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The Delhi Daredevils have not experienced any of the roller-coaster rides that sides such as the Deccan Chargers, the Bangalore Royal Challengers or the Rajasthan Royals have seen across the first two seasons of the IPL. They started 2008 as amongst the better teams and reached the semi-finals, and started 2009 as one of the two favourites for the title, but failed again at the semi-final stage after topping the league.

Both times they lost to the eventual champions. This time they will hope that it is they who are handing out defeats in the semi-finals. Delhi's top-order is easily the best and most fearsome in the tournament. In the tag-teaming duo of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, they have the world's best opening pair. To back them up are the made-for-Twenty20 talents of David Warner, followed by the two batsmen who were most instrumental in their 2009 run - AB de Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Both have been in exceptional form over the past year, and during IPL 2009, AB de Villiers' incredible century against Chennai (105 not out off 54 balls) was only denied the honour of being the innings of the tournament because Adam Gilchrist blitzed 85 off 35 balls in the semi-finals - ironically against Delhi itself. And then, lurking lower down the order is Dinesh Karthik, who himself played many a useful hand in IPL 2009.

In fact, for most of the tournament last year, Delhi played and looked like the favourites they were. However, they were undermined by the indifferent form of their dynamic opening duo. Although Sehwag and Gambhir had both come into IPL 2009 as the most feared opening pair in world cricket, this year they have greatly increased the aura about them. Both of them have enjoyed fantastic years, and with Sehwag sometimes treating Test cricket as if it was a Twenty20 match, they have taken aggression to another level.

The other sour note struck in the Delhi campaign in 2009 was the treatment meted out to Glenn McGrath. Delhi did not deem it fit to even give the all-time great a single game - even after they had qualified for the semi-finals. After his sterling show in IPL 2008, where he showed that whether retired or not, he was the most difficult bowler to get away, his exclusion left a sour taste in the mouths of fans, and left many who had eagerly wanted to see McGrath renew old rivalries with the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly et al, and start possibly new ones with former team-mates Matthew Hayden or Shane Warne, sorely disappointed.

However, the man who kept McGrath out more than justified his inclusion. Dirk Nannes has only grown during the past year, and has developped into a genuine quick, capable of rattling batsmen with pace alone. In addition to Nannes, Delhi have also signed on the up-and-coming Wayne Parnell, with veteran Ashish Nehra always there. Even though all three are left-arm quicks, they are all such different bowlers from each other that the Delhi attack will not seem uni-dimensional.

Amit Mishra and Daniel Vettori complete a high-quality bowling attack. In fact, the only reason Delhi's bowling is not talked about much is because of their awesome batting might.

Delhi's second rung India players are also handy customers - particularly Rajat Bhatia, Avishkar Salvi and Pradeep Sangwan. The only international players who will not be available to them throughout the tournament are Daniel Vettori - who is an admittedly big loss, and Paul Collingwood - who is a good players, but wasn't good enough to break into the first eleven at any point during the previous IPL. They will have Nannes, Parnell, AB de Villiers, Dilshan and Warner available throughout, and no team can expect a breather against a weakened Delhi side.

Their likely eleven looks formidable on paper: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, David Warner, AB de Villiers, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dinesh Karthik, Rajat Bhatia, Amit Mishra, Pradeep Sangwan/Avishkar Salvi, Ashish Nehra, Dirk Nannes/Wayne Parnell.

When Vettori becomes available, he could take Warner's place or if Delhi decide to strengthen their bowling in the initial matches, Parnell and Nannes could both play while Warner would sit out. Either way, the team will still pack a hell of a punch.

Delhi look like an almost sure-fire bet to make the semi-finals for the third time in a row. After that they can hope for some magic from Sehwag/AB de Villiers/Dilshan to ensure that they do justice to their pre-tournament favourite billing.

Key Players' Timelines

Players	Available from	No. of matches they will play
Paul Collingwood	25th March	9 (will miss 5)
Daniel Vettori	1st April	6 (will miss 8)

The most expensive franchise of the original eight, the Mumbai Indians haven't given their fans enough to cheer about. Owned by Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Mumbai have narrowly missed out on the semi-final berth in the inaugural IPL, and been relegated to an also-ran after being among the favourites in the second season.

