After the immense success of the inaugural season, IPL 2009 carried great expectations
- IPL 2009 was played in South Africa instead of India
- South Africa’s local economy was boosted by US$100 million! due to IPL
- Deccan Chargers emerged eventual champions after defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 runs!
- Contracts of Pakistanis players were terminated amidst tensions between India & Pakistan
IPL 2009 (also called IPL 2) was the second season of the Indian Premier League. It was played in South Africa instead of India.
Due to the dates of general elections coinciding with the tournament, the Government of India refused to provide security thus leaving no options for the BCCI but to take the tournament abroad and choosing South Africa as the host.
It was a big let-down for the Indian audience who had to now enjoy the cricketing fair through their Television sets.
This resulted in viewership jumping to 200 million-plus alone in India, making it one of the most-watched sporting events in the World. The tournament was hailed as the second biggest cricket competition after the Cricket World Cup.
Deccan Chargers, against all odds, managed to win the competition after they crushed Royal Challengers Bangalore’s dream by six runs. It was surprising since the team hailing from Hyderabad had fared poorly in the first/previous season and finished at the bottom of the table with only 2 points!
But such is the beauty of the IPL, it’s anybody can beat anybody kinda scenario here.
VENUES
Since it was South Africa hosting the competition this time the earnings were expected to go down, considering the lower seating capacity of stadiums.
Still, the total attendance was thrice lesser than the IPL 2008 and stood around 1.5 million. Below are the names of eight stadiums in which all the 59 matches were played.
- Kingsmead – Durban
- Centurion – SuperSport Park
- Johannesburg – New Wanderers Stadium
- Newlands – Cape Town
- St George’s Park – Port Elizabeth
- Buffalo Park – East London
- De Beers Oval – Kimberley
- OUTsurance Oval – Bloemfontein
AUCTION & SIGNINGS
The Auction ceremony which was held on 6 February 2009 did not go as expected as only 17 out of 43 players were sold. The English all-rounders Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, each received the highest winning bid of USD 1.55 million from Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, respectively.
The teams shied in trading as well since only a handful of trades happened between the teams. Some of them were Ashish Nehra to Delhi Daredevils, Zaheer Khan to Mumbai Indians, Robin Uthappa to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Shikhar Dhawan to Mumbai Indians.
- Virat Kohli was re-signed by RCB this season, since then he has been their main man
- Dwayne Bravo & Ravindra Jadeja were re-signed by Mumbai Indians & Rajasthan Royals, respectively. Both of them would find success with different teams in the future.
Some legends retired after IPL 2008, namely, Shaun Pollock (Mumbai Indians), Darren Lehmann (Rajasthan Royals) and Stephen Fleming (Chennai Super Kings).
However, all of them then became coaches of their respective teams except Lehmann who coached Deccan Chargers and lifted the trophy with them, making him the only one to win the competition as a player and a coach.
- Rajasthan Royals proved to be the most profitable franchise after they registered a profit of 35 crores!
- Deccan Chargers, the champions, earned the highest revenue.
Rules & Regulations
All the rules except mentioned below were the same as the first season.
- Super-over replaced the Bowl-out rule in case of a tie.
- The players’ purchase cap was lifted from 5 to 7 million.
- The teams could now hire up to 10 overseas players in their squad.
- The strategic time-out limit was extended to 7.30 minute
POINTS TABLE
| Team | Played | Wins | Lose | NR | Points |
| Delhi Daredevils | 14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 20 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 14 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 17 |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore (Runner-up) | 14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 16 |
| Deccan Chargers (Champions) | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Kings XI Punjab | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| Rajasthan Royals | 14 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 13 |
| Mumbai Indians | 14 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 11 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 14 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 7 |
RECORDS
BY TEAMS
- Highest Score: Rajasthan Royals– 211/4 vs Kings XI Punjab
- Biggest Win by Runs: Chennai Super Kings-92 Runs vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
- Biggest Win by Wickets: Delhi Daredevils (10 Wickets) vs Kings XI Punjab
- Biggest Win by Balls Remaining: Deccan Chargers (41 Balls) vs Kolkata Knight Riders
BY PLAYERS
- Batting
- Most Runs: Matthew Hayden(Chennai Super Kings)- 582 Runs
- Best Strike Rate: Dwayne Smith(Deccan Chargers)- 162.88
- Most Sixes: Adam Gilchrist( Deccan Chargers)- 29 Sixes
- Most Fours: Matthew Hayden (Chennai Super Kings)- 60 Fours
- Highest Individual Score: Manish Pandey (Royal Challengers Bangalore)- 114*Runs
- Highest Partnership (Runs): N Ojha & G Smith (Rajasthan Royals)- 135 Runs
- Bowling
- Most Wickets: RP Singh (Deccan Chargers)- 23 Wickets
- Best Economy: Ravichandran Ashwin (Chennai Super Kings)- 3.25
- Best Bowling Figures: Anil Kumble (Royal Challengers Bangalore)- 5/5
- Best Bowling Average: Charl Langeveldt (Kolkata Knight Riders)-5.00
- Most Dot Balls: RP Singh(Deccan Chargers)-171 Balls
- Fielding
- Most Dismissals: Adam Gilchrist (Deccan Chargers)- 18 Dismissals
- Most Catches: AB de Villiers (Delhi Daredevils) – 13 Catches
