10 Random Things about the First IPL

It's IPL time, the time of the year where cricket turns from a gentleman's game into a three ringed circus for the stars, the people and the players. It's hard to believe that it's been 10 long years since the IPL started but I just seem to remember it like yesterday. As soon I thought about the first IPL I remembered some tight finishes, some great performances, raw emotion, glamour that was on display and some utterly forgettable moments. So here are 10 random things I remember about the first IPL:

Teams of the first IPL <Courtesy: Reddit>

• Akshay Kumar, the brand ambassador (Oh! the brand ambassadors was one way franchises burnt their hard earned money during the first IPL) for Delhi Daredevils (DD) zip-lined his way into the ground for an IPL match. DD followed his example of daredevilry all throughout the league phase before their stunt went all wrong crashing them into the ground in the semis. 

         

• Ricky Ponting (yes he played in the first IPL too), was confounded by the fact that being the Australian captain still didn't earn him anywhere near what Andrew Symonds, Adam Gilchrist and Michael Hussey were making in the IPL. Ponting's confusion extended to his batting too as he never quite got going for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

• Speaking of KKR, it's owner Shahrukh Khan was everywhere and anywhere. He was in the over the top KKR promos, in the pre-match introductions, post-match presentations, analysis segments and his reactions to every note his team was hitting/missing was all over the broadcast. Despite all this, he still couldn't trump Lalit Modi as the one who hogged the most airwaves in the IPL.  

• Mohammad Kaif was considered the only saving grace for the Rajasthan Royals team. On paper the Rajasthan Royals team looked weak, they had a couple of unknowns supported by international players who weren't yet big names. Shane Warne, the only known presence in the team other than Kaif had already retired. But after everything was said and done, it was the Rajasthan Royals who stood tall. As for Kaif, 2008 wasn't going to be a repeat of 2002.

• Famed technicians and safety first defenders Wasim Jaffer, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (all with international ODI strike rates of less than or barely crossing 70) made up the bulk of the Royal Challengers Bangalore's batting power. No wonder, the team was one of the slowest to get off the blocks in IPL. 

• The cheerleaders of Deccan Chargers Hyderabad were popular than the team itself. Take a look at the pic below and thou shall not disagree with me. While many vied for their attentions, one Emraan Hashmi got the best of their affection. Emraan was visiting an IPL match between the Chargers and Kings XI Punjab to promote his new film (where he was ironically playing the part of a match fixer) and was subject to some very generous adoration from the cheerleaders (as is the case with these things the adoration received more mileage than the match itself). 

"OOO-Laa-La" Deccan Chargers Cheerleaders (Courtesy: Youngisthan)

Welcoming a guest the 'Hyderabadi' way

• Speaking of the Chargers (who could have easily been called the Dischargers), they didn't win a single game at home which explains the statement I made about the cheerleaders above. With the 2009 IPL being held in South Africa and 2010 IPL being held out of Hyderabad for political reasons, it would take almost three years for the Chargers to mount a winning streak at home.

• Nepotism ran rampant as Srikkanth Anirudha (s/o Krishnamachari Srikkanth) and Arjun Yadav (s/o Shivlal Yadav) received IPL contracts they couldn't justify on the basis of their performance.

• Sachin Tendulkar led the Mumbai Indians team but the team only gained momentum when they were captained by Shaun Pollock after Sachin sat out with an injury mid series. Sachin came back as the captain during the last phase of the league stage and the momentum the team acquired was quickly snuffed out. Of all the things the great man did well, the one thing that he didn't do well was to captain a team.

• Everyone remembers the Harbhajan Singh and Sreesanth slap gate but I remember the warmth exuded by Preity Zinta when she consoled Sreesanth. Everyone deserves a boss like that.

Compassion consoling passion (Courtesy: Daily Cricket Magazine)

I've always wondered why I remember this IPL the most when this was the edition my home team, Deccan Chargers Hyderabad performed the worst. I realized the answer to that question while I was writing this blog and the answer is very simple I had time. Hell! I even went and watched some matches in the stadium (courtesy of my cousin) which I had never done before or since then. We all outgrow childhood passions at same stage or another, IPL 2008 was probably that stage for me as I never had as much time or interest for cricket after the 2008 IPL save for the 2011 World Cup. But that's a story for another day.

Until Next Time,

Your Sports Biographer,
J.J. Chaitanya