The IPL 2022 got underway on Saturday evening at the Wankhede Stadium with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on runner-ups Kolkata Knight Riders in an exciting clash. Ravindra Jadeja had all eyes on him as he lead CSK for the first time, taking over from MS Dhoni, while KKR also have a new skipper, Shreyas Iyer.
This is also a big event for The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as they bring the IPL back to India and the board will be hoping for no hiccups in the tournament this time as last year when the IPL 2021 was suspended mid-season due to covid-19 outbreak in four different franchises.
Before the start of the game, the BCCI also made a touching gesture in paying their tributes to Shane Warne, who passed away recently. Warne was the first IPL winning skipper, when in 2008 he famously led a young, inexperienced, lacking big international stars Rajasthan Royals team to the IPL title.
As the players prepared to take the field, the BCCI paid an emotional tribute to the greatest ever leg-spinner. A picture of Warne in the Royals jersey was displayed on the giant screen in the stadium with the pink colour, associated with RR, sprawling in the background.
Here’s the image:
On March 4th, Warne was found unresponsive in his villa in Thailand of a ‘suspected heart attack’ with a later statement coming from Warne’s management confirming his demise at the age of 52.
The leg-spinner had made his debut against India in 1992, and went on to become arguably the greatest bowler in the history of the game, claiming 1001 international wickets – 293 in ODIs and 708 Test wickets – a tally only bettered by Sri Lanka’s Muralitharan who snared 1347 international dismissals. Following his international retirement in 2007, Warne led RR to the inaugural IPL title.
Tributes have been pouring in from all corners since then for the legendary cricketer, celebrating his on and off-field life.
