Cricket Photos

Best of IPL Season 3

April 25, 2010 23:04

The third season of the Indian Premier League had moments that cricket fans will cherish for a very long time. Players played hard and partied harder. Tough competitive cricket on the ground and great camaraderie off it showed that the Indian Premier League was much more than just a cricket tournament.

Some great knocks were played, some fiery spells were bowled and some scintillating catches were taken.

As the Cricket Carnival comes to its end with Chennai Super Kings crowned the new champions, here is a compilation of some of the best on and off-field moments of the Season 3.

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The third season of the Indian Premier League had moments that cricket fans will cherish for a very long time. Players played hard and partied harder. Tough competitive cricket on the ground and great camaraderie off it showed that the Indian Premier League was much more than just a cricket tournament.

Some great knocks were played, some fiery spells were bowled and some scintillating catches were taken.

As the Cricket Carnival comes to its end with Chennai Super Kings crowned as the new champions, here is a compilation of some of the best on and off-field moments of the Season 3.
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After making it to the semi-finals thrice in the three seasons and reaching finals twice, Ms Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings finally lifted the IPL Trophy in 2010. (Getty Images)
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Before the final between the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings commenced, a star-studded performance set the DY Patil Stadium on fire. Seen here is music maestro A R Rahman performing during the closing ceremony of the Indian Premier League. (Getty Images)
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Bollywood Star Bipasha Basu performs during the closing ceremony of the IPL final between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings played at DY Patil Stadium. (Getty Images)
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A dancer performs during the closing ceremony of the Indian Premier League final between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings played at DY Patil Stadium. (Getty Images)
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Bollywood star Shahid Kapoor performs during the closing ceremony of the Indian Premier League final between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. (Getty Images)
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But from the field, we first bring to you the best catches of the IPL Season 3.

Mumbai Indians' Harbhajan Singh exults after successfully catching Yusuf Pathan of the Rajasthan Royals at Sawai Mansingh Stadium. (Getty Images)
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Doug Bollinger of the Chennai Super Kings took a sensational catch to dismiss Yusuf Pathan of the Rajasthan Royals at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. He first took the catch on the boundary, lost his balance, threw the ball up in the air, crossed the rope, and came back in to collect it successfully. (Getty Images)
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Never known for his athleticism, Sourav Ganguly was in a new avatar in IPL Season 3. He took some sensational catches in the tournament. Here seen celebrating the catch of Andrew Symonds. (Getty Images)
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David Hussey of the Knight Riders took a spectacular catch to remove Paul Collingwood of the Delhi Daredevils during the league stage match at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. (Getty Images)
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Justin Kemp of the Chennai Super Kings took a sensational leaping catch to dismiss Virender Sehwag of the Delhi Daredevils in Delhi. (Getty Images)
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Dale Steyn of the Royal Challengers Bangalore seen here trying to take a difficult catch against the Deccan Chargers in Navi Mumbai. (Getty Images)
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One man had a terrific time in the outfield. David Warner took some of the best catches of the tournament. Some times it appeared as if the ball was finding him in the outfield. Here in the image, Warner is celebrating Yusuf Pathan's catch in Delhi. (Getty Images)
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And it was not just the fielding which drew people's attention to Warner. He shone with the willow too. In the 26th match of the tournament, Delhi had opted to bat against the Kolkata Knight Riders, but the start was definitely not a good one.

Three wickets fell in three overs. It would have been a total disaster had it not been for David Warner. He played out of his skin to hammer an unbeaten 107 runs off 69 balls. (PTI Photo)
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All those who said Sourav Ganguly was a spent force had to eat their words after his stupendous innings against the Deccan Chargers. Electing to bat, Ganguly slammed 88 runs in 54 balls.

During his knock, Ganguly hit nine fours and five sky-towering sixes. He later shepherded his resources well while defending a total of 181 runs and restricted the Chargers for 157. (PTI Photo)
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Delhi dasher Virender Sehwag though had a comparatively quiet tournament, he showed his liking for aggressive strokeplay against the Rajasthan Royals in the sixth match of the IPL 3.

Chasing a target of 142 runs, Sehwag went ballistic while wickets kept tumbling around him. But known to play in the simplest and the fiercest manner, the former Daredevils skipper hammered 75 runs in just 34 balls to single-handedly take Delhi to a 6-wicket win.
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The flamboyant off-spinner Harbhajan Singh has time and again surprised many with his batting prowess.

In the match against the Deccan Chargers, Bhajji played the role of a saviour with his magnificent knock of 49 that came off just 18 balls.

Mumbai were tottering at 119 for 7 in the 17th over despite Sachin's solid 55 runs. Bhajji came and smacked Deccan bowlers all over the park to power Mumbai to a score of 172 runs. (PTI Photo)
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He had many eyebrows raised when he fetched a whopping $750,000 for a season from the Mumbai Indians. What was so special about him? Well, it didn't take long to get the answer.

In the match against the Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai were tottering with 133 runs in the 17th over.Come Pollard and the scoreboard soared to a new high.

He slammed unbeaten 45 runs in just 13 balls with two 4s and five sky-screechers to take his side's score to 183 runs. (PTI Photo)
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In the second game of the tournament, Yusuf proved how dangerous he could be for any opposition. Chasing a mammoth total of 212, Yusuf slammed a 37-ball 100 against the Mumbai Indians, fastest ton in this season and second fastest of the tournament, to take his side to the threshold of victory. But the moment he was run out, Rajasthan made a mess of the opportunity he had created and lost by 4 runs. (PTI Photo)
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It was the seventh match of the Indian Premier League and the second match for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. After going down to Kolkata in their first game, Bangalore were up against the Kings XI Punjab.

