March has traditionally been the month of exams and April and May are the summer holidays in India. But the equation has slightly changed since the inception of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008. While March remains the month of examinations, the next two months have been as much about the IPL fever as about summer holidays over the last seven years.

The only exception to this was in 2010, when the IPL was advanced to March-April since the domestic calendar had to be tweaked in the wake of the World Cup that India was to host in 2011. As a result, the IPL’s third edition started on March 12.

But the season actually settled in on March 13. Not only because of Yusuf Pathan’s whirlwind century for Rajasthan Royals but more importantly because the Mumbai Indians started its new season. The Mumbai Indians had moved a few metres from their traditional home ground to the Brabourne Stadium since the Wankhede Stadium was being renovated.

And the MI’s season-opener turned out to be on the most memorable games not only for the Paltan but also for the whole of IPL family. When the burly Pathan came in to bat, Royals were stuttering at 40 for three in 6.3 overs, chasing a gargantuan target of 213. But his inconceivable 37-ball effort, which included nine boundaries and eight towering sixes added an extra josh to the ‘dhol-tasha’ players who enthralled the spectators all through the early evening match.

Sixty-four balls hence, when Yusuf walked a long walk back to the dugout, thanks to a piece of brilliance in the field by Mumbai Indians’ R Sathish, the Royals could smell victory, needing 39 off 17 balls. The Mumbai Indians then pulled its act together and eventually held the Royals at bay, winning by just four runs.

Besides the Yusuf blitzkrieg, the evening will also be remembered for a first in the IPL history. In the 119 IPL games played till then, each of the eight teams had fielded four overseas players, the maximum allowed, in their eleven.

The trend was changed when Mumbai Indians went in with just three overseas players in their starting line-up. Barring Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga and Ryan McLaren, the remaining eight players were Indian cricketers. And the domestic players overshadowed the much-fancied international stars featuring in the match, including Sachin Tendulkar, Jayasuriya, Zaheer Khan, Shane Warne, Malinga and Graeme Smith. Had it not been for Ambati Rayudu (55 off 33) and Saurabh Tiwary (53 off 33) stitching together an 111-run stand for the fourth wicket, the Mumbai Indians would have struggled to cross the 200-run mark, and even Malinga’s outstanding spell that read 4-0-19-3 wouldn’t have been enough for to lead MI to a memorable victory.