On This Day in 2008: The Start Of The Revolution Called IPL

2007. Whenever the history of Indian cricket is written, the year 2007, much like 1983, will always be written in red-letters. It was in this year that the future of not only Indian cricket but world cricket changed forever. It was in this year that the concept of a tournament, IPL, that would in the coming years become a revolution was first envisaged.

Let’s start at the very beginning. 2007 did not start as India would have desired. The Men in Blue had even ousted from the 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean and enraged fans and media had started to write obituaries of Indian cricket. Apart from dealing with the mess, the BCCI had another issue to worry about. Yep! You guessed it right, Indian Cricket League.

The Subhash Chandra and Kapil Dev co-owned franchise-based T20 tournament had attacked a plethora of high-profile cricketers from around the world courtesy exorbitant contracts. The BCCI immediately discredited the tournament and went on to launch its very own franchise-based competition on September 13, 2007.

And, cricket has never been the same again!

Lalit Modi- The Mastermind behind the revolution

Lalit Modi might not be the most popular man in the country right now but for all his misdemeanor and mishandlings, one thing you cannot take away from the now fugitive business- the revolution that is the Indian Premier League.

Just like Kerry Packer revolutionized 50-over cricket through the World Series of cricket in the late 1970s and early 80, Modi did the same with T20 in the late 2000s. But that wasn’t the first time that the idea of franchise-based cricket league had come in Lalit Modi’s mind. Living in the USA in the 1990s, Modi had been awestruck with the huge revenues generated by the American sports leagues.

In 1995, he had even pitched his idea of a 50-over league to the BCCI. He had even registered a name- Indian Cricket League Limited – for the proposed league.
But, as you’d expect the BCCI shrugged it off. 12 years later, Modi got that opportunity and boy! Didn’t he make use of it to the hilt!

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India winning the T2O World Cup proved to be a huge fillip

The IPL was launched on September 13, 2007, and at that time India was in South Africa for the inaugural T20 World Cup. Remember India didn’t want to play the tournament initially. They were forced to play after being outvoted the rival boards by an 8-1 margin.

Imagine! What would have been, had India not participated in that tournament. Of-course, IPL would still have eventually taken off but the fact that India went on to win the World Cup 11 days later, provided a huge fillip to the league.

And, Baz McCullum gave it the best possible start

The IPL had 2.2 billion dollars before a single ball was bowled- 1.6 billion dollars from television revenue over 10 years and another 70 million-plus dollars from all the franchises that were putting in their money.

But despite all the financial extravagance and razmataz courtesy the aligning of Bollywood stars, the IPL still needed a strong start on the cricket field. And, so when 18 April 2008 came along, a billion eyes were glued on the tv sets as Sourav Ganguly-led KKR took on RCB at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru.

No one really knew what to expect. And, not even the guy who was going to give the IPL its dream start. Yep! Brendon McCullum, who after initially struggling to get off the mark, went on to massacre the RCB bowlers to the tune of a blistering 158.

That innings by McCullum parachuted IPL’s popularity to its zenith, giving a peek of what was to follow in the coming years.

Brendon McCullum recently revealed that that day and that knock changed his life forever.

Dear Baz, that innings not only changed your life, it also changed the entire landscape of world cricket forever. The IPL has since gone on to become the premier competition where talent, apart from financial security, meets opportunity. It is a breeder ground for young talent to rub shoulders with and against the best in the world, and year-after-year, the aforementioned fact is vindicated to the hilt.

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