Despite its share of controversies and the heady mix of glamour and
cricket, the Indian Premier League's first edition would be best
remembered for the triumph of the underdog wherein a retired spin
legend inspired the cheapest franchisee of the event to an unexpected
title win.
Shane Warne, considered by many as the best captain that Australia
never had, showed just how much more the team Down Under would have
gained from him by leading a pack of unheralded players to a Rs 4.8
crore prize cheque, thus rounding off 44 days of a soap opera that had
everything -- from drama to emotion -- for prime-time viewers.

An idea that many said was born out of the BCCI's need to counter the
rebel Indian Cricket League, IPL was a success story even before a
ball was bowled when sponsors and TV channels queued up to get a stake
in what was to become one of the richest domestic leagues in any sport.

And when it actually took off, Lalit Modi's brain child only grew
bigger with fans readily lapping up the idea of city-based rivalries
even if that meant cheering the dismissal of perhaps their most
revered icon Sachin Tendulkar.

The cricket dished out was equally exciting and the foreign recruits
along with some exciting new Indian faces enthralled the packed
stadias of the eight cities where the franchises were based. source :PTI