Cement may not be glamorous, but the Chennai Super Kings owned by India Cements are one of the most exciting outfits in the IPL. Captained by the mercurial Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has proved that his prowess does not lie only in his hair, Chennai is a real team of superstars. Matthew Hayden, Muttiah Muralitharan, Makhaya Ntini and Stephen Fleming as coach are all on the roster along with the quintessential British Lionheart, Andrew Flintoff, who'll be in direct competition (yet again seeminly) with English countryman Kevin Pietersen. The only question remaining is whether they can finally put a smile on the face of owner N. Srinivasan (above).

Kolkata, owned by ShahRukh Khan, coached by John Buchanan and captained by the icon Sourav Ganguly (and maybe others) are a team of personalities. The team started with a bang last year, but wilted in the latter stages of the tournament. There have been all sorts of controversies in the build up to the start of IPL 2009, including John Buchanan's new masterplan of multiple captains, ShahRukh Khan's public attack on India's finest Sunny Gavaskar and Sourav's public admissions of not knowing what anybody's talking about. Unless everybody starts working together, another low finish looks on the cards. Still, there's always the possibility of ShahRuhk taking his top off, even if the chances of Sourav baring himself again seem slim. Key personnel include Ishant Sharma and the firecracker Brendon McCullum.