IPL: The first ever happenings in the history of the tournament

Indian Premier League was supposed to move to its 13th edition of the league but Coronavirus outbreak has put breaks on the league. From Brendon McCullum’s heroics to Mumbai Indians snatching the title by a one-run win, the IPL has come a long way. Many changes were brought to the league and the player retention formats but brand and name of the IPL remained unaffected.

Here we look at all the first-ever happenings in the India Premier League:

First ball:

Praveen Kumar bowled the first ball of the IPL to Sourav Ganguly in the opening game between RCB and KKR in Bangalore. The KKR skipper sneaked in a single on the first delivery which hit his pads.

First four:

Brendon McCullum hit a boundary on the 2nd ball of the second over bowled by Zaheer Khan towards mid-wicket region. It was also the first run off the bat as three runs came in the form of extras in the first over.

First six:

McCullum danced down the ground to Zaheer on the 5th ball of the second over to hit the ball towards leg-side. However, it took the outside edge of the bat and flew over the third-man region for a six.

First wicket:

Sourav Ganguly turned out to be the first man dismissed in the IPL. In the 6th over bowled by Zaheer Khan, Ganguly edged one to Jacques Kallis in the slip cordon.

First run out:

During the RCB’s innings of the first game, Ashley Noffke became the first player to be dismissed run out in the IPL. Ajit Agarkar fired a flat throw from deep square leg to the wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha who caught Noffke short at the striker’s end.

First stumping:

The first ever stumping dismissal in the IPL was recorded during the MI-RCB game at Wankhede. The home team batsman Robin Uthappa came down the track to hit one behind the square off to Balachandra Akhil. Uthappa missed the stroke and was found short of his crease by RCB’s keeper Mark Boucher.

First hit-wicket:

Musavir Khote of MI registered the first hit-wicket dismissal of the IPL during the game against KXIP in Mohali. Khote tried to defend a full delivery from Sreesanth but ended up disturbing leg-stump while the ball crashed into off-stump.

First mankad:

The first mankad dismissal was recorded during the 12th edition of the IPL in the match between RR and KXIP in Jaipur. The Kings XI skipper Ravichandran Ashwin removed bails when RR’s keeper-batsman Jos Buttler went forward while the off-spinner was in his delivery stride.

First maiden:

The first maiden over of the IPL was bowled by Glenn McGrath during the third game of 2008 IPL between DD and RR in Delhi. McGrath returned with a wicket maiden in the 3rd over of the Rajasthan Royals’ innings. After missing out scoring on the first two balls, Taruwar Kohli departed on the 3rd ball trying for a big hit. The new batsman Shane Watson couldn’t score a run on the final three deliveries of the over.

First 50, 100 and 150:

Brendon McCullum smashed an unbeaten 158 in just 73 balls in the inaugural game of the IPL. Thus, he became the first to score a 50, a 100 and also the 150 in the league. He completed his fifty off 32 balls, his century in 53 deliveries and the 150-run mark in 70 balls.

First 5-wicket haul:

Sohail Tanvir registered the first-ever 5-wicket haul in the IPL while playing for Rajasthan Royals. In the first season, he recorded figures of 6/14 against CSK in Jaipur which are still the best bowling figures in the IPL history.

First title:

Kolkata Knight Riders won the first IPL game by a huge 140-run margin against the Royal Challengers Bangalore but Rajasthan Royals won the season’s title. They defeated Chennai Super Kings in the final by three wickets.