I never thought IPL would be so big says Sachin Tendulkar

The Indian Premier League (IPL) was inaugurated back in 2008 after India won the first ever Twenty20 World Cup held in South Africa a year before. There was huge excitement about the tournament as rival players were playing on the same team and there were various youngsters who were going to experience the real pressure off rubbing shoulders with big stars for the first time in their careers.

The 2008 season was started with a bang with Kolkata Knight Riders smashing the Royal Challengers Bangalore and Brendon McCullum becoming one of the first foreigners to be worshipped by the Indians. Later on, the tournament emerged to be one of the most competitive leagues and soon went on to become the best in the world. The tournament has seen highs which no other league can ever match while it has also seen lows through which the whole fans have lived through.

No one ever thought that this cricket extravaganza was going to be one of the best leagues in the world but here it is ten years into its existence and soaring high into the clouds which other leagues can only watch from below.

The opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League 2017 saw many veterans of the game felicitated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag were some of the greats of the game who were presented with a golden bat.

Sachin while talking to Ravi Shastri said that he cannot be more surprised that the league has made it so far. He said that when the first season started he never thought the league would so successful. Sachin said, “When the first season (2008) was announced, I never thought it would be so big.”

He continued to praise the league and said it is a big achievement to be going strong even after being 10 years into its existence. The great Indian batter said, “I can’t believe that IPL has completed 10 years. It is a big achievement.”

When asked which team looks the strongest, the Mumbai man cheekily dodged the question by saying that all the teams are well balanced.