Kohli up for the challenge of tackling new IPL combinations

Dubai - Virat Kohli says the incorporation of two fresh franchises in Pune and Rajkot into the new-look Indian Premier League (IPL) has the potential to spice up things in the Twenty20 tournament, by making teams "more dangerous."

Pune and Rajkot have replaced Chennai and Rajasthan in the competition after the Super Kings and the Royals were served with two-year bans following an illegal betting scandal.
The suspended Chennai and Rajasthan players were made available in the draft on Tuesday, with Pune and Rajkot allowed to select five stars apiece.
Rajkot plumped for Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina, whereas Pune signed up Ravichandran Ashwin, Mahendra Singh (MS) Dhoni, Faf du Plessis, Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith.
Both sides will now lose 390m Indian rupees (Dh21.4m) from their total 660m Indian rupee (Dh36.3m) budget, with the remaining Chennai and Rajasthan players being added to the pool in the IPL auction next year.
The shake-up in the make-up of the teams and their batting and bowling line-ups should make things very interesting indeed when the ninth edition gets underway from April 9 and Kohli is already looking forward to the challenge.
"I'm very excited," admitted the Royal Challengers Bangalore captain, who is here in Dubai in his capacity as a co-owner of the UAE Royals franchise in the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL).
"It's a change in itself now that we have two different teams. With five players each playing for the other sides, the combinations have changed completely and it's going to be a new challenge.
"The teams could be even more dangerous than before because the players have switched and it will be interesting to see how this auction goes and how the teams turn out, but - personally - I'm very excited for it," said Kohli.
The UAE Royals, who finished as the runners-up in the inaugural edition of the IPTL last year, could be said to have under-performed this time around so far given the sheer strength of the squad at their disposal.
They've had the likes of Tomas Berdych, Marin Cilic, Roger Federer and Ana Ivanovic available to them across four stops until now.
However, that quality in depth is exactly what will see them qualify for the finals in Singapore according to the Indian Test captain.
"We have played decently so far and we have a great chance of making it to the finals," Kohli said.
"We know the kind of players that we have. They can step up at any time and just one leg during the whole league can change things around for us completely. I'm very certain that we will end up making the finals because we have the quality of players that is required to make a comeback at any stage and the progress has been pretty decent so far," he added.
alex@khaleejtimes.com