Mumbai, March 28 -- There is a peculiar kind of suspense that hangs over Mumbai every time the IPL begins, a suspense not born of uncertainty about talent, but of habit.
Mumbai Indians, a team accustomed to lifting trophies and dominating seasons, arrive at the start line each year with the quiet burden of their own history - a stubborn reluctance to win opening matches. It is less a statistic now and more a superstition that refuses to fade.
On Saturday evening at the Wankhede, under lights that have seen many a dramatic finish, Mumbai Indians will once again attempt to correct this anomaly. Their opponents, Kolkata Knight Riders, may not be sentimental about such narratives.
They will see in this fixture not a ritual of redemption for ...