Bangalore's very own Royal Challengers, with the former Indian skipper at the helm, will kick off the IPL — as much glitz and entertainment as cricket — against the Kolkata Knight Riders under the stewardship of Sourav Ganguly. The cricket-oriented fans will look upon the IPL opener as a face-off between two former Indian captains; to those who believe the IPL is less about cricket and more about entertainment, it's a contest between Royal Challengers owner Vijay Mallya and Shah Rukh Khan, the boss of the Knight Riders!

Welcome to the new cricketing world! Where showbiz rubs shoulders with cricketing legends, and probably on a better footing. How else can you explain the players not being allowed to practice at the match venue so that the entertainers for the 45-minute opening ceremony could go through their preparatory paces?!

Not that the players were complaining too much, actually. Inasmuch as they insist that cricket is paramount and that their primary focus is cricket, they also understand that Twenty20 is not just cricket. The attendant glitz adds to the charm and marketability of a concept that has taken the cricket world by storm, and if a few compromises are to be made, the players are happy to make them. Especially with the stakes involved being so high!

Come match-time, though, and while the music will blare and the cheerleaders strut their stuff at the fall of each wicket or, more regularly, with the ball’s trysts with the boundary boards, you can bet your bottom dollar that at least the cricketers' concentration will be largely on the cricket. This is no more than a domestic competition, when you break it down, but never will so many eyes be trained with such intense scrutiny and brazen curiosity on a domestic tournament.

Reputations will be at stake, players under pressure to justify the immense sums they attracted in an unprecedented auction. If anyone thinks the IPL is a lark, think again!

In a way, it is almost perfect that the opening match pits the steel of Dravid against the determination of Ganguly. Neither man has had an easy ride in international cricket; neither is, by the same token, unaccustomed to the myriad pressures of playing and leading. Even for men who have spent more than a decade plying their wares in international cricket, the idea of leading an assortment of individuals drawn from different parts of the globe will be a challenging new experience. Knowing them both, they will relish this exciting challenge, particularly as it comes at a stage in their career where they need something extra to keep themselves going.

If Dravid has the luxury of falling back on the wisdom of Jacques Kallis and the enterprise of Mark Boucher from his overseas complement, Ganguly would appear even more handily placed, captaining as he does a side that includes the current skippers of the Australian and West Indian teams. Chris Gayle is a doubtful starter on Friday — he  is nursing a groin injury sustained earlier in the week — but Ricky Ponting will be around, determined to justify his pronouncement that at a less than expected $400,000, he could turn out to be the bargain buy of the tournament!

There is no dearth of immense potential and proven performers in both ranks, though the Royal Challengers will be handicapped by the unavailability of home town hero and Indian Test captain Anil Kumble as well as Australia's limited-overs specialist Nathan Bracken, both out injured. Additionally, Shivnarine Chanderpaul too will miss Friday's game, as he too will land in the City on the morrow.

As Ganguly pointed out, Twenty20 is a format designed to vastly bridge the gulf in ability between teams. The frenetic hustle and bustle calls for equal parts of skill and nerve, of ability and character. An expected full house will not be short on drama — not during the 45-minute opening ceremony designed to stun, nor during the three-hour bat-and-ball clash that will follow.

TEAMS AND OFFICIALS TODAY

Royal Challengers: Rahul Dravid (capt), Wasim Jaffer, Jacques Kallis, Virat Kohli, Cameron White, Mark Boucher, Ashley Noffke, J Arun Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ross Taylor, Sunil Joshi, B Akhil, KP Appanna, Sreevats Goswami.

Knight Riders: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Ricky Ponting, Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle, David Hussey, Mohammad Hafeez, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wriddhiman Saha, Ajit Agarkar, Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Murali Kartik, Debabrata Das, Iqbal Abdulla.

Umpires: Rudi Koertzen and Asad Rauf. Third umpire: Amish Saheba. Match referee: Javagal Srinath.