IPL 2020: Action in pictures as 'grand festival' of cricket starts in UAE

The Indian Premier League began on Saturday where MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings clashed with Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians. 

Let's take a look at the action and major events in pictures as 'grand festival' of cricket starts in UAE: 

The much-delayed Indian Premier League started Saturday without its customary glitz and glamour, but the Twenty20 tournament is expected to be a welcome relief to cricket fans during the coronavirus pandemic.

The short-form extravaganza normally starts in March but along with other major international sporting events was postponed as countries went into virus lockdowns. It was then moved to the United Arab Emirates as cases rose in India.

All the eight teams have been in strict, bio-secure 'bubbles' since landing in the UAE.

There was no gala opening ceremony for the world's richest T20 league, and the games will be played behind closed doors at three venues including Dubai and Sharjah.

Chennai, led by MS Dhoni, won the toss and chose to bowl first. MI skipper Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock opened Mumbai's innings. 

MS Dhoni has made his return on the field after a long span, and his new beard has become the talking point on social media. CSK fans have compared the beard to Srikanth and Abhinandan. 

 

The first ball of this year's Indian Premier League was smashed for four runs by Rohit Sharma, and the opening pair began their innings with a flier. However, after a few overs, Rohit Sharma succumbed to Piyush Chawla's delivery exposing his weakness of facing off-spin bowlers. Quinton de Kock on the other hand looked in good touch, but he too was removed by Sam Curran. Suryakumar Yadav was looking to continue his prolific run in the IPL but failed as he got out on 14 runs off Deepak Chahar's delivery. 

Saurabh Tiwary was a surprise pick for the Mumbai Indians and gave the strongest performance for the team during the first innings. Tiwary scored 42 runs off 31 balls which included three boundaries and one six. 

Hardik Pandya was off to a promising start after he smashed Ravindra Jadeja for two consecutive sixes. But, he got out after a stunning catch by du Plessis. 

Pollard, Krunal and Pattinson got out on 18, 3, 11 respectively. Mumbai's innings ended with 162 runs at the loss of 9 wickets. 

Chennai Super Kings staged a comeback in the final six overs of Mumbai's innings. Deepak Chahar and Lungi Ngidi played a major role in the comeback. In the final six overs Mumbai could score only 41 runs and lost 6 wickets. 

Chennai had a terrible start as their openers (Shane Watson and Murali Vijay) got out cheaply. 

Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis controlled the innings and stabilized the chase for the Chennai Super Kings. A 100-run partnership between the two was a fatal blow for the Mumbai Indians. Rayudu scored 71 runs, whereas, Faf scored 58. After Rayudu's dismissal, Jadeja arrived on the crease but was dismissed cheaply. Sam Curran's (18 runs off 6 balls) cameo sealed the deal for CSK. 

Faf scored 58 runs off 44 balls.

Ambati Rayudu was declared the man of the match for his match-winning innings against the Mumbai Indians.