Indian Premier League 2014 exclusively live on ITV4

Cricket’s glitziest tournament is back for 2014 and ITV Sport will be covering every game of the seventh Pepsi Indian Premier League live and free from April 16 through to the final on June 1.

Major stars of the game including Kevin Pietersen, Yuvraj Singh, Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag, Jacques Kallis and Mitchell Johnson will all be involved in the world’s most exciting and explosive domestic T20 tournament as eight sides battle it out for the lucrative IPL trophy.

Traditionally, the build-up to the series begins in February with the players’ auction, which takes place under the glare of the media spotlight.

The big news as far as English cricket fans are concerned is that Delhi Daredevils have made the third highest bid of the auction for the former England star Kevin Pietersen, despite his miserable winter with the England team.

Now that Pietersen is no longer playing international cricket, he is available for the entire tournament and the Daredevils have shown their faith by appointing him as captain of the side.

Not surprisingly after England’s disastrous recent form, Pietersen is the only English player taking part in the IPL this year despite several players having made themselves available.

As usual, the tournament opens with a spectacular opening ceremony followed by the first game between defending champions Mumbai Indians against 2012 winners Kolkata Knight Riders.

The match will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi after it was announced the opening 20 matches of the tournament from April 16-30 would be held in the United Arab Emirates to avoid clashes with the 2014 Indian General Election.

The tournament returns home on May 2 for the remaining 40 games, featuring a further 36 round robin clashes followed by the crucial play-offs in the final week from May 27 to the showpiece IPL final on Sunday, June 1.

With a host of top international and domestic players, the seventh season of the IPL promises seven weeks of high octane drama both on and off the field and commences just over week after the conclusion of the international World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.

Competing in the tournament this year alongside the last two champions Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders are Sunrisers Hyderabad, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Mumbai and Kolkata start as the favourites for this year’s competition, with both the teams keeping the core of their side intact, unlike many of the other teams who have undergone a complete shuffle.

Having won the last season of the IPL and the T20 Champions League, Mumbai Indians come into this tournament high on confidence.

Despite their talisman Sachin Tendulkar having retired from the sport, they still have plenty of experience and the ammunition with batsmen Mike Hussey and Rohit Sharma, and Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga in the bowling department.

Kolkata Knight Riders come into this tournament with most of their players looking to prove a point to the Indian national selectors and team is certainly high on promise, but it is their consistency that will be tested.

It promises to be another enthralling IPL and ITV Sport will be showing every game live from the first ball to the last in its final year of covering the competition.

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ITV4 is the place to watch all the twists and turns from the 2014 edition of the Indian Premier League in the UAE and India.

The channel will show live games and highlights of all the key matches from the start of the competition on Wednesday, April 16, through to the final on Sunday, June 1.

It is ITV Sport’s fifth and final year covering the competition and ITV4 will screen 58 of the 60 games exclusively live, with extended evening highlights of the other two matches – which will be broadcast online via itv.com/sport.

Matt Smith and Shonali Nagrani return as main anchors of its live coverage, with former England women’s international Isa Guha also on the presenting roster.

ITV’s team of pundits alongside them will include former England captains Michael Vaughan and Alec Stewart, as well as former cricketers Akash Chopra, Mark Butcher, Dominic Cork, Mark Ramprakash, Simon Hughes and Owais Shah.

ITV4’s live coverage begins on Wednesday, April 16, at 2.45pm with Mumbai Indians against Kolkata Knight Riders, plus highlights from the opening ceremony.

Leading the commentary teams provided by the host broadcaster in the UAE and India will be Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar, Kepler Wessels, Rameez Raja, Sanjay Manjrekar, Darren Ganga, Simon Doull, Harsha Bhogle, Alan Wilkins, Robin Jackman, HD Ackerman, Danny Morrison, L Sivaramakrishnan, Pommie Mbangwa, Craig McMillan, Ian Bishop and Alastair Campbell.

Two of this year’s games clash with ITV4’s British Touring Car Championship coverage, so these games on April 20 and May 4 will be shown exclusively live online via ITV.com.

All ITV4’s live coverage and highlights shows can be viewed live online via itv.com/itv4.

IPL 7 will be the last edition of the tournament to be covered on free-to-air television by ITV Sport after Sky Sports won the rights to broadcast the competition from 2015 onwards.

ITV has covered the IPL every year since 2010, providing fans with the only live free-to-air cricket on UK television.

Niall Sloane, ITV’s Director of Sport, said: “I’m delighted that the Indian Premier League will once again bring big-hitting thrills and spills to ITV4 viewers.”

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