IPL 2021: From McCullum’s blitz to Bravo’s sting - A brief look at all season openers in IPL thus far

A brief look at all the Indian Premier League (IPL) season opening matches from 2008-2020.

The Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) season opener will see the defending and five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) led by Rohit Sharma, take on Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on April 9 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on April 9, 2021.

The season-opening matches have been some of the most exciting encounters ever, as they set the mood for the entire IPL tournament to follow.

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This precedence was set in the very first Indian Premier League match in 2008 when Royal Challengers Bangalore took on Kolkata Knight Riders and since then, we have seen some of the best season-opening matches.

The IPL 2021 season opener match is just 2 days away and today, as a preview, Team COC looks back nostalgically at all the previous season-opening matches in the IPL thus far.

IPL 2008- Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) v Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

The first-ever IPL match which began this juggernaut we see today was played on April 18, 2008, between Sourav Ganguly’s Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rahul Dravid’s Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MA Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

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This match is remembered mostly for the blitz of Brendon McCullum, who after KKR was put in to bat by RCB who won the toss, smashed 158* in 73 balls with 10 fours and 13 sixes, breaking numerous records on the way. The biggest record was that it was the first individual score of over 150 in T20 cricket.

RCB could never recover from that onslaught as while chasing 223 runs to win, collapsed to 82 all out and lost by 140 runs. This match was the perfect beginning that the Indian Premier League needed to get people excited and interested in the first official franchise-based T20 league in the cricket world.

IPL 2009- Mumbai Indians (MI) v Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

The next edition of the IPL in 2009 had to be moved entirely to South Africa as the tournament clashed with general elections in India. Mumbai Indians of Sachin Tendulkar faced MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in the season opener in Cape Town on April 18, 2009.

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The match was a pretty standard affair as MI made 165/7 after being put in to bat by CSK who won the toss. Sachin Tendulkar top-scored with 59, while Abhishek Nayar made 35. In reply, CSK managed just 146/7 with Matthew Hayden making 44 and captain Dhoni making 36 runs.

Lasith Malinga in his IPL debut, picked 3/15 in his 4 overs, helping MI win by 15 runs. Sachin Tendulkar was named Player of the Match.

IPL 2010- Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) v Deccan Chargers (DC)

The IPL was back in India in 2010 and Kolkata Knight Riders, who had a horrible IPL in 2009, faced off against the defending champions Deccan Chargers (DC) in the first match, which was played in Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium.

Adam Gilchrist of DC won the toss and put KKR into bat. Thanks to half-centuries from Angelo Mathews (65*) and Owais Shah (58*), KKR put on defendable 161/4. Chaminda Vaas picked 2/22 for DC.

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In reply, only captain Gilchrist got going, making 54 with 3 sixes and 3 fours, but no one else got past VVS Laxman’s 22, as DC managed just 150/7 in 20 overs, to lose by 11 runs.

IPL 2011- Chennai Super Kings (CSK) v Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

The IPL 2021 season opener saw defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their home of Chepauk, Chennai.

MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first. Srikkanth Anirudha made 64, while Suresh Raina (33)  and MS Dhoni (29) took CSK to 153/4 on a difficult pitch.

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Despite a 64-run opening partnership between Manvinder Bisla (27) and Jacques Kallis (54), KKR couldn’t get going on the slow pitch and managed just 151/7 in 20 overs, losing the match by 2 runs. Anirudha was named the Player of the Match.

IPL 2012- Chennai Super Kings (CSK) v Mumbai Indians (MI)

The IPL 2012 season opener saw the now two-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) taking on Mumbai Indians (MI) in Chennai itself. It was a low-scoring affair in which the visiting team outsmarted the home side on their own turf.

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MI captain Harbhajan Singh won the toss and asked CSK to bat first. This proved to be a difficult task as CSK folded for 112 runs with Suresh Raina making 36. For MI, Lasith Malinga, Pragyan Ojha, and Kieron Pollard picked two wickets apiece.

In reply, MI’s newest recruit, South Africa’s Richard Levi smashed 50 in 35 balls to lead MI to an 8-wicket win in the first match of the IPL 2012.

IPL 2013- Delhi Capitals (DC) v Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

IPL 2013 season opener saw Delhi Capitals (DC), then Delhi Daredevils taking on defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) led by Gautam Gambhir in Eden Gardens on April 3, 2013.

It was again a low-scoring encounter as Delhi batting first after losing the toss could muster just 128 runs with captain Mahela Jayawardena making 66 and David Warner making 21. Sunil Narine announced himself in style, picking 4/13 for KKR.

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In reply, Gambhir’s 41 and contributions from Jacques Kallis and Manoj Tiwary were enough for KKR to win the match by 6 wickets and 10 balls to spare. Shahbaz Nadeem picked 2/22 to give KKR a light scare.

IPL 2014- Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) v Mumbai Indians (MI)

The defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) took on Kolkata Knight Riders in the season opener of IPL 2014 which was played in Abu Dhabi, as general elections in India led to the first half of the IPL 2014 being played in UAE.

Gautam Gambhir won the toss and chose to bat first. Manish Pandey’s 64 and Jacques Kallis’s 72 took KKR to 163/5. Lasith Malinga starred for MI on 4/23.

