Exactly 149 days after Mumbai Indians won a record fifth Indian Premier League trophy at Dubai on November 10 last year, Rohit Sharma & Co will step out today to begin the defence of their title when they take on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

In an ideal scenario, MI’s home ground—Wankhede Stadium—would have been hosting the season-opening encounter, but the tournament’s scheduling is that none of the eight teams will be able to take advantage of their home conditions.