Nobody really knew what to expect from the Indian Premier League.
It was a competition born, reactively, out of the need to show the rebel Indian Cricket League who was the real boss in town.
That renegade competition had been an average spectacle and, even if the new league did have some glamorous owners and the best players, it was not a guaranteed winner.
It needed a memorable opening night. It got it, thanks to the sort of individual feat of excellence that nobody had thought was remotely possible.
In the first televised Twenty20 fixture anywhere, back in 2003, Hampshire Hawks beat Sussex Sharks after posting what had felt like a reckless, harem-scarem total of 153.
They hit one six in that innings.
Amid the pomp and ceremony of the first IPL match five years later, Brendon McCullum scored five runs more – all on his own.
His innings included 13 sixes.
His unbeaten 158 set up a win for Kolkata Knight Riders against Royal Challengers Bangalore and has resulted in him being able to virtually write his own cheques ever since.
“I haven’t been that nervous in international cricket for a long time,” the New Zealander was quoted as saying after that inaugural match.
“It was partly because of the hype around the game and some of the big names in the side with huge records. I guess you want to prove yourself and that adds to the nerves around.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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