IPL 2023: India's biggest cricket festival set to return with a bang

The wait is finally over. Get set for a 2-month roller coaster ride as IPL 2023 kicks off on March 31 in Ahmedabad.

The first game features defending champions Gujarat Titans taking on Chennai Super Kings on Friday.

The craze for the cash-rich league in India was evident when Nearly 30,000 fans crammed up around the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore to see Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis unveil RCB's jersey for the 2023 season.

What promises to make the 2023 season a blockbuster event is the fact that IPL returns to its original home-away format after the Covid-19 pandemic forced bubble format schedules in the past few editions.

CSK's most iconic player MS Dhoni may be setting up for his IPL swansong even though the former Indian captain is yet to make a formal announcement.

While Dhoni will have England's talismanic Ben Stokes for company at CSK, Delhi Capitals will miss their captain Rishab Pant, who is still recovering from injuries suffered during a car accident.