Preparations for the seventh edition of the Indian Premier League have officially started in the UAE with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) arriving at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi and taking part part in an extended net session.

“IPL fever begins… #Knights of 2014 at their first practice together in #AbuDhabi,” the Knight Riders announced on Twitter.

KKR were among the first IPL teams to touch down in the UAE and immediately began preparing for their first match against defending champions Mumbai Indians next week.

They were without captain Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan and Sunil Narine, but trained for more than three hours under the floodlights with the likes of Robin Uthappa having a hit yesterday.

Meanwhile, website Dubizzle have removed IPL tickets from their website after touts were using the site to sell tickets at exortionate prices due to the huge demand for them in the country. 

With premier seating selling out quickly for matches in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, many people took to websites in a bid to push tickets illegally.

Those who have the coveted passes are offering them at a very high premium, which is obviously against the law and, given the demand, they will have their demands met unless more sites such as Dubizzle crack down on the online activity.