Brendon McCullum blasted 158 in the very first match of the Indian Premier League in 2008 between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders and it changed the way cricket was played forever.
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At the start of the first decade of the new millennium, Tests and ODIs had dominated cricket. However, in 2005, the introduction of the Twenty20 International format started creating ripples in world cricket. However, when India won the ICC World T20 in 2007 in South Africa, the ripples became a huge Tsunami. India, the economic powerhouse of world cricket, found the shortest format of the game interesting. The time was ripe for introducing a new Twenty20 league.
In 2007, Indian cricket was at the crossroads. After losing in the opening round of the 2007 ICC World Cup in West Indies, India had created the Indian Cricket League (ICL). Funded by Zee Entertainment Enterprises, the ICL was not recognised. Yet, it had a format which was appealing.
After India won the World T20, the BCCI had announced the launch of a new franchise-based Twenty20 league called the Indian Premier League (IPL). BCCI vice-president, Lalit Modi is said to have been the creator of the IPL and he spelled out the details of the tournament including its format, the prize money, franchise revenue system and squad composition rules. On April 18, 2008, the IPL began with the first game between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. It was a night that one man chose to rewrite the history books and change cricket forever.
Kolkata Knight Riders batted first and Brendon McCullum decided to dictate the terms to the opposition immediately. After a quiet first over, McCullum blasted three fours and one six off Zaheer Khan. In the fourth over, he blasted two sixes off Ashley Noffke and reached his fifty off 32 balls.
After getting to the landmark, McCullum punished Sunil Joshi and Jacques Kallis as he made great progress. McCullum neared his hundred with two sixes and a four off Cameron White as the bowler leaked 24 runs in his one over. He reached his hundred off 53 balls and the cheers were a treat. McCullum hit another six off Zaheer and in the 19th over, he hammered two fours and two sixes off Kallis.
The New Zealand batsman signed off in style with three sixes in the final over as he ended on an unbeaten 158 off 73 balls. His 10 fours and 13 sixes remained a record score in Twenty20s. Since then, only Chris Gayle has managed to overhaul McCullum’s score when he blasted 175 off 66 balls against Pune Warriors in 2013.
It has been 13 years since the Indian Premier League. On April 18, 2008, McCullum’s knock changed world cricket forever. The IPL had already shaken the foundations of world cricket with some novel ideas. It introduced private enterprise, a franchise model, an auction where players went to the highest bidder. However, a domestic tournament was now going to surpass bilateral cricket in profile, fan following, profitability, and allure to cricketers.
The club vs country debate is at its peak in 2021 and it is because of the IPL. McCullum’s knock of 158 changed world cricket forever. The IPL is now the established gold standard of identifying future cricket talent. Indian players are not scared of international cricketers and conditions. The new generation now plays with an aura of audacity, aggression and fearlessness. The IPL and McCullum needs to be thanked.
