There was so much of hype as the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) drew closer, now more than 12 years ago. At that time, it was a game changer, as there wasn’t any similar kind of league taking place across the world, where different nationalities got together to play cricket for franchise teams.
The T20 format of the game wasn’t all that popular at the time and spectators didn’t even know what to expect. They didn’t know if the bowlers would be celebrating of the batsmen would be the heroes, but on that night of 18th April 2008, all doubts were cleared as Match 1 of the first edition of the Indian Premier League kicked off.
It was Kolkata Knight Riders playing against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the teams captained by Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid respectively, both of whom were never really known for their skills in the T20 format. Both of them failed, scoring 10 and 2 respectively in that game but the limelight wasn’t on either of them, but on New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum.
The Kiwi opener was spectacular on the night, smashing the bowl to every corner of M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, helping his team put up a daunting total of 222/3, a score which was broken by Chennai Super Kings later that year itself. However, the personal score of 158(73)* achieved by Baz wasn’t broken for 5 whole years, until Chris Gayle smashed 175* in IPL 2013.
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McCullum’s innings put the entire RCB camp into depression as they were bowled out for 82 when they came out to bat, wherein no one but Praveen Kumar managed to get into double figures in that game. They succumbed to a massive 140-run defeat, an IPL record which was only broken 8 years later by RCB themselves, as they beat Gujarat Lions by 144 runs in IPL 2016.
When KKR came out to bowl, all of their bowlers picked up at least a wicket each including captain Ganguly who bagged 2/21 and the best of the lot was Ajit Agarkar, picking up 3/25. However, the Man of the Match was none other than Brendon McCullum, who lit the stadium that night with an innings which is remembered till date for his famous ramp shot, one which is yet to be perfected by anyone else in international cricket.
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Since then, McCullum played for Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Lions and the Royal Challengers Bangalore itself, over the years in the IPL, having last featured in the tournament in IPL 2018 where he played 6 matches for RCB. His overall IPL career stats looked like 2,880 runs in 109 matches and that 158* in his IPL debut remained his career best, while also having scored his second IPL century for CSK in IPL 2015!
What a historic night that was in cricket. No one knew what to expect and it was McCullum who came out and played fearless cricket, setting the tone for a tournament which has grown to become the biggest cricketing event on the calendar each year! For more updates from the world of sports and cricket, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com.