After a dismal start in the first season, Mumbai managed to win 6 games on the trot. They lost some very close games - both last-ball affairs - which ultimately sealed their fate. In the second season, they again lost a few close games, but did not win enough.

With their deep pockets, Mumbai have always been able to acquire the flavour of the season. Last year, they bought Jean-Paul Duminy for a staggering $950,000 while this year they've spent an obscene $1.75 mil (amount bid during the silent bid process, Pollard will only get $750,000) on the big-hitting Caribbean player, Kieron Pollard.

Players to watch out for:

Sachin Tendulkar: No matter which team Tendulkar plays for, he will always remain the player to watch out for. He just seems to be getting better with age. Tendulkar's been in superb form over the last year. He's amassed 6 centuries in tests alone and 3 scores in excess of 150 in ODIs as well. The euphoria surrounding his 200* in an ODI against South Africa has still not died down and rest assured, stadiums will be packed whenever Tendulkar is playing. Tendulkar doesn't rely on brutal shots but scores his runs at a fairly brisk pace with mostly orthodox shots and some trademark shots of his own - the upper cut and the paddle sweep to name a couple. His fitness levels are second to none and he's still a got very good throwing arm. Tendulkar has never really tasted much success as captain, whether of the Indian team or his IPL franchise. Can he script a turnaround this time?

Kieron Pollard: He's big, he's powerful and he's the quintessential T20 player that the crowd love to watch. When on song, he can pretty much hit any ball to the boundary as Moises Henriques will testify. Such has been the hype surrounding Pollard post his Champions League pyrotechnics and his IPL auction tag, that he's almost become a household name now. Pollard will be a vital cog in the Mumbai team and most likely, will be used like Yusuf Pathan - being asked to bat when big hitting is the need of the hour. Pollard is also a decent medium pace bowler. He bowls well on slowish wickets, employing his slower ball to good effect.

Strengths: Mumbai are fortunate enough to have some really big names in their ranks. A star studded line-up which includes Sanath Jayasuriya, Sachin Tendulkar, JP Duminy, Zaheer Khan...the list goes on. Jayasuriya and Tendulkar make for a devastating opening pair but the two haven't been able to have the impact that one would expect them to. JP Duminy's current form has been disastrous but he was brilliant last year. He showed he was capable of playing the sheet anchor role as well as hitting out in the last few overs. His batting at No.3 and 4 was exemplary. Mumbai also have a good bunch of all-rounders in Abishek Nayar and Dwayne Bravo, but need to ensure that they extract consistent performances from their big players.

Weaknesses: Barring Zaheer Khan, Mumbai's bowling attack doesn't look too threatening. Sure, there is Harbhajan but he hasn't been in the best of form of late. Malinga's been good, but only in patches. The onus is on the senior players to perform this time around. Mumbai have also got some way to go as far as their fielding is concerned. They've dropped some vital catches which have cost them games.

Its quite strange that a team from Mumbai - a city known to produce some of India's best cricketing talent - has failed to do well in the IPL. Mumbai have almost never come out the winner in tense games and that's one thing they must look to rectify this season. They also need to find a settled team combination.

Key Players' Timelines:

Players	Available from	No. of matches they will play
Kieron Pollard	25th March	13 (will miss 1)

Semi-finalists the first year and fifth in the second edition, Punjab have performed consistently, always stumbling at a crucial juncture. They started poorly in the first edition, but then strung together five consecutive wins thanks to Shaun Marsh. In the second season, they were tied with Deccan Chargers on 14 points but their Net Run Rate wasn't good enough to take them through. A force to reckon with, Punjab will be looking to set things straight this time around.

Towards that end they have appointed the astute Kumar Sangakkara as the new captain in place of Yuvraj Singh.

There were rumours of Hero Honda buying a stake in the Punjab franchise but the Punjab players would've been pleased to discover that the rumour was, well, only a rumour and they'll still get to hug Preity Zinta at the end of the match (depending on the result of course).

Strengths: Punjab don't have many big names in their squad but coach Tom Moody has ensured that they have a well-balanced squad. Marsh, Katich, Sangakkara and Yuvraj form a formidable top-order backed by Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. Many people might think of Katich as a dour test batsman, but he's shown he's capable of being successful with good results in the KFC Big Bash T20 tournament. Ravi Bopara was impressive in his first season and will have a vital role to play. Karan Goel showed he was quite handy with the bat when given the license as well.

