It was in the year 2007 when India won the T20 World Cup that Lalit Modi proposed the idea of a franchise-style cricket tournament which was accepted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) moreso to counter the rival Indian Cricket League and that’s how IPL was born. Interestingly it wasn’t the first time that Modi had put forward this idea. Lalit Modi was keen on organising a franchise-style tournament since the 90s as he was aware of the Premier League and NFL a concept unheard in India till the early 2000s
The Initial Years
IPL got off to a perfect start as Brendon McCullum bludgeoned 158 on the opening night helping Kolkata Knight Riders post a mammoth score of 222-3. Royal Challengers Bangalore in reply was bowled out for 82 handing KKR a comprehensive win. Rajasthan Royals who was one of the most underrated teams during the first season ended up winning the title. The Shane Warne-led side defeated CSK in the final. The team was full of youngsters like Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, and Swapnil Asnodkar to name some
The Dilemma
The second season of the league was held in South Africa due to the Lok Sabha elections which saw the Decan Chargers make a roaring comeback to win the title after languishing at the bottom of the table in the previous season. IPL 2009 proved to be a huge success and was a stepping stone in the growing popularity of the league around the globe which could be understood by the fact that it was received with open arms by the fans despite being an Indian league something which was hard to think of at that time. The same model was followed in 2014 when the first 20 matches of the league were held in the United Arab Emirates
Chennai’s Dominance
The next two years saw the rise of Chennai Super Kings as a force to reckon with. With a strong core of Indian players led by Murli Vijay, Suresh Raina, and the captain MS Dhoni blended with the experience of Mathew Hayden and veteran spinner Muralitharan the Super Kings had all the ingredients of a title-winning unit
Despite having a strong team on paper the MS Dhoni-led side failed to convert the potential into performance and it was only on Net Run Rate that the team was able to qualify for the Semi Final after defeating Punjab Kings in a hard-fought contest. It was also in the year 2010 that the rivalry between CSK and MI kicked off as CSK defeated MI in the final despite a valiant effort from Pollard
The Gambhir Effect
KKR which was the most talked about team during the start of the tournament for obvious reasons had failed to make a mark in the first three seasons as a result of which some big decisions were taken by the franchise one of which was to appoint Gautam Gambhir as the captain for the next season. The move paid an immediate dividend as KKR reached the playoffs for the first time in tournament history and went a step further in the following season to win their first IPL title.
The team had a good blend of experience and youth with the likes of South African allrounder Jacques Kallis and Australian fast bowler Brett Lee at the helm. They were well supported by youngsters like Sunil Narine who was the find of that year’s tournament
The Mumbai Indians Era
Despite having big names like Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya Mumbai Indians had failed to win the title even once which prompted a change in leadership, and to everyone’s surprise, Rohit Sharma was appointed as the captain in 2013 that too in the middle of the season. The decision did wonders as the team lifted their first title in the same year and went on a title-winning rampage by winning the trophy every odd year a trend which continued till 2020.
During this period MI unearthed some highly skilful players like Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Rohit Sharma (as a captain)
The Changes
IPL has witnessed a lot of changes since the inaugural season from players getting banned to the introduction of DRS to name some. But the most prominent of them all has been the introduction of new franchises which first took place in 2011 when Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala were added to the tournament. Since then many teams have come and gone but it all changed in 2022 when BCCI decided to increase the horizon of the league by including two new teams as a result of which tenders for franchises based in Gujarat and Lucknow were floated and were eventually picked up by CVC Capital Partners and RPSG Group who were the owner of Rising Pune Super Giant during 2016 and 2017. The two teams have been consistent since their inclusion making the knockouts on every occasion since 2022
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