World Cup heartache fades as fresh IPL innings begins

Kolkata, April 7: The dust is yet to settle over the disappointment of India's flop World Cup title defence but deluge of more action is about to start as the Indian Premier League (IPL), with its heady cocktail of cricket, money and glamour, begins its eighth edition on Wednesday.

All the eight franchises have a revamped look after conducting brisk business with 67 players sold overall at Rs.87,60,00,000 - 24 among them being foreigners.

Last season's wooden-spooners Delhi Daredevils made the biggest noise in bidding when they bagged Indian team discard Yuvraj Singh for a whopping Rs.16 crore.

They backed up the acquisition with expensive buys of seasoned star Sri Lankan Angelo Mathews and Indian bowling duo of Zaheer Khan and Amit Mishra.

But other franchises were not too far behind in spending, even though they weren't as desperate to overhaul their line-up as the Daredevils, who finished at the bottom of the standings last season.

Royal Challengers Bangalore, another team yet to win the tourment, dished out Rs.10.5 crore to bag wicket-keeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik addiing more meat to the rampaging batting trio of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians and Kings Xi Punjab also splashed cash to bring aboard New Zealander Trent Boult, Australian Aaron Finch and Kings Xi Punjab's Murali Vijay.

Hyderabad, however, will be considerably weakened after the untimely pull-out of Kevin Pietersen, with the former England batsman deciding to play English county cricket to salvage his intertiol career.

All eyes will be on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who will kickstart their title defence against the formidable Mumbai Indians in the tourment opener at the Eden Gardens here on tomorrow.

The fil is slated for May 24. IANS