বাংলায় পড়ুন
Coming across as a new format which was never tried and tested before, IPL proved to have all the ingredients of a delectable meal on a Sunday Afternoon!! The intermingling of cricketers from various cricketing nations along with inexperienced players became a massive hit with the fans who lapped it up with great enthusiasm.
Taking a trip down memory lane, the 2008 IPL was the debut season which was initialized by the then BCCI president Lalit Modi and was the brainchild of BCCI. The season commenced on a grand scale from 18th April 2008 (Royal Challengers Bangalore Vs Kolkata Knight Riders) while the final match was played on 1st June 2008 (Rajasthan Royals Vs Chennai Super Kings).
IPL being essentially a T20 format is about the 4’s and 6‘s with the ball flying across the boundary ropes sending the spectators into a tizzy. Taking a look at the highest scorers who scorched the scene with complete ease are Shaun Marsh with a prolific average of 58.44, who hit a total of 59 fours and 26 sixes and churned out 616 runs to his name followed by Gautam Gambhir (Delhi Daredevils) (534runs) (68 fours and 8 sixes) and Sanath Jayasuriya (Mumbai Indians) (514 runs) (57 fours and 31 sixes).
If you thought T20 was just for batsmen, think again! Bowlers like Sohail Tanvir (Purple cap Holder) bowled magnificently to take 22 wickets in just 11 matches. He played for Rajasthan Royals. He was followed by Shane Warne (Rajasthan Royals) (19 wickets) with a slightly better economy rate of 7.76, who managed to edge past S. Sreesanth (Kings X1 Punjab) (19 wickets) (8.63).
YV Takawale of Mumbai Indians shone with his wicket keeping skills with 11 dismissals followed by Wriddhiman Saha (Kolkata Knight Riders) (10 dismissals) and Kamran Akmal (Rajasthan Royals) (9 dismissals).
Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings) is not a guy with butter fingers. He proved it again by taking 10 catches in just 16 matches followed by Robin Uthappa (Mumbai Indians) (9 catches) and Rohit Sharma (Deccan Chargers) (8 catches).
IPL never really looked back from then on and became a festival of sorts. The countdown has already begun for April 7 for this cricketing festival to be the cynosure.
