The outfit lifted the Champions League T20 trophy in 2011 and went crazy
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a domestic T20 league that runs a little over two months in several other domestic T20 leagues played in various parts of the world. However, it is given equal importance; therefore, IPL teams spare no expense to celebrate if they become champions.
Once upon a time, IPL teams were also eligible to play the Champions League T20 trophy—a tournament that no longer exists but was active from 2009 to 2014. During this period, top teams from various domestic T20 leagues of different countries were allowed to fight for the Champions League title—a concept similar to the UEFA Champions League in the world of football.
In 2011, five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians won the Champions League T20. Back then, the internet was still not in the palm of every Indian, and therefore, stories from the wild celebration party did not surface until three years ago, when Yuzvendra Chahal gave us a glimpse.
In the 2011 edition, four Indian teams earned eligibility to participate in the Champions League T20. Those four teams were Kolkata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Unfortunately, only two Indian teams made it to the knockout stage—Mumbai Indians, who finished second in Group A behind Australia’s New South Wales Blues, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, which also finished second in Group B after Somerset from England & Wales.
The two IPL sides in the semi-final round won their respective matches. Royal Challengers defeated Blues, and Mumbai Indians won against Somerset. In the finale, Royal Challengers Bengaluru started off well by restricting the Mumbai Indians to 139 runs. However, the team’s batting faltered, and Bengaluru could only score 108 runs to lose the game.
After the match, Mumbai Indians had a wild party of which a young Yuzvendra Chahal was part. Speaking on the RCB podcast, Chahal revealed, “This was in 2011 after winning the Champions League in a Chennai hotel. He [Andrew Symonds] had drunk a lot of ‘fruit juice’. I was with him, only.
James Franklin and Symonds tied my hands and legs, and said ‘now you have to open’. They were in so much masti (fun mood) that they taped my mouth and forgot all about me. Party got over and in the morning, when a cleaner came, he saw me and freed me. They asked from when have I been here like this and I told them, ‘from the night itself’.”
Chahal was asked if Symonds and Franklin ever apologised to him, but Chahal stated that the duo did not remember anything about their deeds because they had too much ‘juice’.
Chahal’s revelation gave us only a small glimpse of the wild parties that IPL teams throw after winning a crucial game or the trophy – seems a lot like what we have seen in the Hangover movies.
