IPL: 5 cricketers who were only part of first edition

In 2008, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) came up with the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is currently the biggest cricketing league in the world. The spectacular T20 tournament grabbed a lot of attention in its debut season as it roped in a plethora of star players from India and overseas.

Distinguished cricketing stars such as Sachin Tendulkar, Adam Gilchrist, Mahendra Singh Dhoni Muttiah Muralitharan, Shane Warne, and Sanath Jayasuriya lighten up the maiden IPL edition with their presence. After the first installment of the league, many big names were featured in the next editions of the popular T20 league, while a few couldn’t play in the subsequent seasons of the tournament due to some reasons.

Here are five cricketers who were part of IPL’s maiden edition

5. Sohail Tanvir

Sohail Tanvir was known for outfoxing batters in the T20 format with his variations and unique action. In the initial stages of his international career, he caused a lot of trouble for batters with his effective bowling, and the same happened in IPL. At the 2008 IPL mega-auction, Rajasthan Royals (RR) believed in the Rawalpindi-born pacer to bolster their pace attack.

Under the impressive leadership of Shane Warne, Tanvir performed exceptionally and ended up as the leading wicket-taker in the tournament. Scalping 22 wickets in 11 matches at an economy of 6.46, he became the first Purple Cap winner in the tournament. In the 24th IPL match, he wreaked havoc on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batters with his aggressive pace bowling.

With 6/14 bowling figures, the speedster helped his team to outclass the powerful MS Dhoni-led squad with eight wickets in hand. During his fiery spell, he picked up big names such as Parthiv Patel, Stephen Fleming, and Albie Morkel. After the opening season, Tanvir couldn’t feature in the league as Pakistan players were barred entry in the further IPL editions due to strained relations between India and Pakistan following the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.