New Zealand's ODI captain Kane Williamson is set to miss this year's ICC World Cup after scans confirmed he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) fielding in the Indian Premier League.

The decorated 32-year-old batsman underwent scans on Tuesday having sustained the injury to his right knee fielding in the Gujarat Titans' season opener against the Chennai Super Kings on Friday.

Williamson, who returned to New Zealand following the incident, will likely miss the World Cup in India in October and November given the significant rehabilitation timeframe for an ACL injury.

"I look forward to doing what I can to support [New Zealand coach] Gary [Stead] and the team over the next few months," Williamson said in a New Zealand Cricket statement.

"Naturally it's disappointing to get such an injury, but my focus now is on having the surgery and starting rehab.

"It's going to take some time, but I'll be doing everything I can to get back on the field as soon as possible."

Williamson averages 47.83 across 161 ODIs with 13 centuries and 42 half-centuries, with his absence at the World Cup to be a major blow for the Black Caps. Tom Latham is the leading candidate to take over as captain at the World Cup.

"You take Kane the player for a start, but then Kane the leader and the person he is within our group as well, it's a huge spanner in the works for us," Stead said.

"We haven't given up hope that he might be right but at this stage it does look unlikely. Our first thoughts are with Kane at the moment, it's a tough time for him, it's not an injury you expect…it hits you pretty hard."

New Zealand were beaten in the 2019 World Cup final by England in a dramatic super over on the boundary count back rule. Williamson was named Player of the Tournament in 2019, making 578 runs in 10 games.

Punjab Kings fended off a Rajasthan Royals fightback after a stunning spell from Nathan Ellis had teed up a five-run win that saw them start the 2023 IPL with back-to-back victories.

Both teams had enjoyed opening wins, and this match too could have gone either way despite the Kings appearing to be in complete control thanks to Ellis.

After Punjab captain Shikhar Dhawan did the heavy lifting with 86 not out to see his side finish on 197-4, Ellis (4-30) took a series of vital wickets to slow the Royals' response.

Luck was initially on the Australia bowler's side as an inside edge looped up off Jos Buttler's pad for a smart catch for 19.

Sanju Samson carried the scoring burden, making 42, before he too departed off the bowling of Ellis, who also accounted for Riyan Parag (20) from his next delivery, then bowled Devdutt Paddikal (21) later in the same over.

A deep Royals line-up still contained Shimron Hetmyer (36 off 18) and impact player Dhruv Jurel (32 not out off 15), and the pair combined for a quick 61.

But even with Ellis' allocation up, Hetmyer had himself run out in the final over as Sam Curran (0-44) just about kept the batting side at bay.

Chahal's slow progress

This was not a night IPL veteran Yuzvendra Chahal will reflect on particularly fondly, even if it saw him edge closer to the tournament's wickets record.

His figures of 1-50 were damaging – Punjab scoring easily despite some fine fielding, including from Buttler – but the wicket of Jitesh Sharma was his 171st in the IPL, moving ahead of Lasith Malinga and now trailing only Dwayne Bravo (183).

Electric Ellis excels

Both teams named unchanged XIs, meaning Ellis was preferred to 99-wicket Kagiso Rabada. The Australian had only five IPL wickets to his name prior to this match.

Ellis significantly added to that tally, however, his spell turning the tide and providing a reminder of the talent that saw him take a hat-trick on his T20I debut in 2021 – even if Curran's contribution was still required to get the job done.

Jason Roy has joined Kolkata Knight Riders for the remainder of the Indian Premier League season as an injury replacement for Shreyas Iyer.

The England opener has signed up on a deal worth approximately INR 2.8 crore (£275,000), up on his pre-season auction price of INR 1.5 crore (£147,000).

Roy's return to the IPL comes amid a minor player crisis for KKR, who have lost India's Iyer to a back injury, as well as Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan.

Though English players are typically not allowed to sign after the start of March, those on ECB contracts are an exemption to the rule, allowing his move.