Opting to bat, Kings XI Punjab posted a big total of 203 and looked well placed for a win. But Bangalore opener Jacques Kallis had other ideas.

He slammed an unbeaten 89 runs with the help of 8 boundaries and 5 sixes and guided his side to an 8-wicket win. What made his innings a special one that with this win, Bangalore looked a more cohesive and determined side. (PTI Photo)
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Chennai skipper MS Dhoni did not have a consistent run in the tournament. But he played when it mattered the most. It was the must-win game against Kings XI Punjab that had to decide if they could make it to the semi-finals.

Chasing a 193-run target, Chennai had a disastrous start with Murali Vijay and Matthew Hayden falling early. Suresh Raina and S Badrinath consolidated the Super Kings but it still was a big task. As Raina perished, came Dhoni, not in best of his form. He too had a shaky start and it seemed it was all over for them. But Dhoni proved why Chennai were the Super Kings as he exploded in the last two overs to score 30 runs and seal the semis berth for his side. (PTI Photo)
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Tirumalasetti Suman or T Suman played some match-winning knocks this season, but his best came against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Chasing a competitive 184, Suman came up with runs when it mattered most for his team and shared an unbeaten 46-ball 91-run fourth-wicket stand with Andrew Symonds. Suman bejewelled his innings of unbeaten 78 runs with six fours and three sixes. The duo took the defending champions to win with four balls to spare. (PTI Photo)
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But eventually it was the Master Blaster who ruled with the willow.

Just a day before his birthday, he got the perfect gift! Sachin was adjudged as the best batsmen under the category of both popular awards as well as the Jury awards.

Having scored 5 half-centuries in the current season of the cricket bonanza, Sachin was the highest run scorer of the tournament and the proud orange cap winner scored a whooping 618 runs despite hurting his hand in the semi-final making him the only player to cross the 600-runs mark.

Another feather to the genius' cap - Sachin was also the best captain in the first IPL Awards ceremony. (PTI Photo)
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The IPL fever gripped everyone alike this season. Even the Dalai Lama couldn't escape it. As the fiery tournament decided to move to Dharamshala to cool down for two of its league matches, Dalai Lama catered to his cricket loving instincts by coming for the match.
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One of the most captivating on-field moments of the IPL 3 was the Super Over between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings. An otherwise off-colour Yuvraj Singh, shone with the bat, both during the innings as well as the Super Over to hand his side victory.
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Kolkata Knight Riders mascot Hooglee kept everyone entertained on the boundary line. (Getty Image)
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Their spirits did soar high indeed. Seen in ensembles designed specifically for her team, Neeta Ambani was the active Ambani this season. Taking a leaf from Preity Zinta's diary, Neeta Ambani was seen regaling with her team on all occasions. Seen here with ace bowler Harbhajan Singh. (Getty Image)
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Tendlya unleashed his terror in almost every match to become the highest run getter of the Tournament and won the orange cap. His son made his presence felt in the Mumbai Indians camp by being there for his Daddy strongest. (Getty Image)
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The Master Blaster's otherwise guarded family came in the limelight to extend their support and good wishes for Sachin and Mumbai Indians. The doting father shares a special moment with his little ones. (Getty Image)
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It was the turn of the Mallya scion to take the reigns of the Royal Challengers Bangalore from his father this season. Siddharth Mallya, the Prince of Good Times, gave the paparazzi lots to talk about as he was extensively linked to Bollywood diva, Deepika Padukone. (Getty Image)
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Co-owners of the Rajasthan Royals ensured that they were present to support their side in its every encounter. Their support exuded a lot of zeal too! (Getty Image)
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The Indian Premier League season 3 was bigger, better and bolder. As glamour met the game, there was more than just cricket that was being played. New connections being made between Shilpa Shetty of Royals and Vijay Mallya of Challengers. (Getty Image)
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Preity Zinta hoped against hope but her team finished at the bottom of the IPL table. As the bollywood beauties descended on to the cricket field, the histrionics were quite conspicuous. Shilpa Shetty of Rajasthan Royals consoling Preity after her side defeated Kings XI Punjab or is she?
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Royal Challengers Bangalore had all the beauties of the tinsel town flying to the venues to support them. Katrina Kaif was spotted on numerous occasions with Siddharth Mallya. (Getty Image)
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Sachin reiterated his iconic status yet again by comprehensively leading the Mumbai Indians to the finals of the IPL and also emerged as the most searched IPL player this season closely followed by Sourav Ganguly. Dada too was his side's Knight in shining armour. The two stars share a lighter moment. (Getty Image)
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It was family time for King Khan too. Star kids became a regular picture on the cricket ground. Shahrukh Khan seen here with his son Aryan and daughter Suhana. (Getty Image)
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The fire on the ground was so intense that it was rubbed on to the post match parties. 'The IPL Nights' as they were popularly called were the potent mix of cricket and bollywood peppered with lots of glamour and glitz. (Getty Image)
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Just when we thought the tournament was advancing to its end, there were more fireworks in store. The Shashi Tharoor- Lalit Modi controversy sparked by a supposedly innocuous tweet took a leap so huge that it ended straight into Parliament. Seen here, the two in ostensibly happier times. (Getty Image)

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