Shane Warne led his Rajasthan Royals to an unlikely IPL title success in the inaugural edition last year, but they are not well fancied to retain their title.
The Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings, led by Indian stars Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni respectively, are joint-favourites for the tournament, which has taken on a whole new light with the change in venue.
South African conditions will differ from those in India, but a thrilling season is still expected, with international stars playing for places in the following World Twenty20 tournament in England in June.
None more so than the England players themselves, with Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff headline signings along with compatriots Paul Collingwood, Owais Shah and Ravi Bopara.
Here's our skysports.com run down of the IPL teams.
BANGALORE ROYAL CHALLENGERS
Kevin Pietersen will skipper the side for the first six matches before returning to England, and he will lead a side packed with quality.
Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Wasim Jaffer make up an imposing top order on paper but it lacked spark last season, although the addition of Jesse Ryder could solve that problem.
South Africans Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Dillon du Preez and Roelof van der Merwe will all have the advantage of knowing about the home conditions - and that could prove pivotal.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
MS Dhoni will not have the usual Indian adoring crowds behind him as he tries to go one better than last season - but he does have the services of Andrew Flintoff to call upon early on.
The 2008 runners-up will have Matthew Hayden available for the full tournament this time, although New Zealand all-rounder Jacob Oram is a doubt.
With South Africans Albie Morkel and Makhaya Ntini playing at home and in fine form, the Super Kings have a fine bowling attack with once you throw Muttiah Muralitharan into the mix.
DECCAN CHARGERS
The only way is up for the Chargers after they brought up the rear in 2008, when off-field wranglings and on-field struggles left them bottom of the table after just one win all season.
West Indian duo Fidel Edwards and Dwayne Smith were purchased at the auction, while Adam Gilchrist will captain for this season with Darren Lehman as coach.
Cracks have already appeared with VVS Laxman threatening not to play after his run-ins and to improve they will need the likes of Herschelle Gibbs and Scott Styris to do better than last year.
DELHI DAREDEVILS
After coming unstuck in the semis last year, many fancy the Daredevils to go all the way this time around under the leadership of explosive opener Virender Sehwag.
Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah will both play for Delhi in a squad that is as strong as anything in the IPL this season.
With the likes of Gautam Gambhir, AB de Villiers and David Warner in the batting, along with Daniel Vettori, Glenn McGrath and Farveez Maharoof with the ball the Daredevils will be tough to beat.
KINGS XI PUNJAB
Yuvraj Singh's men began last season with two straight losses but completed a remarkable turnaround by winning 10 of their remaining 12 matches in the league stage and sealing a berth in the semi-finals.
There's plenty of batting ability with Singh leading players such as Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Shaun Marsh.
Ravi Bopara will take his place in the line-up, while a shrewd move could be the signing of South African left-arm seamer Yusuf Abdulla as a replacement for Jerome Taylor.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Brendon McCullum blazed a 20-over world record 158 in their opening win last year, but that proved to be the high point as they eventually could only finish sixth.
Chris Gayle promises to be another explosive import after his signing, while signing up Bangladesh fast bowler Mashrafe bin Mortaza for way beyond his base price raised a few eyebrows.
Former Australia coach John Buchanan has also hit the headlines as he will not guarantee the much-loved Sourav Ganguly the captaincy - instead opting for a committee-based format.
MUMBAI INDIANS
The Little Master himself, Sachin Tendulkar, will hope for better fortunes this time around after injury hampered his impact last year.
If he can extend his partnership with Sanath Jayasuriya for longer then Mumbai could well improve on their fifth-placed finish last year, while Shaun Pollock's input as coach in South Africa will also give them an edge.
Essex man Graham Napier will be gunning for a place in the England squad for the World Twenty20, while Jean-Paul Duminy is the team's marquee signing.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
Unlikely champions in 2008, what price for Shane Warne reproducing those heroics and leading his team to a successful defence?
Not too good according to the bookies, but with Graeme Smith leading the charge on home soil and Shaun Tait picked up you never know.
Losing left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir, who was the tournament's leading wicket-taker last season, is obviously a huge blow but South Africa's 20-over specialist Tyron Henderson and Morne Morkel are solid signings.
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