Lights. Camera. Action. IPL couldn’t have requested for a greater begin thanks to Brendon McCullum, the lead actor of a contest that might change the worldwide cricket panorama ceaselessly. Royal Challengers Bangalore hosted Kolkata Knight Riders for the primary ever match of the bold Indian Premier League on April 18, 2008 on the iconic M Chinnaswamy Stadium and McCullum hijacked the stage and the headlines with some sensational batting, producing an epic 73-ball 158.
It wasn’t even a yr since India gained the inaugural ICC World T20 in South Africa that BCCI determined that the stage was set for it to usher within the subsequent period by way of its now ultra-popular T20 league. But little would they’ve imagined how dazzling that first chapter would end up to be. A cursory look on the contest between RCB and KKR would give an impression of it being a colorless affair – a one-sided contest to say the least with Knight Riders storming to a giant 140-run win.
However, such was the affect of McCullum’s assault that the results of the competition has been diminished to mere a footnote. The Kiwi wicketkeeper-batter struck 10 fours and 13 sixes, opening the innings with India legend Sourav Ganguly. Not different batter, from both facet, crossed 20.
KKR posted a mammoth 222/3 with McCullum making a mockery of a bowling assault comprising the likes of Zaheer Khan, Jacques Kallis and Praveen Kumar.
RCB had a batting line-up plagued by superstars together with Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Kallis, Mark Boucher amongst others. They folded for 82 in 15.1 overs in opposition to an assault of Ishant Sharma, Ajit Agarkar and Ashok Dinda.
Years later, McCullum mirrored on his innings, crediting it for altering his life within the house of simply three hours “That night, my life changed completely in the space of those three hours or actually, even an hour and a half. You talk about sliding doors, and moments in your careers and in lives,” McCullum instructed KKR.
“Why was I the one who got that opportunity to be able to go and face (the) first (delivery) with Sourav Ganguly? How did I get a chance to play in the first game, have the first opportunity to bat in such a huge tournament for world cricket?”
“How was I even able to grab that opportunity? How much luck did I have along the way? Honestly, I don’t know the answers to any of these, but what I do know is that it changed my life forever,” he added.
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