On this day, 2008 the IPL-Indian Premier League was born. The inaugural season of the Indian Premier League jolted in Bangalore with Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on Kolkata Knight Riders. New Zealand wicket keeper Brendon McCullum, Kolkata’s opener, thumped 158 off 73 balls to start the tournament in style. It was a world record for the highest individual score in a T20 match till Chris Gayle broke it, five years later, at the same venue. The RCB were bowled out for 82 runs, thus resulting the Knight Riders a huge victory by a margin of 140 runs.
Opening Ceremony:
Alluring fireworks that ignited the sky and a sparkling opening ceremony attended by the top brass of the ICC and the BCCI kicked off the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) on 18 April evening.
A crowd exploded in enthusiasm as captains of the eight teams walked out to sign the MCC’s Spirit of Cricket, under which the entire tournament will be played.
BCCI president described it as a “historic day” for international cricket.
“I am confident that all cricket-loving people will support this new initiative that the BCCI has taken,” he said. “You have taken cricket to the next level,” he said. Later, BCCI vice-President and IPL chairman Lalit Modi declared the tournament open.
Competition Format:
The season commenced on 18 April 2008 with the final match held on 1 June 2008. The maiden edition of IPL had eight teams comprising a minimum of 16 players each. The tournament lasted for 44 days and involved 59 matches.
The competition started with a double round robin group stage, in which each of the 8 teams played a home match and an away match against every other team. These matches were followed by two semi-finals and a final.
What is the History behind IPL?
The league was founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2008, and is regarded as the invention of Lalit Modi, the founder and former commissioner of the league.
IPL also recognized as rebel league for the Indian Cricket League (ICL) which was founded in 2007, with funding provided by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The ICL was not recognised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the BCCI was not happy with its committee members joining the ICL executive board. To prevent players from joining the ICL, the BCCI increased the prize money in their own domestic tournaments and also imposed lifetime bans on players joining the ICL
On 13 September 2007, the BCCI announced the launch of a franchise-based Twenty20 cricket competition called Indian Premier League and first season was scheduled to start in April 2008. The auctions were conducted on 20 February 2008 with Mahendra Singh Dhoni winning the highest bid of US$1.5 million.
IPL Franchise Owners
| Team | Owner | Price |
| Mumbai Indians (MI) | Mukesh Ambani’s | $111.9 Million |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) | Vijay Mallya | $111.6 Million |
| Deccan Chronicle (DC) | Media House | $107 Million |
| Chennai Super Kings (CSK) | India Cement | $91 Million |
| Delhi Daredevils (DD) | Infrastructure development group GMR | $84 Million |
| Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) | Preity Zinta and Ness Wadia | $76 Million |
| Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) | Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla’s | $75.09 Million |
| Rajasthan Royals (RR) | Manoj Badale and Lachlan Murdoch and others | $67 Million |
IPL Teams For First Edition
| Teams | Skipper | Coach |
| MI | Sachin Tendulkar | Lalchand Rajput |
| RCB | Rahul Dravid | Venkatesh Prasad |
| DC | VVS Laxman | Robin Singh |
| CSK | MS Dhoni | Kepler Wessels |
| DD | Virender Sehwag | Shipperd |
| KXIP | Yuvraj Singh | Tom Moddy |
| KKR | Saurav Ganguly | John Buchanan |
| RR | Shane Warne | Shane Warne |
