It was 2009 and T20 cricket was trying to find its feet. There was still an element of doubt attached to the format but the stakes were slowly becoming higher, with India having already won the World T20 in 2007 and the first edition of the IPL having become a huge success.
The second season of the IPL had to be organized in South Africa because the general elections in India were on, but what was astonishing was the sheer number of spectators at every ground. Be it Newlands, St George’s Park, Wanderers or Kingsmead — virtually every game of an Indian domestic competition was a sell-out. The crowds were not just Indians and Pakistanis living in South Africa.
