The Indian Premier League (IPL) on Saturday will be celebrating its 12th anniversary. The cash-rich league, with all the glitz and glamour, kicked off in 2008 in Bengaluru with Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Royal Challengers Banglore at the Chidambaram Stadium, but it was a freakish knock of 158* runs from Brendon McCullum that did not just change the fortune of IPL but also of T20 franchise cricket, adding a new dimension to the gentlemen's sport.
Winning the toss, the hosts had invited the Sourav Ganguly-led side to bat first and KKR went a wicket down withing the powerplays. Five overs later they lost Ricky Ponting as well. Yet, KKR had crossed 60 before the fall of the first wicket and added 50 more before going two down. Courtesy McCullum's thunderous show under the cloudy Bengaluru sky. He fired 10 boundaries and clobbered 13 sixes to score 158 runs off 73 deliveries at an astounding strike rate of 216.43. Interestingly, the other batters managed only 10, 20, 12 and 5* in order.
"Well, I never really got too nervous throughout my cricket career, but on that occasion, I’ll admit I was very nervous. I think none of us really knew what this tournament (the IPL) was going to be like. We all loved the idea of it, we loved the fanfare, but all the eyeballs of the cricketing world got turned towards Bangalore that night. I feel so lucky and privileged to have had the opportunity (to be a part of that spectacle). You talk about sliding doors, and moments in your careers and in lives. That night, my life changed completely in the space of those three hours or actually, even an hour-hour and a half," McCullum recalled the night during a chat on Knights Unplugged on KKR.in.
McCullum admitted that the innings changed his life forever and that he feels very blessed and lucky. He also admitted that he never thought he was capable of achieving it and even termed his innings as "lucky".
"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.
"It changed my family's life forever, and I feel very blessed and very humble and very lucky. What I did that night was something I didn't think I was capable of achieving. I couldn't have done it without my teammates, that's 100% sure. It was just a surreal moment in time where you just look back and say, ‘How lucky was I?’"
After setting a target of 223, KKR folded RCB for just 82 runs in 15.1 overs. Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda, and Ajit Agarkar picked seven wickets between themselves.