The Surrey batter last played in 2021, scoring 150 runs in five games for Sunrisers Hyderabad, and will hope to maintain his strong white-ball start to 2023.

With 245 runs in seven games for Quetta Gladiators during the Pakistan Super League, Roy also posted the tournament's highest individual tally, with 145 not out.

A member of the England team that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup, he was dropped from their 2022 T20 World Cup-winning squad.

Ahead of his side's 50-over defence in India later this year, the 32-year-old will be hopeful he can use his time with KKR to consolidate his spot in the squad.

Roy's return to the IPL may come too soon to feature in his new team's next match, which is against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday.

However, he could be included for their trip to face defending champions Gujarat Titans on Sunday, as KKR look to bounce back from an opening loss against Punjab Kings.

Sai Sudharsan's unbeaten 62 helped Gujarat Titans continue their winning start in the IPL with a six-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals.

Chasing 163, defending champions Gujarat lost three wickets before the end of the powerplay, including that of captain Hardik Pandya for just five.

But Sudharsan's half-century, aided by a big-hitting cameo from David Miller (31 off 16), set up an ultimately straightforward win.

The 21-year-old survived an eighth-over review for caught behind and put on 53 for the fourth wicket with Vijay Shankar (29).

Miller then joined Sudharsan in the middle and ensured the Titans raced to their target with 11 balls to spare – the Capitals' 162-8 never having really looked like being enough.

David Warner had opened with 37 but required 32 balls, with that plodding run rate keeping the Titans firmly in the match.

Nortje enjoys opener rewards

In a brief spell in which the Capitals looked capable of causing their opponents some problems, Anrich Nortje dismissed openers Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill.

Since the start of the 2022 tournament, Nortje has taken the wicket of six openers, the second-most among Capitals bowlers.

Miller turns on the style

The Titans have an impressive record chasing targets of 150 or more, doing so a leading seven times in the past two years.

They were able to do so this time in large part due to Miller's contribution, which saw two fours and two sixes in a 28-minute dash to the finish.

Moeen Ali's four-wicket haul held off the charge of the Lucknow Super Giants as the Chennai Super Kings secured a 12-run Indian Premier League victory on Monday.

KL Rahul, Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya and Marcus Stoinis were all dispatched by Moeen (4-26), who dismissed all but one of the Super Giants' first five batsmen.

Ruturaj Gaikwad (57) and Devon Conway (47) opened for the Super Kings in a strong start with a 110-run stand, before the pair were eventually sent packing by Ravi Bishnoi (3-28) and Mark Wood (3-49).

The Super Kings then lost momentum, with their next seven batters accumulating just 117 additional runs to set the Super Giants a target of 217.

Rahul (20) and Mayers (53) gave the Super Giants' chase a promising start, but Deepak Hooda (2) and Pandya (9) failed to reach double figures as the visitors began to wane.

Krishnappa Gowtham (17) and Ayush Badoni (23) got the Super Giants close with 18 runs on a single Deepak Chahar (0-55) over.

But superb bowling from Tushar Deshpande (2-45) limited Lucknow to just seven runs in the 18th over, then just about defending a lead of 28 on the last to seal a Super Kings victory.

Ali in his groove

A fine bowling display from Moeen saw him register his best IPL bowling figures in the competition's victory.

He became just the fifth spinner to take a four-wicket haul at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in the IPL.

Dhoni's landmark

Hitting two sixes off three balls, MS Dhoni took his overall run tally in the IPL to 5,004, becoming just the seventh player overall and fifth Indian to score over 5,000 runs in the competition's history.

A superb opening stand from Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis ensured Royal Challengers Bangalore cruised to an eight-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League opener.

Having fallen just short of the IPL final last year, RCB got their 2023 campaign off to a terrific start, dominating their opponents on both sides of the ball at The Mangalam Chinnaswamy Stadium.

