Page 219 - IPL1

T

he great cricketing theatre of Eden Gardens has been
the stage for so many greats over the years and much was
expected of the crowd pleasers lined up by the franchise owned
by the legendary Bollywood film star Shah Rukh Khan ahead of
the Indian Premier League. In advance, it was a mouth-watering
prospect, made all the more appealing by the fact that Kolkata
Knight Riders was being captained by one of Kolkata’s own most
treasured performers, Sourav Ganguly.

The roll call was box-office quality all right. The West Indies
opener Chris Gayle had kickstarted the World Twenty20 in 2007

with a stunning hundred against the hosts South Africa and
was expected to terrorise bowlers once more. Ricky Ponting, the
Australian captain who has been the best performing all-round
batsman this century and has had the great accolade of being
described as possibly the best his country have produced since
Don Bradman, was signed up for just $400,000, which felt like the
bargain of the tournament. Shoaib Akhtar was still one of the
quickest bowlers in the world on his day, and Ishant Sharma, the
Indian skyscraper had recently returned home from Australia
with his reputation enhanced after giving Ponting a well-
publicised working-over during the Adelaide Test.

In the event Gayle was injured, Ponting struggled for runs, Shoaib
played just three matches – even if he did take four for 11 in the
win over Delhi Daredevils – Sharma ended up with only seven
wickets and the show was stolen by Brendon McCullum, New
Zealand’s glamorous wicket-keeper/batsman. The inaugural IPL
will be remembered for many things, but McCullum’s opening-
night knock of 158 not out from 73 balls at the M. Chinnaswamy
Stadium against Bangalore Royal Challengers may well linger
longest in the mind’s eye. It was the kind of start the organisers
can only have dreamed about as McCullum, who had been in
outstanding one-day form over the New Zealand winter, both in
domestic cricket and against the touring England side, tucked
into Bangalore’s bowlers like a starving man let loose at a
banquet. He ended up with 10 fours and 13 sixes, one of which
was a daring paddle over his left shoulder off Zaheer Khan. By the
end of a pulsating knock, he had surpassed the previous highest

score in all Twenty20 matches of 141 not out by the Australian
Cameron White for Somerset against Worcestershire in 2006.

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