Bumrah among the stars missing the start of the Indian Premier League’s 18th season

NEW DELHI (AP) - Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are among the stars set to miss the opening action when the Indian Premier League returns for its 18th season.

The defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders will host Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Eden Gardens on Saturday to open the 74-match, nine-week tournament. Kolkata will also host two knockout games, including the May 25 final.

Last year’s runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad begins Sunday against Rajasthan Royals, who were the inaugural champions in 2008. Hyderabad will host the first two knockout games.

Chennai Supers Kings will host Mumbai Indians - both five-time champions - in Sunday's second game.

Bumrah, the world's top fast bowler, will miss that game for Mumbai as he hasn’t recovered from a lower back injury sustained in January during India's tour of Australia. He could miss at least one-third of the IPL.

Mumbai skipper Pandya will also miss the high-profile match - he is suspended for a slow-over rate in last year’s last game and the penalty is being imposed to start the season. Vice-captain Suryakumar Yadav will lead Mumbai Indians in the season opener.

Rishabh Pant will lead Lucknow SuperGiants, while Kolkata's 2024 title-winning captain Shreyas Iyer will captain Punjab Kings. The duo fetched huge sums in the player auction - Pant became the most expensive player in IPL history with a contract worth about $3.12 million, and Iyer went a close second at about $3 million. Both figures are approximate based on Indian currency rates at the time of the auction.

"I personally felt I didn't get the recognition I wanted to after winning the (2024) IPL," Iyer said after Kolkata chose not to retain him. He will be combining again with former Australia captain Ricky Ponting - the captain-coach duo previously worked together at Delhi Capitals.

Other captaincy changes include Ajinkya Rahane leading Kolkata, and allrounder Axar Patel taking over at Delhi.

Rajat Patidar takes over as captain from Faf du Plessis at Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Signed as a replacement midway through 2020 IPL season, it marks a stellar rise for Patidar, a middle-order batter who made his test debut against England in 2024.

“He is an amazing talent - a great player and he has got a great head on his shoulders. He will do a great job for this amazing franchise and take the team forward," Virat Kohli said at a Royal Challengers event. Bengaluru retained Kohli, part of India’s Champions Trophy-winning team in March, for about $2.4 million this season.

India great MS Dhoni returns to the IPL for Chennai at the age of 43. Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020, and played his last one-day international in 2019. As per IPL rules, a player retired from international cricket for five years or more is classified under the "uncapped" category.

Dhoni - a veteran of 90 tests, 350 ODIs and countless Twenty20 games in the IPL or otherwise - has a season contract worth about $460,000.

At the other end of this age spectrum is 13-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi - set to be the youngest player to feature in an IPL season. He was chosen by Rajasthan Royals after a bidding war that saw his auction price rise to about $125,000.

An IPL rule change stirred debate after England batter Harry Brook pulled out of the season for personal reasons, after Delhi Capitals had secured him for about $720,000 at the auction.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India, which runs the IPL, says any player withdrawing for reasons other than an injury, or lack of playing approval from their respective boards, could be banned for the entire three-season IPL cycle. Brook could be barred from the IPL until 2027, only being allowed to re-enter the auction for 2028.

"It is not harsh," former England allrounder Moeen Ali, who now plays for KKR, said on a cricket podcast. "I kind of agree with it.”

Ali said many players had withdrawn late in the past and then re-entered the IPL and "end up getting a better financial package."

"It kind of messes a lot of things up at the same time - his team now has to rejig everything.”

Twenty20, or T20, is cricket's shortest format. It’s fast-paced, TV friendly, and is over and done with in about 3 1/2 hours. After India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in 2007, India cricket officials decided to launch a domestic T20 league in 2008. IPL teams are based on states or cities.

Held annually, the IPL auction draws many of the sport’s brightest stars from all over the world. Close to 1,600 players entered for 2025, and that list was reduced to 577 for the chance to be one of the 204 players selected.

Each team has a $14.3 million budget to pick 18 players, and a maximum of 25; only eight are allowed to come from overseas, the other 17 must be from India. In the playing XI on the field, teams are restricted to four overseas players.