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This was MI’s first season without Sachin Tendulkar, who retired from the game after they won the IPL in 2013. Ambati Rayudu fought valiantly scoring 48, while Aditya Tare and Rohit Sharma made valuable contributions. But they fell 41 runs short, finishing on 122/7 as KKR’s Sunil Narine starred with 4/20.

IPL 2015- Mumbai Indians (MI) v Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)

The IPL 2015 saw the now two-time IPL champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) taking on Mumbai Indians (MI) in Eden Gardens. This was an exciting match that saw MI batting first after losing the toss and Rohit Sharma showing his class on a difficult pitch.

Sharma made 98* with 12 fours and 4 sixes when the next best score was Corey Anderson’s 55*, as the duo added 131 runs for the 4^th wicket. Morne Morkel picked 2/18 in his 4 overs and KKR kept MI to 168/3.

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The reply saw Gautam Gambhir scoring 57 and Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav scoring 40s each, as KKR reached the target with 7 wickets in hand and 9 balls remaining. Suryakumar hit 5 sixes in his 46* showing what was to come in following IPLs.

IPL 2016- Mumbai Indians (MI) v Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS)

The IPL 2016 was a different Indian Premier League season as two former champion teams in Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were banned for two years each for their involvement in spot-fixing and betting during IPL 2013.

This led to two new teams in Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) and Gujarat Lions (GL) taking their places and the RPS team faced defending champions MI in the season opener at Wankhede Stadium.  

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Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat, but his team managed just 121/8 in 20 overs with Harbhajan Singh top-scoring with 45*. Ishant Sharma and Mitchell Marsh picked two wickets each for RPS.

In their chase, Ajinkya Rahane made 66*, Faf du Plessis (34), and Kevin Pietersen (21*) ensured that RPS won the game by 9 wickets and 32 balls in hand.

IPL 2017- Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) v Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

The IPL 2017 saw new champions Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) taking on the IPL 2016 finalists Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the season opener in Hyderabad. RCB won the toss and chose to bowl first.

However, the story remained the same as SRH posted 207/4 with Moises Henriques (52) and Yuvraj Singh (62) being the top-scorers.

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In reply, despite starts from Chris Gayle (32), Travis Head (30), and Kedar Jadhav (31), the RCB team couldn’t really get going in the chase, with Ashish Nehra, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan picked two wickets each.

RCB folded for 172 runs to give the defending champs SRH the victory by 35 runs.

IPL 2018- Mumbai Indians (MI) v Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

The IPL 2018 welcomed back Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) back in the IPL fold and MS Dhoni returned to lead CSK in the season opener against now three-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium.

This match is considered a classic which CSK won because of just one man, Dwayne Bravo. MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to field first against Rohit Sharma’s MI. MI managed to string up 165/4 on a batting beauty with Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav making 40 and 43 respectively and Krunal Pandya blitzing 41* in 22 balls.

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In reply, CSK looked out of the game at 118/8, with Kedar Jadhav out injured. But Dwayne Bravo took on MI’s best bowler Jasprit Bumrah, repeatedly depositing him for sixes. He made 68 runs before getting out before the final over.

Then Kedar Jadhav hobbled on one leg and smacked Mustafizur Rahman for a six and four to lead CSK to an unprecedented victory by one wicket.

IPL 2019- Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) v Chennai Super Kings (CSK)

While the IPL 2018 season opener is regarded as one of the classic IPL matches, the IPL 2019 season opener between RCB and CSK is considered to be one of the worst.

MS Dhoni won the toss and put Virat Kohli’s RCB into bat first on a pitch that was expected to turn from ball one. And it did turn as RCB was shot out for 70 runs with Parthiv Patel (29) being the only one to reach the double digits. Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir picked three wickets each, while Jadeja took 2.

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CSK completed the chase in 17.4 overs, as RCB bowlers didn’t make it easy for them as Yuzvendra Chahal gave just 6 runs in his 4 overs, picking one wicket. Ambati Rayudu’s 28 was the top score in CSK’s 7-wicket win.

IPL 2020- Chennai Super Kings (CSK) v Mumbai Indians (MI)

Mumbai Indians were now the 4-time IPL champions coming into the IPL 2020, which was played in September after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was heled entirely in the UAE.

They faced Chennai Super Kings (CSK), whom they had beaten by one run in IPL 2019 final, in the season opener in Abu Dhabi. MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bowl first.

MI managed 162/9 on a tricky pitch with Saurabh Tiwary top-scoring with 42, while Quinton de Kock making 33. For CSK Lungi Ngidi with 3/38 was their best bowler, while Deepak Chahar and Ravindra Jadeja picked two wickets each.

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Though CSK lost their openers early, Faf du Plessis’ 58 and Ambati Rayudu’s 71 was enough for CSK to win the match by 5 wickets and 4 balls remaining.

This was a false sense of victory for the CSK team, who struggled the entire tournament and failed to make it into the playoffs for the first time in their IPL history. Meanwhile, MI became only the second team to defend their titles and became the first five-time IPL champions.

IPL 2021- Mumbai Indians (MI) v Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)

The IPL 2021 season opener will see defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore, a game that will be played in Chennai on April 9. Let’s see which team starts off the IPL 14 with a win.

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