RCB made a fast start with the ball, with Harshal Patel well-placed to claim an outside edge from Ishan Kishan (10) before Reece Topley bowled Cameron Green (5), though a bizarre collision between Dinesh Karthik and Mohammed Siraj saw the latter inexplicably drop Rohit Sharma.

Rohit was less fortunate when he handed Karthik a catch for just one run three balls later, though his exit allowed Tilak Varma to step up with a quickfire 84 off 46 balls, carrying Mumbai to 171-7.

That outstanding effort proved to be in vain, however, with Du Plessis (73) and Kohli (82 not out) putting on a strong opening stand of 148, both bringing up half-centuries by the end of the 12th over.

While skipper Du Plessis walked with five overs remaining, lofting through to Tim David for a simple catch, Mumbai never looked likely to break the momentum of RCB, who recorded a statement win.

Varma wastes no time

In dragging Mumbai to a respectable tally with his knock of 84, Varma averaged a boundary every 3.5 deliveries.

Only Jos Buttler – who struck a boundary every 2.2 balls in the Rajasthan Royals' win over Sunrisers Hyderabad – has posted a better such rate in the early stages of the IPL this season, with Varma hitting nine fours and four sixes from the 46 balls he faced.

Unfortunately for the 20-year-old, RCB's top-order batsmen were in similar form as Mumbai failed to build any momentum with the ball.

Fifty up for Kohli

RCB never looked likely to fall short in their chase of 172, with Kohli taking centre-stage to bring up a personal IPL landmark.  

With his knock of 82 runs from 49 balls, Kohli recorded his 50th score of 50 runs or more in the IPL. Only David Warner (60) has more half-centuries in the competition's history.

Early dominance in both innings from Rajasthan Royals saw them cruise to a comfortable 72-run triumph over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday to open their IPL campaign with a win.

Runners-up last season, Rajasthan had strong performances from Jos Buttler with the bat and Trent Boult with the ball to thank as they overwhelmed their opponents.

Hyderabad won the toss and put the Royals in to bat first, a decision that proved to be a poor one as openers Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal smashed a team record of 85 runs in the powerplay, with the former reaching his half-century off just 20 balls before he was cleaned up by Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Though the Royals' run rate slowed following Buttler's dismissal for 54, Jaiswal (54) and captain Sanju Samson (55) both reached half-centuries while Shimron Hetmyer added 22 in an important cameo as Rajasthan set Hyderabad a target of 204.

The Sunrisers' chase faltered almost immediately, Boult removing Abhishek Sharma and Rahul Tripathi in the opening over without a run on the board before danger man Harry Brook saw his first IPL innings ended with just 13 from 21 deliveries when he was bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal.

Wickets continued to tumble as Chahal impressed, taking 4-17 to eradicate any chances of a miraculous Hyderabad chase and see his team to an emphatic victory.

Royals' top order set unassailable target

Despite taking just 43 runs off the final five overs, Rajasthan's top order had already put them in good stead, recording the fifth most powerplay runs in IPL history.

Their top three batsmen all reached 50 as Buttler and Jaiswal piled on the runs early before a captain's innings from Samson helped the Royals set a target that Hyderabad never looked like knocking off.

Boult blitz stamps out Hyderabad's hopes

Any chance of a successful Sunrisers' run chase was essentially stamped out within the first over as a double-wicket maiden from Boult had them staring down the barrel of defeat.

Rajasthan opted to use Boult's pace early and often, the New Zealander bowling three of the first five overs, conceding just eight runs in that spell before eventually finishing with figures of 2-21.

Kyle Mayers and Mark Wood got their Indian Premier League campaigns off to brilliant starts as Lucknow Super Giants beat Delhi Capitals by 50 runs.

The Super Giants boasted the best performers with both bat and ball, as Mayers' 73 from 38 deliveries and Wood's 5-14 led them to a comfortable win on Saturday.

Lucknow's hopes were hit when key man and captain KL Rahul dismissed for 19 in the fourth over, and his replacement Mayers was hugely fortunate not to be sent packing on 14 when he was dropped by Khaleel Ahmed.

