Qaeda, but independent consultant Reg Dickason has now deemed it to be “not credible”.

Dickason is presently working alongside the England team in Bangladesh.

Ian Smith, the legal director of the English union, said the situation had improved markedly, though he was critical of IPL chief Lalit Modi.

“The situation is a hell of a lot better than it was a week ago,” Smith told the Times.

“I am cautiously optimistic that we can reach a point before the start of the tournament where Reg can say it is safe enough to travel.

“We are getting closer. Ultimately it comes down to individual players and their individual circumstances.

“It has been a most frustrating period because guys feel thwarted and partly angry because of the way Lalit has chosen to spin it as a political move on our part.

“We cannot seem to get it into his head that we are genuinely interested in the safety of the players.”

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