IPL captains in the first season and where are they now?

After India’s victory in the inaugural World T20 in 2007, the craze for the shortest format of the game among the cricket lovers was at its peak in India. BCCI saw this as a business opportunity and announced the launch of the lucrative Twenty20 cricket competition called the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2007. Then BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi is said to be the mastermind behind the idea of IPL.

The first edition of the IPL was played in 2008. The competition witnessed some eventful matches with a nail-biting final between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. The Royals who were considered as one of the weakest teams held its nerves and won the title. The event was a huge success and it was a two-month cricket fair for the followers of the game and players, franchise owners.

BCCI made a huge amount of money of it. Since the format was new to everyone around the world, it was difficult for the teams to perform amidst huge crowd and pressure. Here, the role of the teams’ captains was really important as he was the one to make the right decisions on the field.

All the captains did a wonderful job in leading their teams which were able to perform and hence lift the popularity of the format. Let’s have a look at how the teams fared in the inaugural edition of IPL and what the then captains are doing nowadays:
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Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians)

Mumbai Indians, a franchise owned by Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, was captained by Sachin Tendulkar in the first edition of IPL. Under the leadership of Master Blaster, the Mumbai based franchise had an average IPL in 2008 as the team could only manage to finish in the fifth position with 7 wins and as many losses in 14 games they featured in.

The right-handed batsman, after his retirement in 2013 from all forms of cricket, has been involved in philanthropist activities alongside owning Indian Super League franchise Kerala Blasters for three years. In its three-year existence, the Blasters have been part of two ISL finals and commands arguably the most fan-following among any side in the league. Little Master is currently the UNICEF ambassador for Hygiene and Sanitation. He is also involved in ‘Spreading Happiness,’ a project that “provides electricity to deprived areas.”