Rishabh Pant leads star-studded list of IPL returnees

In December 2022, when Pant suffered severe injuries in a horrific car accident, there were doubts about whether he would be able to play cricket again. Fourteen months later, his return as captain of Delhi Capitals is cause for celebration, and not just for Capitals. But we'll have to see how Pant copes with the demands of batting, captaincy, and possibly wicketkeeping, in a rigorous IPL season after such a long time out of the game.

He's had three knee ligament constructions, skin grafts on his back and thighs, several stitches, therapy, and months of rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru to get here.

Pant's return will add firepower to the Capitals batting line-up, especially in the middle and death overs, phases in which they were the slowest scorers last season, when they finished second from bottom. And if he has a promising IPL, a place in India's T20 World Cup squad is not out of the question either.

Having missed IPL 2023 because of a back stress injury, Bumrah heads into the new season in peak bowling form: he took 19 wickets in four Tests against England at an average of 16.89. He hasn't played a T20 since India's tour of Ireland in August 2023, though, and his last white-ball game was the ODI World Cup final on November 19. Bumrah was given a break for the fourth Test of the series against England to manage his workload, which could need monitoring while at Mumbai Indians too, with India going straight into the T20 World Cup a week after the IPL final.

Iyer had to skip the last IPL with a back injury and has had surgery since, and he goes into this season as captain of Kolkata Knight Riders on the back of a rocky couple of months.

He had a stellar ODI World Cup in October and November, but not long after, Iyer lost his spot in India's T20I and Test teams, and then his BCCI central contract after not playing in the Ranji Trophy despite not being on international duty. He bounced back with a fluent 95 for Mumbai in the Ranji final, but stayed off the field for the last two days due to back pain.

Iyer needs a strong IPL season to re-establish himself.

Cummins opted out of IPL 2023, sacrificing his INR 7.25 crore (US$874,000 approx.) paycheque with KKR in the process, so that he could focus on international cricket in a busy year. He ended up leading Australia to the World Test Championship title, retained the Ashes in England, and then won the ODI World Cup in India.

His stocks skyrocketed and, after being released by KKR, Cummins became the first player to be sold at an IPL auction for more than INR 20 crore. Sunrisers Hyderabad have since made him their captain for the 2024 season, too.

Cummins, however, has not had great success in the IPL over the years.

In his most recent season, 2022, he took seven wickets in five matches for KKR with an economy rate of 10.69. He has never captained a team - country, state or franchise - in T20 cricket before and faces the challenge of uniting a diverse dressing room and reviving Sunrisers' fortunes. Under different captains - David Warner, Kane Williamson and Aiden Markram - SRH finished last in 2021, eighth in 2022, and last again in 2023.

After missing the last eight seasons, Starc returns to the IPL as its most expensive player ever: he was bought by KKR for INR 24.75 crore (US$2.98 million approximately) after fierce bidding from Mumbai Indians, Capitals and Gujarat Titans.

But Starc comes into the IPL without a lot of recent white-ball experience. His last ODI was the 2023 World Cup final in November, and before he played two T20Is against New Zealand this February, his previous T20Is were during the 2022 T20 World Cup.

Starc has played only two IPL seasons previously, for Royal Challengers Bangalore in 2014 and 2015, and while he had entered the auction in 2018 - he was bought by KKR then too - he withdrew ahead of the season. While Starc's international pedigree is what got him the record bid, he now has to deliver. He will begin the season against Cummins when KKR play Sunrisers at Eden Gardens on March 23.

Williamson's first season for Titans lasted barely an hour on the field. In the 2023 season opener against Chennai Super Kings, he leapt at the boundary to attempt a catch, landed awkwardly, busted his anterior cruciate ligament, and only returned to international cricket during the ODI World Cup in October after recovering from knee surgery.

Titans need an experienced hand in the team, as Shubman Gill prepares for his first season as IPL captain following Hardik Pandya's trade to Mumbai Indians, and Williamson will be crucial.

Bairstow was unavailable for Punjab Kings in IPL 2023 as he recovered from surgery after fracturing his leg in September 2022. He comes into this season having spent two months in India for a five-Test series, which culminated in his 100th appearance in whites for England in Dharamsala.

He was explosive for Kings in the 2022 season, scoring 253 runs at a strike rate of 144.57, though he averaged only 23. It remains to be seen whether Bairstow features among the team's four first-choice overseas players at the start of this season, as they attempt to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2014.