Chennai Super Kings, owned by India Cements, managed to get the prized services of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the inaugural edition of IPL. Quite understandably, the Indian captain commanded the highest price at the player auctions – a whopping USD 1.5 million. Australia’s batting tour de force Matthew Hayden was roped in to give the batting a destructive edge – and he played his role to perfection in two successive seasons.

Stephen Fleming, who doubled as coach in the second season; the wily Muralidaran; batsman Suresh Raina; and all-rounder Albie Morkel helped Chennai reach the final. When the second round of auctions took place, Andrew Flintoff joined as one of the highest-paid players. In 2009, Hayden scored prolifically while his team entered the semi-final, only to be pipped at the post by RCB. Fleming has now been bought out by the side and is just the coach. At the 2010 auction, the team bought South African Justin Kemp, they also brought in Sri Lankan Thisara Perera for a sum of USD 50,000.

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In late June 2007, two men met in an English house, not far from the rain-drenched Wimbledon Championships, to discuss a very different sporting event. Lalit Modi, Vice-President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) brainstormed with Andrew Wildblood of the International Management Group (IMG), the sports management giants. In April 2008, the maiden IPL tournament that Mr. Modi had conceived and developed, was underway.

February 2008 saw the frantic player auction that created a media frenzy. Among the bidders were some of India’s richest and most powerful names, from industrialists to film stars, adding to the event’s lustre. As the sums on offer began to emerge – $1.5m for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, $1.35m for Andrew Symonds, $950,000 for the inexperienced Ishant Sharma – cricket raised its eyebrows, held its breath and braced itself for a new era.

The opening ceremony was like nothing the sport had seen before and would not have been out of place as a curtain raiser for the Olympic Games. And much to everyone’s satisfaction, the cricket lived up to all expectations. The world witnessed the first ever Twenty20 competition played on a scale comparable to the biggest events in sporting history.

The public’s imagination was captured even before Warne’s Rajashtan Royals embarked on their competition-defining run. Helped by the presence at matches – and, invariably on the next morning’s front pages – of Bollywood stars such as Shah Rukh Khan, owner of the Kolkata franchise, and Preity Zinta, co-owner of the Kings XI Punjab, the early matches of the IPL attracted a huge television audience.

After the spectacular success of the inaugural tournament, news that the 2009 IPL would have to be played overseas was met with some resistance. But right from the magnificent opening ceremony to the closing festivities, viewers stayed hooked to the mega event that saw the Deccan Chargers led by Adam Gilchrist take top honours. In the words of Mr. Modi, “It’s been a success thanks to the people of South Africa.”

The Indian Premier League has moved from strength to strength in its two early editions. And the world has taken notice. The IPL has even made it to the fourth spot of the Forbes list of the world’s hottest sporting properties. The competition returns to India in March 2010 after its South African safari in 2009. The stage is set for a contest that is more compelling, spectacular and multi-faceted than ever before.

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