The hype and hyperbole will end at Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday when the mass cast of players for "IPL II: Out of Africa" get down to cricket and try to provide the watching world with episodes of blockbuster physical - and not celluloid - entertainment.
Singing, dancing and beauty pageants will never be far from the game for the five weeks of the Indian Premier League; all part of the package.
But when two of India's major cricketing figures Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captains of the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings respectively, walk out to toss for the opening match just after noon it will be back to the battle between bat and ball in all seriousness.
It will take a couple of games for sides to settle down to their best combinations, selected from squads with foreign lead actors mingled with India's best, as well that country's most promising young talent.
The Mumbai Indians, who did not make the semi-finals of the first IPL tournament in 2008, will welcome having Tendulkar available this time around (injury kept him out of most of last year's action), and in the batting stakes he will be able to count on the likes of all-out-attack options such as Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya and Bangladeshi Mohammad Ashraful.
$950 000 signing JP Duminy will bolster a pretty impressive top order. Throw in fine all-rounder options Free Stater Ryan McLaren and West Indian Dwayne Bravo and seamers Dilhara Fernando and Kyle Mills, and from just one line-up you can see that the 59-match event could throw up top-notch fare.
The problem teams will face, though, is being limited to four foreign players per playing XI. So, the quality of the Indian members in teams will be vital, and teams such as the Kings XI Punjab, led by all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, and the Delhi Daredevils, captained by Virender Sehwag, are strong on this score. Both sides were knocked out in the semi-finals in 2008.
Mumbai have Shaun Pollock and fielding specialist Jonty Rhodes in their coaching set-up, which will give them an edge in terms of getting to grips with local conditions. This could be a factor in the competition. Conditions in India and South Africa differ considerably and particularly the young, less well-travelled Indian players could struggle initially to get to grips with South African pitches.
Mumbai's opponents, the Super Kings, won eight of their 14 games last season to finish third in the league phase, and in this year's players auction, snapped up England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff for $1.55m. They will be hoping he can bring his influence to bear on their early games since, he, like similarly-priced England team mate Kevin Pietersen, will have to return home for national duty halfway through the Round Robin fixtures.
Pietersen will lead the Bangalore Royal Challengers ahead of former Indian captain Rahul Dravid, and his side could test defending champions Rajasthan Royals in the second match of tomorrow's double-header. Pietersen will have leading South Africans Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn and Mark Boucher in his camp, with Roelof van der Merwe and Dillon du Preez also part of a strong foreign contingent.
For the Royals, led by wily Shane Warne, Graeme Smith and Morne Morkel will present a South African flavour, along with Tyron Henderson, who has excellent statistics in the 20-overs format.
Singing, dancing and beauty pageants will never be far from the game for the five weeks of the Indian Premier League; all part of the package.
But when two of India's major cricketing figures Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captains of the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings respectively, walk out to toss for the opening match just after noon it will be back to the battle between bat and ball in all seriousness.
It will take a couple of games for sides to settle down to their best combinations, selected from squads with foreign lead actors mingled with India's best, as well that country's most promising young talent.
The Mumbai Indians, who did not make the semi-finals of the first IPL tournament in 2008, will welcome having Tendulkar available this time around (injury kept him out of most of last year's action), and in the batting stakes he will be able to count on the likes of all-out-attack options such as Sri Lankan Sanath Jayasuriya and Bangladeshi Mohammad Ashraful.
$950 000 signing JP Duminy will bolster a pretty impressive top order. Throw in fine all-rounder options Free Stater Ryan McLaren and West Indian Dwayne Bravo and seamers Dilhara Fernando and Kyle Mills, and from just one line-up you can see that the 59-match event could throw up top-notch fare.
The problem teams will face, though, is being limited to four foreign players per playing XI. So, the quality of the Indian members in teams will be vital, and teams such as the Kings XI Punjab, led by all-rounder Yuvraj Singh, and the Delhi Daredevils, captained by Virender Sehwag, are strong on this score. Both sides were knocked out in the semi-finals in 2008.
Mumbai have Shaun Pollock and fielding specialist Jonty Rhodes in their coaching set-up, which will give them an edge in terms of getting to grips with local conditions. This could be a factor in the competition. Conditions in India and South Africa differ considerably and particularly the young, less well-travelled Indian players could struggle initially to get to grips with South African pitches.
Mumbai's opponents, the Super Kings, won eight of their 14 games last season to finish third in the league phase, and in this year's players auction, snapped up England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff for $1.55m. They will be hoping he can bring his influence to bear on their early games since, he, like similarly-priced England team mate Kevin Pietersen, will have to return home for national duty halfway through the Round Robin fixtures.
Pietersen will lead the Bangalore Royal Challengers ahead of former Indian captain Rahul Dravid, and his side could test defending champions Rajasthan Royals in the second match of tomorrow's double-header. Pietersen will have leading South Africans Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn and Mark Boucher in his camp, with Roelof van der Merwe and Dillon du Preez also part of a strong foreign contingent.
For the Royals, led by wily Shane Warne, Graeme Smith and Morne Morkel will present a South African flavour, along with Tyron Henderson, who has excellent statistics in the 20-overs format.
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