The Indian Premier League (IPL) returned to India in 2010 after it was hosted by South Africa in the previous season. It was a season of many firsts when it came to the organisational part of the tournament as It became the first ever cricket tournament that was broadcast live on YouTube. Five new venues - Nagpur, Cuttack, Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Dharamsala - were added to the mix and for the first time in the tournament’s history, it featured a third-place playoff between the losing semi-finalists as a qualifier for the Champions League.
The tournament was quite important for all the players as it was scheduled to finish just days ahead of the World T20 and with the event taking place in India, it was a great chance for them to prove them mettle in the conditions. The auctions ahead of the season produced some interesting results as Shane Bond (Kolkata Knight Riders) and Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians) became the costliest picks for USD 750,000. Mohammad Kaif was the costliest India cricketer as Kings XI Punjab paid USD 250,000 to acquire his services.
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In the group stage, Mumbai Indians were the superior side by quite a margin as they dominated proceedings and ended up topping the table with 20 points. Defending champions Deccan Chargers also continued their fine run of form and were able to clinch the second spot with 16 points. However, when it came to the remaining two spots, there was a keenly fought contest between Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals). With all four sides ending on 14 points, it all came down to the run rate and by the finest of margins, RCB and CSK were able to book their spot in the semi-finals.
In the first semi-final, Mumbai Indians completely outplayed Royal Challengers Bangalore thanks to superb performances from Saurabh Tiwary and Kieron Pollard. While Tiwary scored a fifty to take them to a competitive total, Pollard was able to check their run flow with three wickets. In the other semi-final, Doug Bollinger produced an absolute masterclass with the ball as the Aussie pacer ended up with figures of 4/13 to guide Chennai Super Kings to victory over Deccan Chargers. Deccan Chargers’ misfortunes continued in the play-off as they were bowled out for just 82 and Rahul Dravid scored 35 to clinch the victory for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
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Mumbai Indians entered the final as clear favourites against Chennai Super Kings with Sachin Tendulkar in tremendous form. CSK was the first to bat and with Suresh Raina scoring 57 off 35 balls, they were able to take their total to 168/5. In reply, Tendulkar provided them with a good start once again as he scored 48 but with Mumbai Indians losing wickets at regular intervals, CSK were able to clinch their maiden title. Shadab Jakati got 2 wickets while Muttiah Muralidharan, Doug Bollinger and Albie Morkel got one each as MI fell short of the target by 22 runs.
However, the season did not end on a high note for the tournament. Lalit Modi, the chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier League, was stripped of all his posts in Indian cricket and suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) after he was accused of a wide range of financial impropriety, from rigging bidding deals related to the IPL, offering bribes, betting and money laundering. He was informed of his suspension right after the IPL 2010 final and the papers were served by one of the few leading board officials to attend the game.
First Published: Mar 16, 2019 14:26 IST