Mayers took advantage of that reprieve, plundering 59 more runs before finally succumbing to a peach of a delivery from Axar Patel that clipped the top of off stump.

Though that wicket slowed Lucknow's progress, they smashed 62 off the final four overs.

Delhi's chase got off to a fantastic start, racing to 33 for no loss off the first three overs, but a magnificent spell from Wood saw him dismiss Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh and Sarfaraz Khan to halt the Capitals' momentum.

Avesh Khan landed the hammer blow when he removed David Warner (56) with the Capital's captain caught by Krishnappa Gowtham.

Warner's men would tack on just 30 more runs, falling 50 short of the winning total as Wood sealed his five-for with the penultimate ball of the innings.

Mayers punishes Khaleel drop

The game could have been very different had Khaleel held on after Mayers tried to slog a slower ball from Chetan Sakariya.

Instead, the ball agonisingly hit the turf and Mayers went on to register two fours and seven maximums on his IPL debut, reaching his half-century after just 28 balls to truly exploit Khaleel's mistake.

Lightning quick pace from Wood halts Capitals' chase

A sublime couple of overs from Wood completely altered the momentum in Delhi's chase and put his team back in the ascendancy.

Wood's first game for Lucknow saw him earn player of the match honours.

Punjab Kings held on to beat Kolkata Knight Riders by seven runs via the DLS method in the Indian Premier League after Andre Russell almost led an improbable comeback.

After being put in to bat by KKR in the second match of the new campaign, hosts Punjab racked up 191-5, as an 86-run second-wicket partnership between Bhanuka Rajapaksa (50) and captain Shikhar Dhawan (40) set them up.

Rajapaksa reached his half century from just 30 balls, with Jitesh Sharma (21 off 11) and Sam Curran (26 off 17) helping to keep up the momentum after the Sri Lanka batter's dismissal.

Wickets fell regularly for KKR in their reply, with Arshdeep Singh (3-19) removing Mandeep Singh and Anukul Roy in his first over, before later returning to claim the key scalp of Venkatesh Iyer (34).

The chase looked doomed at 80-5, but a typically big-hitting display from Russell (35 from 19) got them back in with a chance before Curran removed the danger man with a short ball that was skied to Sikandar Raza.

After Sunil Narine smashed a six, KKR were still in with an outside chance at 146-7 needing 46 runs from the last 24 balls, but rain was in the air at that point and the umpires called the players off with Punjab narrowly ahead via DLS and no resumption of play proved possible.
 

Kings hope to end play-off drought

With Curran, the England all-rounder who this season became the most expensive player in the IPL's 16-year history, in their ranks and Arshdeep looking impressive, Punjab look primed for a strong campaign.

Kagiso Rabada and Liam Livingstone are among the stars still to come into the team, with the Kings desperate to end an eight-year run without reaching the play-offs. 

So far, so good after they beat KKR for only the third time from their last nine IPL attempts despite the best efforts of Russell.

Narine negated

Narine has a superb IPL track record, having taken 152 wickets for KKR. He recorded a dot ball rate of 42.3 per cent last season, the best of any spinner in the IPL (min. 25 overs).

But the Kings played him well. Rajapaksa made his team's intentions clear by hitting 14 runs – including a six – from Narine's opening over and the spinner went on to leak 36 runs without claiming a wicket from his first three.

Narine did respond with the late wicket of Raza (16) but the batting team would have gladly settled for his final figures of 1-40 had they been offered.

Ruturaj Gaikwad's stunning knock was not enough as Chennai Super Kings suffered a five-wicket loss to reigning Indian Premier League champions Gujarat Titans in Friday's thrilling season opener. 

Gaikwad scored 92 from 50 balls at Narendra Modi Stadium, tallying up the third-highest score in an IPL season opener, after Brendon McCullum's 158 in 2008 and Rohit Sharma's 98 in 2015.

The Super Kings reached 178-7 from their 20 overs, with captain MS Dhoni hitting an unbeaten 14 from seven balls in the closing stages of their innings.

