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The IPL is here: First up Kolkata take on Bangalore

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The in-form man of Indian cricket Sourav Ganguly leads his Kolkata team out against Dravid's Bangalore in the opener of the IPL but who should your money be on?

So the jamboree is upon us. Six weeks of giddy hitting, pumping music and throbbing hype. Any ad breaks will be entirely superfluous as the entire event is one long commercial opportunity, a parade of India's political and sporting wealth and power. Rather like a trip on a new and dangerous roller coaster, many who saw the brochures and thought it would be exciting are now having second thoughts. As we get closer to the thing itself, the sheer scale of the enterprise and the long, long shadow it is starting to cast over cricket is becoming clearer. It could all end in disaster. Then again, it could change cricket forever.

The biggest criticism of the IPL is that it is an event created solely for the purpose of making money. Everyone involved, from the BCCI to the television companies, from the franchise owners to the players are caught up in a frenzy for cash. Yes for sure there is a novelty value in seeing the world's best players in one place. But that should wear off fairly quickly, around the time Andrew Symonds launches his thirty-seventh six. Beyond that, unless you have some connection to any of the cities involved, your interest will surely wane. That is certainly the case for the players. Cold hard cash is drawing them to the subcontinent and nothing else. Kevin Pietersen in particular seems to have forgotten all about his complaints over player burnout!

But if it's good enough for the players, then we shouldn't be coy about making money from the IPL either. Tomorrow's opening match between the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Kolkata Knight Riders will give us a chance to assess what the tournament is all about.

Bangalore bear the name and logo of the franchise owner's brand of whisky whilst the Kolkata Knight Riders already have their own motto, album, mascot and some fetching gold and black jerseys created by a Bollywood fashion designer. They are named after the American television series and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if David Hasselhoff turned up to bowl the first ball.

Absenteeism and injury have bit hard into both these squads. Already denied the services of Shoaib Akhtar, Kolkata are without the excellent Twenty20 bowler Umar Gul and fellow Pakistanis Salman Butt and Mohammed Hafeez, whilst they are busy with Bangladesh. Bangalore are without Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn, Misbah ul-Haq and Abdur Razzaq, though they will have Jaques Kallis and Mark Boucher available for the opener.

Taking into account the absentees, it is Kolkata who are able to put out the strongest team. On the face of it, both sides have similarly strong batting line-ups with Bangalore able to field a top order of Jaffer, Chanderpaul, Dravid and Kallis, whilst Kolkata will rely on Gayle, Ponting, David Hussey and Ganguly. But the relative strike rates of these batsmen give Kolkata a big edge. They simply score their runs more quickly. Chris Gayle in particular will be key for the visitors. He averages an excellent 37 at an astonishing strike rate of 164. They also have the hard-hitting Brendon McCullum and useful allrounder Ajit Agarkar to keep the momentum going lower down the order.

Neither side are over blessed in the pace bowling department and both will rely on an assortment of allrounders and bits and pieces players. With only four international players permitted in any team, both teams will want to cram in their overseas batsmen and are likely to call on domestic Indian players to fill the gaps in their bowling ranks.

Bangalore's key player could be Zaheer Khan. He will need all his experience to lead a bowling line up light on quality and variety. Kolkata will be relying on Ishant Sharma to make the early inroads but captain Ganguly can turn to an array of different bowlers, from his own military medium to the spin of Murali Karthik, Ajit Agarkar's lively medium pace and the part time twirling of Chris Gayle. Kolkata seem to have a clear advantage in most departments and can be backed at [1.76] with Bangalore on [2.12].

• Cricket
• Indian Premier League - IPL