Weaknesses: Punjab's bowlers haven't lived up to their reputations yet. Their bowling line-up looks strong on paper but their bowlers seem to have more bad days than good ones. Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan and Piyush Chawla have all showed glimpses of brilliance but flattered to deceive on other occasions. Both Pathan and Chawla have been guilty of bowling way too short and at their pace, it allows batsmen ample time to punish them. VRV Singh too has been too erratic. If the bowlers can get their act together, Punjab can be assured of a good showing this time around.

Players to watch out for:

Yuvraj Singh: Arguably one of the cleanest hitters of the cricket ball, Yuvraj Singh is Punjab's most vital player. Yuvraj has been out of action for a while now because of his wrist injury, meaning he will be fresh at the start of the season. With the burden of captaincy no longer there, it seems likely that Yuvraj will perform up to his potential, something we only saw glimpses of in the past two seasons. One must not forget that Yuvraj has been very successful with the ball as well - he is the only bowler to have taken two hat-tricks in the IPL. Add to that his excellent fielding and it's quite obvious why he will be the cynosure of all eyes when Punjab take the field.

Yusuf Abdullah: Abdullah was a late addition to the Punjab team in the 2009 edition but surprised everyone with his performance. Short and stout, Abdullah isn't really the typical fast bowler but has all the weapons in his arsenal. Yorker, slower deliveries, bouncers - Abdullah bowls them all. He was the only bowler from Punjab last season to have picked up two four-wicket hauls and it will be interesting to see if Abdullah can replicate his success on Indian wickets.

Key Players' Timelines:

Players	Available from	No. of matches they will play
James Hopes	15th March	13 (will miss 1)
Simon Katich	2nd April	7 (will miss 7)

The Deccan Chargers' performance in the two editions of the IPL has ranged from the abysmal to the euphoric. From finishing last in the first edition to shocking everyone by winning the title last year, the Chargers have experienced a multitude of emotions. After leading the team for a large part of the first year, when VVS Laxman was ruled out with an injury, Adam Gilchrist was formally given the reins of the team for the entire tournament in the second year. He led the way for the team, and showed the world that he was still as much of a nightmare to opposition bowlers and could still pack a punch in his shots. Gilchrist played the innings of the tournament in the semi-final against Delhi, smashing a strong attack that included Dirk Nannes, Ashish Nehra and Amit Mishra to blow away the opposition.

After buying the new pace sensation Kemar Roach at the auction this year, Deccan have added a genuine quick bowler who can compensate for the loss of Fidel Edwards who has been ruled out with an injury. Roach will be quite a handful as he consistently bowls at over 150 kmph. Andrew Symonds, who is now quite happy to be a freelancer, being available for the whole tournament. Deccan have a well knit squad with and they are a force to reckon with this year too, a semi-final spot well within their reach.

Strengths: Their balance is their strong point. Amongst the bowlers, Ryan Harris hs been in fabulous form for Australia, picking up a bagful of wickets in ODIs for them. Although he will not be available for the initial matches, they have Kemar Roach, RP Singh and Chaminda Vaas to handle the new ball, and the talented Pragyan Ojha as the spinner. Then they have a host of utility players such as Symonds, Rohit Sharma, Venugopal Rao, Dwayne Smith and T Suman who can contribute in multi-faceted ways. If both Gibbs and Symonds are in the playing eleven, the fielding inside the ring will be the best in the business, with both of them being joined by Rohit Sharma. The batting too has a lot of firepower.

Weaknesses: The Deccan Chargers weakness is that the batting can come apart with some top order failures, and seems more flashy than substantial. This is what happened to them in the first edition of the IPL. There is undoubted talent in the lineup with the likes of Gibbs, Gilchrist, Laxman, Rohit et al, but there is too much reliance on Gilchrist to fire at the top of the order. Andrew Symonds has not batted much of late and that also is a concern. Venugopal Rao and Suman have punched above their weight in the first two editions and it remains to be seen whether they can keep up with those standards. Deccan also have an inherent ability to choke while chasing as they tend lose wickets in a cluster, and that is one area where they need to work on a bit more. It will be the batting that would win a side most of the games in the T20 format and it remains to be seen how Deccan's batting fares this year, for it could well hold the key as to where they finish at the end of IPL 3.

