IPL runners and riders under starter's orders

It's upon us once again, The 12th edition of the Indian Premier League gets underway on March 23, and with the World Cup following hot on its heels in May, the form and fortunes of the participants will be under more scrutiny than ever before.

Chennai Super Kings romped to victory in last year's final - their third title in seven visits to the final, but their first since 2011 - but according to the odds-setters at Bet365 - it is the side whom they thrashed by eight wickets back then, Sunrisers Hyderabad, who lead the pack in the final run-in to the tournament.

Sunrisers are 4/1 to claim their second title, having lifted the trophy in 2016, and they will be boosted in their endeavours by the return of David Warner, who will have much to prove after a year out of the game due to his ban for ball-tampering.

Another returning Aussie, Steve Smith, will be lining up for Rajasthan Royals, who are pre-tournament second-favourites at 11/2, alongside CSK, who will once again by powered by the ageless MS Dhoni.

Smith will be joined at Rajasthan by a trio of Englishmen in Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone, and the first two in particular will have half an eye on the World Cup as they begin their endeavours.

Further down the pecking order, there's not a lot of love for King's XI Punjab, who are the pre-tournament outsiders at 9/1 ... notwithstanding the fact that they splurged top-dollar on England's Sam Curran as their marquee overseas player.

Curran impressed massively in the Test series against India last summer but he has not been a regular in England's white-ball ranks. Can he continue his precocious form and live up to his lofty billing?