Cricket: IPL in murky world of UAE

Kevin Pietersen has abandoned whites for a career in T20. Photo / AP

League gets under way amid fixing allegations.

Only the Indian Premier League could have the confidence or the gall to follow months of bad publicity over fixing allegations by shifting its operation to a country with as many murky links to the bookmaking underworld as India.

The United Arab Emirates will host the league phase of the IPL, which started in Abu Dhabi last night before moving back to India for the knockout stages starting at the end of May.

Kevin Pietersen returns to cricket for the Delhi Daredevils tomorrow, as long as he has recovered from a minor finger injury, when he faces one of his former franchises, Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Sharjah, widely recognised as the birthplace of cricket's modern-day match-fixing problems.

Underworld gangsters based in the UAE have been pinpointed as being behind the fixing controversy which rocked the league last year, when players were caught accepting bribes for spot-fixing.

The scandal has since enveloped the Chennai Super Kings, the IPL's most successful side, and tainted N Srinivasan, the Board of Control for Cricket in India's top dog and next International Cricket Council chairman.

So it was no surprise when BCCI officials raised objections to shifting the tournament to the UAE when it became clear India's security forces could not cope with policing the league and the general election at the same time.

The UAE has given assurances to the BCCI that security will be tight and it is unlikely Dawood Ibrahim, the godfather of one of India's most brutal gangs who is believed to be living in the UAE, will be seen visiting the home dressing room at Sharjah, as Dilip Vengsaker claims he did in 1986 to offer each Indian player a car if they beat Pakistan.

For English fans, interest is focused on Pietersen as he begins the next phase of his career as a Twenty20 specialist.

As soon as he was made captain of Delhi he promised to create a "fun environment" and it did not take a Bletchley Park codebreaker to identify the dig at former England head coach Andy Flower.

Pietersen's challenge of converting fun into wins will not be easy.

Delhi have some fine batting talent, led by himself and New Zealander Ross Taylor, but the bowling looks thin.

Pietersen can take inspiration from his friend Shane Warne, who led a similarly unfancied Rajasthan Royals to the first IPL title through force of personality and some inspirational performances.

The wealth of talent in the IPL is breathtaking and unique in world cricket.

The Indian board blocks any of its players appearing in rival Twenty20 leagues, creating its own monopoly on headline acts.

The Hyderabad Sunrisers boast the most savage top three yet assembled with Aaron Finch, Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner supported down the order by Darren Sammy. The bowling is led by Dale Steyn and Amit Mishra, making them strong contenders.

Royal Challengers have AB De Villiers, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh, but again look to have put too low a value on a bowling attack capable of defending a score. Chennai are the (legal) bookmakers' favourites.