It was year 2008 and that one thing which grabbed the eyes of entire nation was Indian Premier League. At the beginning, it looked surprising to see players of different countries forming a perfect squad to beat the opponent, but as the year passed on, it became a nation wide sensation. The feeling of watching greatest Sachin Tendulkar sharing the dressing room with Sri Lankan great Maling and the biggie Pollock. MS Dhoni twining with Matthew Hayden and Muttiah Murlitharan for Chennai Super Kings became the talk of the town. It looked like a fairy tale happening in real.
A Background for Indian Premier League
The flickers of IPL was first seen in April 2007, the Essel Group and IL&FS launched the Indian Cricket League (ICL), which was a private Twenty20 league. But the BCCI and the ICC was not aware of it and then it created a problem for the organisers. The BCCI was displeased that some of its own members had joined the ICL. In retaliation, the BCCI doubled prize money for its domestic competitions and suspended for life players who signed up with the ICL, claiming it a rebel league.
The Birth of IPL
On 13 September 2007, when the first edition of ICC World Twenty20 started, the BCCI announced a new cricket league to be known as the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was the first time when the franchise-owned teams were participating in a T20 competition. The first season was scheduled to begin in April 2008 with a ceremonial commencement in New Delhi. Lalit Modi, the BCCI Vice-president, who was heading the IPL, described how the league would function. He discussed the rules, prize money, how teams would earn money, and how players would be selected. A committee of seven individuals would run the league. The IPL would also assist teams in qualifying for the Champions League Twenty20 that year.
The league formally began in April 2008 with eight franchises: Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Mumbai Indians (MI), Delhi Daredevils (DD), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Deccan Chargers (DC), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Lalit Modi – The Brain Behind IPL
When the T20 cricket was just blooming, it was not that priortized as the other formats. Even in the 2007 T20 WC, many senior players were not the part of the first edition of the tournament. However, too many things happened in 2007 edition, Misbah’s missed shot, India winning the world cup under MS Dhoni and the most vouched incident where Yuvraj Singh smashed six sixes in an over against Stuart Broad. It was then, a spark of enthusiasm provoked under the youths regarding this T20 format. This spark striked to the core of those sitting at higher rank and Lalit Modi was one of them who finally drew an idea of Indian Premier League(IPL).
The major issue was finding people to invest money for the new concept. Modi required money to initiate the league, and fortunately, his family members and friends supported him.
Modi and his group inquired with more than 1,000 individuals and businesses if they were interested in purchasing a team. But on bidding day, only ten individuals showed up on time. Each team was at least $50 million. There were 12 cities to decide from, but only the top 8 cities would receive teams for the first season.
Entrepreneur Anil Ambani and a team headed by Deutsche Bank made bids too low, so they did not receive any team. Teams were allocated to Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Kolkata, and Mohali, while Kanpur, Ahmedabad, Cuttack, and Gwalior were rejected.
Rise of a New Era
Sourav Ganguly led the Kolkata Knight Riders, while Rahul Dravid captained the Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the inaugural match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on April 18. What cherry on cake was – the sensational hundred by the former New Zealand batter Brendon McCullum