Players to watch out for:

Mitchell Marsh: The younger brother of Shaun and the son of former Aussie opener Geoff, Mitchell Marsh already has the distinction of leading Australia to the U-19 World Cup title in 2010 at the tender age of 18. He is next in line to make his debut for Australia from a distinguished family of cricketers. A hard-hitting middle-order batsman, Marsh could well prove to be the surprise packet if he is selected to play for the Chargers this season. He can also bowl some useful medium pace and is a fine fielder. Marsh has already proved his worth in the Aussie domestic circuit making some huge scores and has the ability to clear the ground despite his small frame.

Kemar Roach: Roach shot into prominence after pinging Ricky Ponting in the elbow forcing him to retire hurt mid-way into his innings. He troubled Ponting all season with his barrage of short pitched deliveries which were hurled consistently at over 150 kmph and managed to ruffle the Aussie skipper's confidence like no other bowler in recent times. Roach was one of the most sought-after players at the IPL 2010 auctions and was snapped up by the Chargers for a whopping 720,000 USD after a tug-of-war between them and the Chennai Super Kings. With a skiddy action and a deceptively small build to go with it, Roach is surprisingly quick and can bowl long spells as he did in Australia in the recent Test series. He has the huge task of replacing Fidel Edwards in the Deccan bowling line-up, and Roach looks more than capable of handling it.

Key Players' Timelines:

Players	Available from	No. of matches they will play
Kemar Roach	15th March	12 (will miss 2)
Dwayne Smith	15th March	12 (will miss 2)
Ryan Harris	14th March	12 (will miss 2)

When the team was first picked, everyone derided the Royal Challengers Bangalore as a 'Test' team, that would never do well in a slam-bang format. A second-from-bottom finish during the first year seemed to confirm their worst fears. The team was owned by Vijay Mallya - who has a lot of qualities, but who isn't best known for his ability to deal with failure, and who has an ego that would struggle to fit into the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Something had to give. Either a spectacular turn-around was called for, or Mallya's cricketing adventure was going to be written off as a bad investment which would hurt everybody associated with it. The turn-around was duly achieved, but nobody could have predicted just how spectacular it was to be. And as it is with most things in life, fortune favoured Bangalore, and then they found the right men to take advantage of the luck they had.

Much like it had happened with the Indian Test team, Rahul Dravid was replaced as captain by Anil Kumble. Again, mirroring the Test team saga, Kumble was not the original choice, but a sort of fall-back option. And of course, being the man that he is, Kumble ensured that just as he had taken India giant strides forward in the Test arena, he took Bangalore forwards in the Twenty20 arena.

The result is that Bangalore enter the third IPL as among the more favoured teams, after being rank underdogs in the first two editions. Last time around, Anil Kumble was comfortably the bowler of the tournament, carrying the Bangalore attack on his shoulders, while veterans such as Kallis and Dravid pulled their weight admirably. Bangalore were also well served by the explosive Ross Taylor. Youngsters Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey showed promising sparks, but the majority of the work of taking the team to the finals was done by the veterans.

This time, the veterans are still looking capable enough to pull their weight, while the youngsters have progressed by leaps and bounds. Virat Kohli is now an established international batsman, Manish Pandey is one of the most exciting and talked about players in the domestic circuit and is knocking on the doors of international selection, and Abhimanyu Mithun has been a good find. Amongst the foreign players, Cameron White has come into his own spectacularly, while Eoin Morgan has undoubtedly been the steal of the third auction at just USD 220,000.

With amongst the best cores of Indian players, Bangalore are well placed to mount a strong challenge once again. They were hurt in the past by the inability of all the Indian players to contribute meaningfully, but their bowling looks good with Praveen Kumar, Mithun and Vinay Kumar alongwith the evergreen Kumble, while the batting too has teeth in the form of Dravid, Kohli, Pandey and Uthappa. To top it all they have an enviable list of foreign players that are likely to be available throughout the tournament in Cameron White, Eoin Morgan, Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn and Roelof van der Merwe.