Titans debutant Kane Williamson suffered a knee injury while fielding and was unable to bat, but Gujarat made a strong start, reaching 37 from the first 23 deliveries before Wriddhiman Saha succumbed to Rajvardhan Hangargekar (3-36).

Shubman Gill (63) expertly anchored the innings, though Chennai looked well placed to push on for victory when Tushar Deshpande dismissed the opener in the 15th over, following on from Sai Sudharsan and Hardik Pandya losing their wickets.

Their chances of victory looked greater still when the dangerous Vijay Shankar (27 from 21) was brilliantly caught out by Mitchell Santner, leaving the Titans requiring 30 from 18 balls.

Yet an expensive over from Deepak Chahar saw Rashid Khan add 10 runs in the space of two deliveries, and similar slackness from Hangargekar enabled Rahul Tewatia to seal victory.

Gaikwad and Gill the stars of the show

Gaikwad's exceptional 92 came at a strike rate of 184. His knock included nine sixes, with a further four shots hitting the rope.

Gill, though, provided the steady pair of hands needed to help push the Titans to victory. His 63 came at a S/R of 175, the second-highest in IPL history (minimum 25 runs).

Ton up for Shami

It was the Super Kings' death bowling that let them down, and they will rue an opportunity missed to claim their first win over the Titans.

The champions' bowlers did not perform brilliantly either, but Mohammed Shami's 2-29 saw him move onto 101 IPL wickets. He is the 15th Indian and 19th bowler overall to reach that milestone.

The Ashes is coming up this year, and so too is the Cricket World Cup.

But the roaring success of the Indian Premier League means its 16th season is anticipated on a similar level to those totemic events on the cricket calendar.

And why not? There is no greater franchise competition in cricket, featuring star names from across the globe playing to vast crowds and huge television audiences.

A measure of the boom in IPL popularity came when its broadcast rights were sold in the wake of last year's tournament, with five-year deals bringing in 48,390.5 crore (£4.8billion), testament to the tournament's enormous appeal.

Among leagues worldwide, only the NFL is said to have bigger per-game TV deals, with the spectacle of T20 cricket becoming a big winner with spectators, sponsors, broadcasters and advertisers.

Heading into the 2023 season, which begins on Friday with an eye-catching tussle between defending champions Gujarat Titans and 2021 winners Chennai Super Kings, Stats Perform has identified potential key storylines for the new campaign.

How can Buttler follow his MVP season?

Jos Buttler had a staggering campaign last time out for Rajasthan Royals, hitting 863 runs in 17 innings at an average of 57.53, with four centuries to his name. That was as many centuries as everyone else in the IPL combined managed to score.

He finished 247 runs ahead of KL Rahul, who was second on the batting list. Buttler cracked 83 fours and 45 sixes, and he has since been appointed England's white-ball captain.

This is a huge year for Buttler, with England defending their title at the World Cup, and all eyes will be on the 32-year-old to see how he contributes for the Royals.

Chris Gayle, in 2011 and 2012, is the only batter to have finished as top scorer in consecutive IPL seasons.

This is a league that brings explosive moments, and Australian bowler Pat Cummins surprisingly managed the fastest fifty with the bat last year, achieving the feat from 14 balls for Kolkata Knight Riders against Mumbai Indians.

With the ball, Buttler's Rajasthan team-mate Yuzvendra Chahal took a league-leading 27 wickets, at an average of 19.51 and with a 7.75 economy rate. He was the only bowler to take a hat-trick in the 2022 IPL, doing so against KKR.

The economy rate king was two-time former MVP Sunil Narine, who gave up an average of 5.57 runs in his 56 overs, albeit taking just a modest nine wickets.

CSK seek immediate statement win

Gujarat were champions in their debut season last time around, while defending champions Chennai finished a miserable ninth out of 10 teams.

This time CSK are determined to start strongly and banish memories of 2022, and one way or another it promises to be a memorable campaign.

