The black clouds seemed to make the two-hour trip from Cape Town with the teams, and though the sun made a special appearance on Monday, gusty winds and a light drizzle remain a constant in Durban. Welcome to KwaZulu Natal, where Shaun Pollock says “the rains start the moment the lights are switched on”.

The Mumbai Indians are beaming from ear to ear — they have Pollock, Jonty Rhodes and Praveen Amre, three men in their strategy camp, and opener Sanath Jayasuriya, who have inside information on the conditions in this province. However, there’s one man in Tuesday’s double-header who, though he may not know as much about the Kingsmead Stadium, carries fond memories of it. It was here that Yuvraj Singh slammed six sixes in an over to add a whole new dimension to his reputation.

Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar have provided a sedate start to the tournament for the batting camp, and it’s now time for big-hitters such as Yuvraj, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Matthew Hayden, Jesse Ryder and Kevin Pietersen to build the tempo in the second edition of the IPL.

‘Things will change’

The par score of the tournament has been set at a lowly 135-odd so far, not just because of the conditions but also because the teams employed a safety-first approach in the first round of matches. But, contrary to the initial trend, players now feel that big scores will follow. The individual brilliance of some of the batsmen, their bat-speed and timing, works independent of the factors, they say.

... contd.