Their one area of concern might be the form of star buy Kevin Pietersen, who seems a shadow of his former self after his surgery. Since his comeback to international cricket in November, Pietersen has averaged a miserable 15.50 at a strike rate of 67.88 in ODIs and a not-too-much-better 25.28 in Test matches at the time of writing. Not once has he shown the world-dominating batsmanship he is capable of, and Bangalore might have to do the unthinkable and not pick him in the playing eleven even when he is available.

In Ray Jennings, they have a tough no-nonsense coach, who will not be afraid to take hard decisions, so one can expect even senior players to not be picked if he feels that they won't serve the team combination best. The good news for Bangalore is that Rahul Dravid is back to his fluent best, and as he showed in the previous two editions of the IPL, those who write him off as 'unfit' for this format, do so at their own risk.

A likely eleven for Bangalore will leave fans of the Royal Challengers salivating at the strength of the team. Picture this line-up: Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Virat Kohli, Rahul Dravid, Cameron White, Eoin Morgan, Robin Uthappa, Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn, Anil Kumble, Vinay Kumar/Abhimanyu Mithun.

The only possible change to the team that could be made for the better might be when Ross Taylor becomes available to play. He could well replace Jacques Kallis or Dale Steyn. And when your foreign strength is such that players of the quality of Mark Boucher and Steyn/Kallis get left on the bench, it is good news indeed. Bangalore, thus, look a good bet to make the semi-finals again this year.

Bangalore's Key Player Timelines:

Players	Available from	No. of matches they will play
Kevin Pietersen	25th March	9 (will miss 5)
Ross Taylor	1st April	7 (will miss 7)

When Shah Rukh Khan - who is arguably India's biggest Bollywood star - bought the Kolkata Knight Riders, he would have never imagined in his wildest dreams that his side would fare so badly in the first two editions of the IPL. They were hurt in the first edition of the mega-event by their lack of firepower in batting, with McCullum and Gayle (due to an injury) both not taking part in the later stages of the tournament, and were beset by controversies in the second edition: coach John Buchanan's multiple captaincy theory, the Fake IPL player saga that purported to expose the inner secrets of the team, and an inability to finish out close matches. They lost five matches in the last over, and mid-way through the tournament, owner Shah Rukh Khan left the team to fly back to India.

A year later, KKR have a more settled look to their side with Dav Whatmore taking over the reins of the side after Buchanan was given the boot. There are no multiple captains either, with Sourav Ganguly named captain for the whole tournament. With Chris Gayle available for almost the entire tournament, it gives them the explosive package that they sorely missed in the first two editions. It will be an ideal opportunity for youngsters such as Cheteshwar Pujara and Ganapathi Vignesh - who cut off his links with the ICL - to prove their worth this season. KKR will be hoping for a much better showing this time around and with a cursory glance at their squad that feat is not beyond them, although it will be a huge surprise if they finish in the top three.

Strengths: Kolkata's strength undoubtedly lies in their batting. Any batting line-up that includes Gayle and McCullum (when available) at the top is going to give the opposition sleepless nights. They are probably the best opening combination in the whole league and can shred any attack to pieces on their day. Apart from those two, KKR have Brad Hodge and David Hussey to bank on in the middle order. A lot will depend on Sourav Ganguly who has been in terrific touch in the domestic circuit this year. Kolkata have some good hitters lower down in the order like Laxmi Shukla, the evergreen Ajit Agarkar and the tremendously talented Angelo Mathews. With only 4 foreign players permitted to play in the final eleven, it all depends on the combination that Ganguly and co. would like to go in with. A batting order that looks far more solid and durable when compared to the previous editions will make Kolkata's job of posting huge totals and chasing down the same that much easier.

Weaknesses: Kolkata's bowling looks likely to be their weakest link. They had Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul in the first IPL, but with no Pakistan players in the second and third editions, only the woefully out of form Ishant Sharma remains. Towards that end, Kolkata went aggressively for a strike bowler in the third auction, and got the services of Shane Bond. They will be keeping their fingers crossed though, and hope that Bond doesn't suffer one of his numerous injury break-downs during the season. They have Ajantha Mendis too, but the Sri Lankan is much less of a mystery and a threat than he was when he burst onto the scene. With such a depleted bowling line-up, Kolkata will be hard pressed to contain any of the major sides. Their fielding is no great shakes either with only Hodge, McCullum (if he does not keep) and Angelo Mathews being outstanding. The weaknesses are far more threatening than the strengths and that exposes KKR. If they can cover up their weaknesses - which looks unlikely - then Kolkata will have lots to smile about.

