It’s that time of the year
When studios hesitate to release big budget films
When prime time TV is taken over by a sport played largely by 10 nations
When we see Preity Zinta again
Yes folks, it’s time for the IPL. This year, we have a whole roster of new captains and the league is bigger than ever. We decided to take a look at some interesting stories that emerged from the very first IPL, way back in 2008.
Things we learnt this week 🤓
On 2nd March 2008, India lifted the U19 World Cup for the second time in its history, with a thrilling win over South Africa. It was decided that the team selections would all be a draft system and each team would be allotted 2 U-19 players. The Delhi team, then known as Delhi Daredevils, got first pick and surprise, surprise they ignored Virat Kohli and instead went for the other Delhi boy in the U-19 setup - Pradeep Sangwan. Virat Kohli was duly picked up by Royal Challengers Bangalore and is the only player to have represented the same franchise in all the editions so far. Pradeep Sangwan had a reasonable first class career, but Virat Kohli’s career, far from finished, is already in the stratosphere of greats. Delhi Daredevils/Capitals have repented this mistake and have included the U19 winning captain in its roster ever since!
2012 - Unmukt Chand
2018 - Prithvi Shaw
2022 - Yash Dhull
2023 - Shafali Verma
CSK played for the first time in 2008 wearing yellow. They are the only team to have largely been in an unchanged jersey since the inception. But why yellow? The owners did have some pressure to use Black, a prominent Dravidian colour, but stuck to Yellow as it is similar to the jerseys worn by the sides sponsored by India Cements in local Chennai tournaments. It also helps that all of India Cements’ core products are distributed in yellow bags. Lot of Chennai Super Kings branding is borrowed from the India Cements Stable - the crown in the logo is taken from the Coromandel King. In a unique twist, India Cements released a new cement product called Conkrete Super King (CSK) and is packed with the “power of 7”! Yellow has cemented CSK’s rise to the top.
Harsha Bhogle has been the voice of reason on air for nearly 40 years. Back in 2008, the Mumbai Indians felt that he was needed in the dugout and appointed him the “Team Advisor” . It was a little strange to see Harsha, not in those dashing suits but in a Mumbai Indians jersey, seated next to the players. Mumbai finished 5th and Harsha Bhogle moved back to the commentary box and has been a constant on air ever since. Bhogle was more हर्ष behind the mic and not in the dugout.
From IWTK, with love 💌
Talking about cricket, this year’s WPL finally ended years of trolling for RCB fans. Know more about the recently concluded WPL edition here.
A refresher on IPL jerseys here and here.
Part I:and Part II:
Only In India 🇮🇳
These UP brothers are living in 3024.
❤️ IWTK