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IPL Journey

After forty days of intense battle, the league stage of IPL10 has come to an end with the best 4 teams ready for the play-offs. As we come to the closing stage this season, we take you through the ten year history of the game. From Warne sealing it with a six to Gilchrist taking wicket on the only delivery that he ever bowled, IPL has seen a lot. Read further to know more. It was 19th September 2007, Andrew Flintoff went to Yuvraj Singh and told him something which ignited him and he responded and what a way it was!! What followed was beyond everyone’s dreams but not for the southpaw that day. Stuart Broad was introduced in the attack and Yuvraj hit him six successive sixes and whole India celebrated. The men in blue went on to win the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup.

That was the time when we thought of a T20 league. Lalit Modi, the chairman of BCCI at that time came up with the idea of Indian Premiere league and what an idea that proved out to be. IPL has successfully completes a decade and it has not just completed but has surprised everyone with the quality. Sachin Tendulkar, who was the first Indian to win the orange cap in 2010, recently said- “Ten years back I never thought that it would be such a big event” and when he tells we all listen. In 2008, the first edition of IPL was played, six star players were chosen as the Icon players and rest all the players went under the hammer for the tournament starting from 18th April. Eight teams came up in the form of Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers, Royal Challenger Bangalore, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata knight riders and Delhi Daredevils. The then T20 captain of India, who had just won us the tournament, was the costliest player sold. In the very first match, Brendon McCullum showed the fireworks by scoring 158 runs. It was just the trailer of what was to follow in the years to come. Rajasthan Royals, who were the weakest team on papers that year, went on to lift the trophy and Shane Watson was the Man of the series. The tournament ended but it once again proved that Cricket is a game of uncertainty. You have to perform to win the matches. Rajasthan Royals were filled with young new faces as compared to other teams. They had spent the least amount of money in purchasing players. The second edition of tournament coincided with General Election and hence had to be shifted to South Africa but it was equally successful. Deccan Chargers won the tournament and once again the fans had to wait to see Sachin’s complete participation because of injury. The third season in 2010 saw the game return to home and by now the young guns of India had started taking advantage of this tournament. Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai to win the title and the cricketing icon of the country, Sachin, was adjudged the player of the tournament. This IPL also saw the emergence of stars like Kieron Pollard and Lasith Malinga. Pollard was bought in silence tie breaker. This edition was also the first season to be telecasted live on Youtube. Yuvraj Singh picked up two hat tricks in the season Then came the fourth edition in the year when the country won the ICC ODI World Cup. Two new teams in the form of Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Pune Warriors were introduced. This saw some changes in format as it would become lengthy, groups were made and the playoff system that we see today was introduced. CSK won the tournament again. This was the season when Rahul Dravid was let off by his team before the auction as the franchises had started looking for more profits. In the years that followed the quality obviously kept improving but the controversies also kept craving and the tenth edition is the cleanliest edition in recent times. In the seventh edition half of the games were again shifted outside India because of the General Elections and UAE were the proud host. KKR won the tournament. IPL 8 saw introduction of fan parks in order to give the fans of cities where the matches were not being played, the feel of live matches. Mumbai won it again and Andre Russell was the player of the tournament. After the tournament CSK and RR were banned for two years over spot-fixing and betting scandals. The 9th season was Virat Kohli’s season. He scored 4 centuries as his team went till the finals. Sunrisers Hyderabad won it. Two new teams Gujarat Lions and Rising Oune Supergiants replaced CSK, which had a huge fan base, and RR. LED stumps were also introduced. What took place in ten years was earlier hard to imagine, Sachin Tendulkar opening with Ricky Ponting, Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah bowling together, two of the batting greats of current era Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers scoring centuries together; everything has happened. Adam Gilchrist coming to bowl and dismissing Harbhajan Singh in the first ball is one of the best moments of the ‘festival of India’. From scoring 265 in 20 over to getting bowled out at 49, scoring 175 in a single game to 6 wickets in just 4 over and plenty of hat tricks, the game has seen it all in the last ten years. Controversies The tournament has been filled with a number of controversies. The idea of introducing cheerleaders was criticised by most of the communities and this idea saw a tremendous increase in the tenth edition when Cheer girls started giving the balls to Umpires as they came out to start the play. Few even started questioning that it no longer is ‘Gentlemen’s game’. Spot fixing has been a major concern throughout the tournament. Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings were banned for two years. S Sreesanth was banned for life and even the latest edition has seen spot fixing case. Rave Party was another controversy and it had to be finally scraped off. Water problem during the 9th season was a big problem as Maharashtra was facing a drought and ultimately the matches were shifted out of the state. Harbhajan Singh slapping S Sreesanth in the first edition was also a big highlight and ultimately he was banned for the entire season. Positives There have been more positives in the game than the controversies and that’s the reason it has successfully completed ten years. We have seen some tremendous young talents getting the exposure, which was otherwise very difficult. Indian cricket has got players like Suresh Raina, Jasprit Bumrah and many more. Playing with the best players in the world has improved even the bowlers of India. There was a time when it was difficult to find 3 regular pacers to play a match but now we have more than a dozen. Basil Thampi, Avesh Khan, Md Siraj, Siddharth Kaul are all ready to launch themselves. Players from Afghanistan are now facing the best players of the world, which was otherwise very difficult. So ultimately the ten years of IPL has seen some spectacular rise in the quality of game and in the end what matters the most is that the quality of the game has improved and has improved immensely. So as long as Cricket is getting benefited there is no reason why this tournament should be stopped.

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