From Shikhar Dhawan's 'thigh-fives', MS Dhoni's 'helicopter shot' to Dwayne Bravo's 'champion dance,' fans will be able to recreate those memories and experience the highlights of 50 of the best matches of the IPL
With live cricket put on hold, Star Sports brings back the best matches of the IPL to help fans relive their favourite memories from the tournament. The IPL has always evoked wild emotions amongst its vociferous fans and this time too, Star Sports will bring back the same thrill.
From Shikhar Dhawan's 'thigh-fives', Dhoni's 'helicopter shot' to Dwayne Bravo's 'champion dance', from Rohit Sharma's brilliant captaincy to Virat Kohli's exhilarating performances, fans will be able to recreate those memories and experience the IPL pulse with highlights of 50 of the best matches of the IPL from the previous seasons.
Below are some of the most exciting games in IPL history which will be part of the 50 greatest matches that will be aired on the network.
IPL 2008: Match 1, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Knight Riders
The match where it all began, Indian cricket stepped on to the next level when IPL was introduced in 2008, when RCB & KKR took the main stage in Bangalore and played the first-ever match of IPL. A packed Chinnaswamy Stadium witnessed Brendon McCullum's brilliance as he massacred the RCB bowlers and scored an unbeaten 158 off 73 balls to help his team reach 222/3. A poor performance from RCB's top order resulted in the collapse and KKR won by a huge margin of 140 runs.
IPL 2019: Match 35, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challenge Bangalore
A testimony of why 'King Kohli' is best in the business, this match showcased Virat Kohli's brilliance in batting as he went on to score his 5th IPL century and along with Moeen Ali took his team to a huge total of 213/4 in 20 overs. KKR's top order struggled but Nitish Rana & Andre Russell caused some worry amongst the RCB bowlers with their 100-run partnership but RCB managed to scrape through and win their 2nd match of the tournament.
IPL 2015: Final, Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings
Rohit Sharma had proved to be an excellent replacement for Ricky Ponting as MI's captain in 2013 as he took his team to their first-ever IPL trophy. In 2015 MI & CSK repeated the 2013 final fixture and the captain led from the front as Ro'hit' Sharma scored a blistering 50 off 26 balls helping his team to reach 202/5 in 20 overs. CSK had a stable start but could only manage 161 in their 20 overs leading to MI's second IPL trophy in which captain Rohit Sharma was awarded the Man of the Match.
IPL 2018: Match 24, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings
CSK were making a comeback to IPL in 2018 and 'Thalaiva' Dhoni was yet again given the job to lead the side. RCB vs CSK is one of the most exciting battles of IPL which every fan looks forward to and this match proved to justify the hype created around these two teams. RCB started off brilliantly with De Kock & ABD's brilliance and scored a mammoth score of 205. At 74/4, captain Dhoni came in for CSK and yet again proved why he is the best finisher of the game as he went on to finish the chase with a six and ended up scoring 70 off just 34 balls taking his team to their 5th victory of the season.
IPL 2014: Match 56, Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals
With the final spot of the top four up for grabs, both teams were looking for a win, but it was Mumbai Indians who were under pressure as they had to win at a good pace to overcome the Royals with a better net run-rate. Sanju Samson & Karun Nair's blistering start helped the Royals to 189/4 in 20 overs. MI had a big task in hand as they had to score 190 in 14.3 overs to qualify for the play-offs and Corey Anderson's marvellous 95 off 44 balls helped MI to achieve their target as they won a dramatic match, in the end, giving the crowd at Wankhede an exhilarating experience.
Watch the top 50 exciting matches from the previous IPL seasons at 8 PM & 8.30 PM only on Star Sports 1 & Star Sports 1 Hindi starting March 29.