It appears likely to be MS Dhoni's final IPL campaign, with the 41-year-old giant of the game and former India captain reportedly considering whether to call time on his illustrious playing career.

Dhoni would want to go out on a high, and in the hope of building a winning team CSK have taken an expensive plunge by bringing in England Test captain Ben Stokes.

There are suggestions Stokes could inherit Dhoni's talisman status at CSK, although there has been an early blow with the all-rounder not expected to bowl in the early stages of the tournament due to concern over his left knee.

CSK suffered another setback to their bowling department when they lost New Zealand fast bowler Kyle Jamieson to a back injury, replacing him with South Africa paceman Sisanda Magala.

Could pulling the Short straw work out well for Punjab Kings?

Jonny Bairstow would have been lining up for Punjab Kings, but a freak golf course injury continues to keep the England wicketkeeper-batter out of action.

In his place comes Australian Matthew Short, who has yet to play international cricket or feature in the IPL, but the 27-year-old is experiencing quite a moment in his career.

Short was player of the tournament in Australia's Big Bash League, the domestic T20 competition, when he scored 458 runs for Adelaide Strikers and became just the third player in 12 seasons to hit 400 runs and take 10 wickets in a single season.

He will fancy stepping up to IPL level and continuing his rich run of form, and joins a franchise that has seen significant change since finishing sixth last year. Punjab have a new captain and new coach, with Shikhar Dhawan and Trevor Bayliss replacing Mayank Agarwal and Anil Kumble.

PBKS will hope Short makes a long-lasting impact, while they are trusting a huge investment in Sam Curran pays off after making the England all-rounder the most expensive player in IPL history, landing him in the draft for 18.5 Cr (£1.85million).

Changes across the board

A year is a long time in the IPL, and there have been a host of new appointments.

Australian veteran and IPL master blaster David Warner has taken over as captain of Delhi Capitals due to Rishabh Pant being ruled out while he recovers from the major car accident he experienced in December.

Brendon McCullum's move to coach England means Kolkata needed a new man in charge, and they have brought in Chandrakant Pandit, while Brian Lara has taken over from Tom Moody with Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Mark Boucher will pull the strings with Mumbai Indians after Mahela Jayawardene became global head of performance.

Punjab Kings have confirmed Jonny Bairstow will miss the Indian Premier League as he continues his recovery from injury.

The England batter has not played since last August due to the freak accident he suffered during a round of golf.

Bairstow slipped at the side of a green six months ago, breaking his leg in three places and suffering a dislocated ankle.

The 33-year-old is building up his fitness ahead of a big home summer for England, including Australia's visit for the Ashes, but he will play no part in the IPL.

Punjab have signed Australian Matthew Short as a replacement for Bairstow.

The Kings stated on Saturday: "We regret to inform you that Jonny Bairstow will not be a part of the IPL this season because of his injury. We wish him the best and look forward to seeing him next season."

Punjab face Kolkata Knight Riders in their first match of the tournament next Saturday.

David Warner will captain Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League this season in the absence of injured regular skipper Rishabh Pant.

The Capitals confirmed on Thursday that Warner had been selected to stand in for Pant, who is recovering from a serious car accident.

Pant's car caught fire in December causing multiple injuries that required surgery earlier this year. He has been ruled out of cricket for 2023.

Head coach Ricky Ponting was among the figures to make the decision to name Warner as captain, meaning Axar Patel will again serve as vice-captain as he did in the 2022 campaign.

"Rishabh has been a terrific leader for Delhi Capitals, and we're all going to miss having him around," Warner said in a team statement.

"I would like to thank the management for the faith and trust they've always shown in me.

"This franchise has always been home for me, and I couldn't be more excited to lead such a supremely talented bunch of players."

Warner was an IPL winner with Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 and returned to Delhi last season, having previously played for the franchise when they were known as the Daredevils.

The batter is set to play in a three-match ODI series for Australia against India ahead of the IPL, which starts on March 31.

