Indian Premier League: A look back at the previous ten editions ahead of IPL 2018
IPL 2018 is just round the corner and ahead of the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League, a look at the history of the tournament.
It’s that time of the year when galaxy of global icons will descend on Indian shores for the biggest cricket extravaganza in the world -- Indian Premier League (IPL).
While the fans have witnessed some breath-taking performances in the last 10 seasons, the off-field controversies, from spot-fixing to suspension of teams, haven’t been far behind.
With the 11th edition set to kick-off on April 7, HT looks back at how the previous editions have panned out.
2008
If anyone had apprehensions about the newest and the shortest format of gentleman’s game, they will quickly doused by Brendon McCullum in the very first match. The New Zealander’s 73-ball 158 gave tourney the momentum that has grown with every passing season. What the first edition also showed was the game was not only about loading your team with big guns. Rajasthan Royals, under the stewardship of Shane Warne, were a nice blend of international and domestic players as they went from dark horse to champions.
Champions: Rajasthan Royals
Orange Cap: Sean Marsh (616 runs)
Purple Cap: Sohail Tanvir (22 wickets)
2009
With the second edition coinciding with the general elections, the BCCI had to shift it to South Africa. And the first edition had created such a buzz that fears if being a failure were quickly doused with South Africans turning out in big numbers to witness the action. On field, the quality of cricket was high as ever. While Delhi Daredevils topped the standings, it was Adam Gilchrist-led Deccan Chargers who stole the limelight in the knockouts. Chargers had sneaked into the semifinals on better run-rate than Kings XI Punjab. They then went on to defeat Daredevils and then Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final to lift the title.
Champions: Deccan Chargers
Orange Cap: Mathew Hayden (572)
Purple Cap: RP Singh (23)
2010
After not so impressive first two season, Sachin Tendulkar finally came to the fore in the third edition. He carried Mumbai Indians all the way to the final but didn’t get support from his teammates in the summit clash as Mumbai lost to Chennai Super Kings. Chasing a modest target of 168, Mumbai fell short by 22 runs with Tendulkar finishing as the top scorer. In the other highlights of the season, Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were involved in a run fest in the group stage with both teams scoring combined total of 469, which is still the record.
Champions: Chennai Super Kings
Orange Cap: Sachin Tendulkar (618)
Purple Cap: Pragyan Ojha (21)
2011
While the action on the field enthralled, the off field drama that it witnessed left a bad taste. Two new teams -- Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala -- were inducted in the fourth edition while Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals were almost thrown out as BCCI wasn’t happy with their ownership patterns but they survived. On field, Chennai Super Kings, under the stewardship of MS Dhoni, were becoming the masters of T20 format and made it to their third final in fourth year and winning their second on the trot after beating Royal Challengers Bangalore. The player who stole the limelight though was Chris Gayle, who had gone unsold during auction. Bangalore got him as a replacement for Dirk Nannes and he finished as the Player of the Tournament.
Champions: Chennai Super Kings
Orange Cap: Chris Gayle (608)
Purple Cap: Lasith Malinga (28)
2012
Controversies continued to rock IPL as Kochi Tuskers were terminated for breaching the terms and conditions while five players were caught in a sting to spot-fix the matches. Later BCCI banned TP Sudhindra for life, Shalabh Srivastav was banned for five years and Mohnish Mishra, Amit Yadav and Abhinav Bali were banned for a year each. Also, hours before auction was to start, Pune Warriors pulled out of the IPL before they decided against it later on. They didn’t participate in the auction though. On field, Chennai Super Kings were chasing hat-trick of titles but were knocked out by Kolkata Knight Riders. Playing at home, Chennai posted 190 but a 136-run second-wicket stand between Manvinder Bisla’s (89) and Jacques Kallis (69) set the platform of Kolkata’s chase. Manoj Tiwary then hit two boundaries on the last over bowled by Dwayne Bravo to see Kolkata through.
Champions: Kolkata Knight Riders
Orange Cap: Chris Gayle (733)
Purple Cap: Moren Morkel (25)
2013
Off field issues continued with Deccan Chargers’ contract terminated due to non-payment of dues and were replaced by Sunrisers Hyderabad. As the tournament progressed, another spot-fixing scandal rocked the IPL with Rajasthan Royals’ S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan caught in the web and Chennai Team Principal Gurunath Meiyappan also investigated. Chennai, though made it to another final but were unsuccessful once again as Mumbai Indians avenged their 2010 defeat. Chasing a modest target of 148, Chennai fell short by 23 runs.
Champions: Mumbai Indians
Orange Cap: Mike Hussey (733)
Purple Cap: Dwayne Bravo (32)
2014
The Number of teams were reduced to eight after Pune Warriors India withdrew over financial differences with the BCCI. And due to general elections, first 20 matches of the league were held in UAE. Kings XI topped to the table tanks to the exploits of Glenn Maxwell and made all the way to the final. In the summit clash, batting first, they posted 199 thanks to 55-ball 115 by Wriddhiman Saha. It looked like Kings XI had their one hand on the trophy but that wasn’t too be as their bowlers buckled under pressure and Manish Pandey’s 50-ball 94 guiding Kolkata to their second title.
Champions: Kolkata Knight Riders
Orange Cap: Robin Uthappa (660)
Purple Cap: Mohit Sharma 23
2015
In was one of the closest seasons with just three points separating top-five teams. Mumbai Indians clinched their second title by once again defeating Chennai Super Kings. They first beat them in Qualifier 1 and then again in the final. Mumbai posted 202 for five thanks to useful contributions by Lendl Simmons (68) and Rohit Sharma (50). Chennai were give a solid start by Dwayne Smith (57) but the others misfired as Mumbai recorded a convincing 41 run win. Later in 2015 Chennai and Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the league for two years for the betting activities of their key officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra during the 2013 season. Meiyappan and Kundra were suspended for life.
Champions: Mumbai Indians
Orange Cap: David Warner (562)
Purple Cap: Dwayne Bravo (26)
2016
Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiants were the temporary team that were brought in to fill the void lef by Chennai and Rajasthan for two years. While Pune failed to fire, Gujarat topped the group to qualify for the play-offs but lost both the qualifiers against the eventual finalists – Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Bangalore had been the biggest under-achievers in the history of IPL and it felt like this time they will turn in around. But Hyderabad had some other plans as they won a closely-fought final by eight runs. Chris Gayle (76) and Virat Kohli (54) started off briskly as they chased 209 for victory but Bangalore’s challenged fizzled out after both departed.
Champions: Sunrisers Hyderabad
Orange Cap: Virat Kohli (973)
Purple Cap: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (23)
2017
The second of the newcomers – Rising Pune Supergiant – finally came to the party and were so close to their maiden crown but buckled under pressure. They had beaten Mumbai Indians in the first three matches of the season, including Qualifier 1 but lost the final by one runs chasing the lowest total in the history of IPL finals – 129. It also saw the rise of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who for the second season in a row won the Purple Cap.
Champions: Mumbai Indians
Orange Cap: David Warner (641)
Purple Cap: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (26)
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