Given the first match of IPL 2025 is between the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), it brings back the memories of IPL’s first-ever match from 2008
The Indian Premier League (IPL) was inaugurated in 2008 – a period when T20 was still at a nascent stage in the world of cricket. Not to forget, even franchise-based cricket was a new concept around the world. Therefore, nobody knew what to expect from the IPL.
However, there was a cricketer 18 years ago who was a visionary with his bat. Unorthodox because he didn’t play as per cricket’s batting textbooks, and for him, it was all about getting the maximum runs on the board in the least number of balls.
The man was Brendon McCullum, who set the tone for the tournament, showed how T20 should be played and gave a glimpse of IPL’s future.
Batting first, Kolkata’s then-captain Sourav Ganguly took the crease with Brendon McCullum, who had landed in India after a successful series in New Zealand.
Ganguly was towards the end of his career, tried to find his rhythm in the unknown format but left the crease, scoring only 10 runs. However, his compatriot McCullum, a youngster then had other plans.
McCullum started off with a four, followed by another – good shot selections, nothing out of the book or extraordinary. However, by the end of the second over, McCullum was hitting the ball right, left and centre. It was as if he was swerving the bat like a sword without even looking at a ball.
On the wagon wheel, shots were registered in every corner of the field. The bowling line-up of Bangalore simply did not know how to put a lease on McCullum.
Zaheer Khan, Ashley Noffke, Sunil Joshi, Cameron White, Jacques Kallis and Praveen Kumar – every ball had to endure the wrath of McCullum’s willow. Given the match was in Bangalore, the crowd went silent, but small sections of KKR fans were here and there celebrating the evening. The camera particularly focused on Shah Rukh Khan, who danced through the innings.
In 73 balls, McCullum had scored 158 runs, putting Rahul Dravid and co. in an embarrassing position. The target for RCB was 223.
Despite scoring big, the KKR bowlers were determined to put pressure on the RCB batters from the get-go. Captain Dravid was sent off for two runs, and the next seven batters were also sent back to the pavilion with single-digit scores.
The only batter who managed a lasting moment on the crease was Praveen Kumar, who scored 18 runs off 15 balls. Following his departure, Khan and Joshi quickly gave up their wickets, and the entire RCB line-up faltered at 82 runs, losing the game by a whopping 140 runs.
KKR’s season turned out to be a nightmare despite how the team played in the first-ever IPL game, which has become a part of the T20 history book. However, McCullum will always be remembered for teaching us how to hit hard in the shortest format of the game.