He will be spending much of the year in India, with those two commitments helping his preparation for the Cricket World Cup, which is being held in the country from October.

Warner, 36, was the leading run-scorer for the Capitals in last year's IPL, tallying five fifties and a total of 432 runs at an average of 48 and a strike rate of 151.

However, Delhi narrowly missed making the play-offs, the first time in four seasons they had failed to qualify. Gujarat Titans took the title in their first season.

Ben Stokes is not risking fitness for this year's Ashes series by playing in the Indian Premier League, insists England head coach Brendon McCullum.

England's Test captain has signed for Chennai Super Kings with the IPL season starting on March 31, ahead of the Ashes getting underway on June 16 in Birmingham.

Stokes struggled with his left knee in England's Test defeat to New Zealand in Wellington, where he could only bowl two overs while batting for 33 runs on the final day.

But McCullum has no concerns.

"I don't think he's jeopardising the Ashes. The skipper has a strong mind, and he knows how to get right for the big moments," he told reporters.

"In fact I look forward to watching him play for Chennai, and see him play cricket without the captaincy and having to worry about everyone else.

"We know when he comes back to us, he'll have that bit between his teeth. I also believe the Ashes is the script the skipper is waiting to write."

Stokes has delivered in huge moments for England, from starring in their 2019 World Cup victory to stunning Australia in a famous Ashes Test at Headingley when the series was last played on English soil four years ago.

He also scored an unbeaten 52 to propel England to victory at the T20 World Cup last year and has become the quickest Test captain to reach 10 wins.

At Chennai, he will play under head coach Stephen Fleming, who was once New Zealand team-mates with McCullum.

"I've got a tee-time with him, so I'll be making sure he looks after the skipper," said McCullum of Fleming.

"Chennai have a very good set-up, and they have an outstanding leader in Flem. He sees the big picture in everything, so I've no concerns."

Australia won the last Ashes 4-0 but after developing a distinct style of play since McCullum's appointment, England look primed to take the fight to the tourists. 

"This team has grown over the last eight or nine months," McCullum added. "I think the players have become more at ease with how we're playing, and it's become more authentic.

"Our style certainly does give us the best chance of being able to topple a good Australian side.

"We know it won't be easy but with eight or nine months development of that style under our belts, we should be hard to beat. Bring it on!"

Ben Stokes has revealed he will miss the conclusion of the Indian Premier League season in order to lead England in their Test against Ireland in June.

The four-day match starts on June 1 at Lord's, four days after the IPL final, and provides Brendon McCullum's side with their final warm-up fixture before the Ashes.

Stokes, who was bought by Chennai Super Kings for £1.6m in December's auction, leads a selection of England stars including Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow at the IPL this year.

But speaking ahead of his side's second Test with New Zealand this week, the captain has vowed to ensure he is available, though he will leave others to decide for themselves.

"Yes, I'll play [against Ireland]. I'll be making sure I give myself enough time to get back and play the Ireland game," he said.

"I think it's a little bit too far ahead to say [for others], but one thing I've got to look at is we've got the Ashes after the Ireland Test.

"I'll probably get round the individuals and ask them what they want to be ready for the Ashes.

"Those five [Ashes] games are obviously the big ones of the summer, and you've got to think about what the lads want.

"You also have to think about is if something was to happen in the Ireland game, and we lose someone for the Ashes.

"It's just one of those where you have to weigh up the options of what the individual person actually wants out of that week versus do we really need to play that one? Because I'm obviously right in saying that series is bigger than that game against Ireland."

Stokes sat out the 2022 edition of the IPL, having suffered a broken finger in his most recent game there for Rajasthan Royals, which contributed to what became a break from cricket.

After a 267-run win in Mount Maunganui, England are out to seal a clean sweep of their two-Test series against New Zealand, starting in Wellington on Friday.

Under the tutelage of New Zealand great Brendon McCullum's coaching and Stokes' captaincy, England have won 10 of their last 11 Tests while playing a thrilling brand of cricket dubbed 'Bazball'.