The Indian Premier League has become the most significant T20 league in the world because of the talent, intense competition, glamour, and money involved in the tournament. BCCI initiated this unique franchise-based tournament in 2008, with Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, Mohali, Kolkata, Delhi, Jaipur, and Bangalore being the bases for eight teams.
Some big names like Mukesh Ambani, Shahrukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Vijay Mallya, Preity Zinta and several others showed interest in buying stakes of franchises. Soon, the IPL got underway and the upcoming season will be the 13th one, which will be hosted by the UAE.
In 2008, it was considered as a hard task to score a 100 in T20 matches, but over the years, many players have managed to achieve this record. In this article, we will look at the first ever IPL centurion of every team.
Kolkata Knight Riders – Brendon McCullum
Brendon McCullum, the former New Zealand cricket team captain, ensured that IPL gets off to a blazing start in 2008. He turned up for Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural season and blew away the RCB bowling attack in the first match.
The right-handed batsman smacked an unbeaten 158* that powered Kolkata to a mammoth total of 222/3 in 20 overs. A clinical bowling performance gave KKR a 140-run victory.
Chennai Super Kings – Michael Hussey
Brendon McCullum scored a hundred on the first day of IPL and the next day, Mr. Cricket Micheal Hussey also joined him in that elite club of players.
Hussey played for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2008, and in the first match, he scored 116 runs for the MS Dhoni-led team. The left-handed batsman struck 8 fours and 9 sixes, guiding CSK to an easy win over Kings XI Punjab.
Mumbai Indians – Sanath Jayasuriya
Sri Lankan great Sanath Jayasuriya played for Mumbai Indians in the first few seasons of IPL. Jayasuriya was one of their best foreign players and his 114* against CSK established him as a match-winner.
Chennai scored 156 runs in the first innings and chasing 157, Mumbai won the game in the 14th over only, riding on Jayasuriya’s 114* off 48 deliveries.
Kings XI Punjab – Shaun Marsh
One of the most underrated batsmen in IPL history, Shaun Marsh was the IPL Orange Cap winner in 2008. The southpaw from Australia was also the first batsman to score a hundred for Kings XI Punjab.
In a league stage match against Rajasthan Royals, Marsh scored 115 runs from 69 balls. His innings made sure that KXIP beat RR by 41 runs in that encounter.
Delhi Daredevils – AB de Villiers
AB de Villiers is the cornerstone of the current RCB team, but there was a time when Mr. 360 was a part of the Delhi-based franchise.
It was known as Delhi Daredevils at that time and AB de Villiers was the first man to score a century for DD, when he scored a marvelous hundred against CSK in 2009.
Royal Challengers Bangalore – Manish Pandey
Despite the presence of some big names like Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, Kevin Pietersen, and others in the RCB squad, young Manish Pandey emerged as the first centurion for RCB.
In fact, not a single Indian batsman could score a century in the IPL before Manish Pandey. The youngster achieved this feat against Deccan Chargers in what was the slowest hundred in IPL history in terms of balls faced.
Rajasthan Royals – Yusuf Pathan
Yusuf Pathan was the key reason behind Rajasthan Royals’ success in the first season of IPL. Pathan even did exceptionally well in the next few seasons and in 2010, he smacked a 37-ball 100 against Mumbai.
Unfortunately, Pathan’s hundred went in a losing cause because the inaugural IPL champions could not chase down the target of 213 runs set by Mumbai Indians.
Sunrisers Hyderabad – David Warner
David Warner has been the backbone of Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Orange Army won its maiden title in 2016 because of David Warner’s brilliance in that season.
Just one year later, Hyderabad got its first centurion in the form of Warner as the southpaw from Australia blew away the KKR bowling attack with a score of 126 runs.
