The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the biggest sports leagues in the world where the best cricket players compete against each other. BCCI launched this league in 2008 after India won the inaugural T20 World Cup in the year 2007. The craze for T20 cricket increased year after year and now, it is the most followed form of the game. Several new nations have progressed in the T20 arena as it is a short and entertaining format.
Speaking of the IPL, when the tournament was started, no one would expect that every year the fans will see 4-5 players register a hundred in this competition. The reason behind it was the players found it hard to complete a century in the ODI format so, it was very difficult to imagine a player recording a century inside 20 overs. However, the players have defied the odds and now, all the IPL teams have had at least one centurion in their history.
Here is a list of the first-century scorer for each IPL team.
Kolkata Knight Riders – Brendon McCullum
The former New Zealand skipper, Brendon McCullum lit up the Indian Premier League on its first night with a sparkling hundred against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Playing for KKR in the tourney opener, McCullum played a fiery knock of 158 runs from 73 deliveries. He had an unbelievable strike rate of 216.43 and his performance helped KKR win the match with supreme ease.
Chennai Super Kings – Michael Hussey
Not even 24 hours had passed after McCullum’s innings and the IPL got its second centurion. Chennai Super Kings played their first match of the tournament against Kings XI Punjab and Australian batsman, Michael Hussey scored 116 runs off 54 balls to power CSK to a score of 240 runs. His innings comprised of 8 fours and 9 sixes.
Mumbai Indians – Sanath Jayasuriya
The most successful team in IPL history, Mumbai Indians did not have a great season in 2008 but the team’s Sri Lankan opener, Sanath Jayasuriya had stolen the show in Mumbai’s match against Chennai Super Kings. The Super Kings set a target of 157 runs for Mumbai and the Sachin Tendulkar-led franchise chased down the score in just 13.5 overs. Jayasuriya scored 114 runs off just 48 balls to guide Mumbai home.
Kings XI Punjab – Shaun Marsh
Australian batsman, Shaun Marsh surprised everyone with his batting exploits in IPL 2008 as the left-handed batsman ended the season as the highest run-scorer. Marsh used to open the innings for Kings XI Punjab and in a league match against Rajasthan Royals, Punjab played smashed 115 runs off 69 deliveries to help his team beat the Royals by 41 runs.
Delhi Daredevils/Capitals – AB de Villiers
The former South African captain, AB de Villiers is popular for his match-winning contributions to the Royal Challengers Bangalore franchise. However, before playing for RCB, de Villiers was a part of Delhi and he emerged as the team’s first-ever centurion. IPL 2009 was played in South Africa and the right-handed batsman took advantage of his home conditions to play a knock of 105 runs against the mighty Chennai Super Kings.
Royal Challengers Bangalore – Manish Pandey
The first Indian player to record a century in IPL was the right-handed batsman from Karnataka, Manish Pandey. The batsman was a part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad in 2009 and playing against Deccan Chargers at Centurion, the top-order batsman produced a masterclass. He scored 114 runs from 73 balls and remained not out to guide RCB to a huge score and ultimately, Bangalore won the match by 12 runs.
Rajasthan Royals – Yusuf Pathan
Yusuf Pathan owned the bowlers in the first few editions of IPL and he kicked off IPL 2010 with a whirlwind century against Mumbai Indians. Although the Rajasthan Royals could not win that match, his 38-ball hundred established Yusuf as the best Indian T20 batsman back then.
Sunrisers Hyderabad – David Warner
The Hyderabad-based franchise which was earlier known as Deccan Chargers changed to Sunrisers Hyderabad a few seasons after the tournament’s inception. David Warner became the face of that franchise and the skipper proved to be the first batsman to score a hundred for Hyderabad when he played an innings of 126 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2017.