Players to watch out for:

Shane Bond: The Canterbury Cop, when in full flow and injury free, is a delight to watch. Having one of the cleanest actions and capable of knocking over the batsmen with sheer pace. Although his speed has reduced slightly since his comeback post the ICL saga, Bond is a prize catch for the KKR team. With only 4 overs to be bowled in a game expect Bond to go all out in an effort to skittle the opposition out. If he can remain injury free for the length of the tournament, then KKR have a definite chance of making early inroads with the new ball.

Chris Gayle: The cool guy from the Caribbean is one of the most violent individuals when he is armed with a bat in his hand. With the ability to massacre and brutalize any attack, Gayle is expected to be the engine that drives the KKR side at the top of the order. The T20 format is best suited for his high risk batting and on his day no opposition will be spared. He will itching to make an impression as he has not played much for his franchisee. If he fires consistently then KKR will be a dangerous dark-horse this year.

Key players' Timelines: 

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai side tasted success for most part of the tournament in both the first and the second editions of the IPL but faltered right at the end. In 2008, the Super Kings, who made it to the final, were overpowered by a resolute Rajasthan side, and in the tourney last year, they faced defeat at the hands of a rejuvenated Bangalore in the semi-final.

In both seasons of the IPL, Chennai won 8 of the 14 matches in the preliminary stages. The team finished second in the previous year's edition while they ended up in the 3rd place on the points table during 2008.

Strengths: The main strength of the Chennai team lies in their batting line-up. A Matthew Hayden in full flow would definitely be a sore sight for the opposition bowlers. And there is also the presence of allrounders like Albie Morkel and Thissara Perera who lend more stability to the middle order. Not to mention, the latest inclusion in the team - Justin Kemp - The hard hitting South African, who is also a handy seam bowler. The Indian contigent too is well balanced with Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and Badrinath in good form in recent times as well as a driving force in skipper MS Dhoni. Chennai are not as strong in bowling as they are in batting, but they have a couple of good Indian domestic bowlers, with Sudeep Tyagi already having made it to international selection, and MS Gony having had a whiff too. Shadab Jakati and L Balaji are also handy customers.

Weaknesses: The side is sometimes too dependant on Matthew Hayden to give a good start. Although Hayden performed in almost every match in the last season, Chennai felt his absence in the matches he missed out on. The Super Kings are also not the best when it comes to catching and ground fielding, making it all the more difficult for them in this short form of the game. The bowling also could be a worry, as their star foreign bowlers - Muralitharan and Makhaya Ntini - have both experienced form slumps associated with age in the recent past. Though both remain extremely fit, and Murali in particular still can pose a credible threat, they are both not the forces they were in the previous two editions of the tournament. With only four foreign recruits allowed in the eleven, the captain and the coach would have a hard time deciding whether to strengthen the bowling attack or include more overseas batters.

Players to watch:

Matthew Hayden: He may have retired from International cricket but the bowlers still experience nightmares when he strides out to bat in the IPL. His hard and clean hitting coupled with his run-hungry attitude is a huge plus for the Chennai team which would bank on this veteran to come out with his best. While it can be argued that a player coming from a one-year break can be a bit rusty, Matthew Hayden is such a player who needs to spend very little time in the middle to be back to his devastating best.

Shadab Jakati: A left-arm orthodox spinner hailing from Goa, Jakati shot into prominence when be became the only Indian bowler to take two 4-wicket hauls in the same season of the IPL. His back-to-back 4/22 and 4/24 against Hyderabad and Delhi in the 2009 edition of the IPL helped Chennai overcome the oppoition. A dark horse in the Super Kings' stable, Jakati would be a handy weapon in the spinner friendly Indian conditions.

Key Players' Timelines:

Players	Available from	No. of matches they will play
Michael Hussey	03rd April	6 (will miss 8)

With the exception of an injury hit Jacob Oram and Michael Hussey, who would be on the tour to New Zealand till the 31st of March, the Super Kings will have the services of most of their overseas players, giving the team an added advantage.