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The 16th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) got underway with the defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) defeating Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the tournament opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday, March 31.

Meanwhile, many franchises have suffered significant setbacks as some of their players have been ruled out of the tournament due to injury.

Rishabh Pant, the captain of Delhi Capitals, will miss the entire IPL season as he continues to recover from an injury sustained in a near-fatal car accident in December last year. In his place, veteran Australian opener David Warner will captain the team. Meanwhile, they roped in wicketkeeper-batter Abishek Porel for INR 20 lakh.

Jasprit Bumrah of Mumbai Indians (MI) will be the other notable absentee from the cash-rich league. He is likely to be out of action for more than six months after undergoing his back surgery. Sandeep Warrier has been roped in as his replacement by MI. Meanwhile, MI will also miss the services of Jhye Richardson.

Kolkata Knight Riders will be without their skipper Shreyas Iyer, who will most probably miss the entire season due to a back injury. Nitish Rana has been named as captain of KKR. 

Punjab Kings’ Jonny Bairstow suffered a freak accident last year while playing golf which saw him getting ruled out of the entire T20 World Cup 2022 and he won’t be available for the ongoing IPL too. Matthew Short has been named as his replacement.