A Brief History Of The IPL

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India based on a round-robin group and knockout format by eight teams representing eight different cities in India. Initialized by the then BCCI(Board of Control for Cricket in India) vice president Lalit Modi, the IPL was launched in 2008. The IPL is the most-attended cricket league in the world.

There have been twelve seasons of the IPL tournament. The 2020 season has been indefinitely suspended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, let’s take a look back at the 12 seasons of IPL.

Season 1 – 2008

The first season drew the world’s attention, with big names such as Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Shane Warne, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid switching to a league far different from conventional cricket. The Champions of this season were Rajasthan Royals and the Player of the series was Shane Watson.

Season 2 – 2009

This season was conducted in South Africa as the government refused to provide security as it clashed with the General Elections. Manish Pandey, a 19-year old rookie, became the first Indian to score an IPL century. Deccan Chargers, the bottom-placed team from the first season, won the tournament. Adam Gilchrist was the player of the series.

Season 3 – 2010

Sachin Tendulkar clinched the man of the series award and won the Orange Cap. Unfortunately, Mumbai Indians finished runners-up, with Chennai Super Kings winning their first title.

Season 4 – 2011

The Indian Premier League went into its fourth season with ten teams. The two teams added were Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala. CSK won the title for the second time and Chris Gayle was the player of the series.

Season 5 – 2012

The teams were reduced from 10 to 9, with the termination of Kochi Tuskers Kerala due to a breach in BCCI’s terms of conditions. On the brighter side, Sunil Narine the player of the series took Kolkata Knight Riders, under the captaincy of Gautam Gambhir, to their first IPL title.

Season 6 – 2013

The controversy was the highlight of the 2013 season, with the spot-fixing scandal rocking T20 cricket. In May 2013, Rajasthan Royals players S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were arrested on charges of spot-fixing. Deccan Chargers saw its end as a franchise, and was replaced by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Mumbai Indians were the champions and Shane Watson once again became the player of the series.

Season 7 – 2014

The Indian Premier League was back to eight teams with Pune Warriors India pulling out. Gautam Gambhir led the Kolkata Knight Riders to their second IPL title. Glenn Maxwell became the player of the series.

Season 8 – 2015

Mumbai Indians won their second IPL title under Rohit Sharma‘s captaincy. Andre Russell was the player of the series.

Season 9 – 2016

Sunrisers Hyderabad was the winner of this season. With 4 centuries and 7 fifties, Virat Kohli became the player of the series with a total of 973 runs. Following the spot-fixing and betting scandal, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the IPL. 

Season 10 – 2017

Rohit Sharma led the Mumbai Indians to a third IPL title. Ben stokes was the player of the series. This was the last season of the two franchises – Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions – which replaced Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals.

Season 11 – 2018

After a two-year suspension, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals returned to action, with CSK clinching their third IPL title. Sunil Narine was the player of the series. 2018 also saw the infamous ball-tampering scandal involving Steve Smith and David Warner, the ripple effect of which also affected Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad. 

Season 12 – 2019

Mumbai Indians defeated the Chennai Super Kings by 1 run to win the final for their fourth title. Delhi Daredevils were renamed as Delhi Capitals. Andre Russell becomes the player of the series once again.

That was 12 seasons of IPL at a glance. If you enjoyed our blog do not forget to like, comment, share and subscribe to our youtube channel Explified.

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