Indian Premier League


The Indian Premier League is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India, organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Founded in 2007, it features ten city-based franchise teams. The IPL is the most popular and richest cricket league in the world and the 13th richest sporting league in the world by revenue. It is held annually between March and May. It has an exclusive window in the Future Tours Programme of the International Cricket Council, resulting in fewer international tours occurring during the seasons. It is also the most viewed Indian sports event, per the Broadcast Audience Research Council.
In 2010, the IPL became the first sporting event to broadcast live on YouTube. In 2014, it ranked sixth in attendance among all sports leagues. Inspired by the success of the IPL, other Indian sports leagues have been established. The IPL is the second-richest sports league in the world by per-match value, after the National Football League. In 2023, the league sold its media rights for the next four seasons for US$6.4 billion to Viacom18 and Star Sports, which meant that each IPL match was valued at $13.4 million. As of 2025, there have been 18 seasons of the tournament. The current champions are the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who won the 2025 season after defeating the Punjab Kings in the final.
A women's edition of the Indian Premier League, known as the Women's Premier League, was established in 2022 and had its first season in 2023.

History

Background

In April 2007, Essel Group launched the Indian Cricket League in partnership with IL&FS. The ICL was not recognized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India or the International Cricket Council. Moreover, the BCCI was unhappy about its committee members joining the ICL executive board. In response, the BCCI increased the prize money for its domestic tournaments and imposed lifetime bans on players who joined the ICL, which it considered a rebel league.

Foundation

On 13 September 2007, as the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 began, the BCCI launched the Indian Premier League, an annual franchise-based Twenty20 cricket competition. The inaugural season was scheduled to start in April 2008, commencing with a "high-profile ceremony" in New Delhi. BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi, who led the IPL initiative, provided details of the tournament, including its format, prize money, franchise revenue system, and squad composition rules. The league, to be managed by a seven-person governing council, would also serve as the qualifying mechanism for that year's Champions League Twenty20.
To determine team ownership, an auction for the franchises was held on 24 January 2008. The reserve prices for the eight franchises totalled $400 million, but the auction ultimately raised $723.59 million. The league officially commenced in April 2008, featuring Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Deccan Chargers, Rajasthan Royals, Kolkata Knight Riders, and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
In 2009, the BCCI and other national boards offered amnesty to rival ICL's players and officials, provided they terminated their contracts. The resulting player exodus and financial difficulties forced ICL to shut down later that year.
File:IPL T20 Chennai vs Kolkata.JPG|thumb|right|250px|A match during the 2008 IPL inaugural season in Chennai

Expansions and terminations

New franchises, Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala, joined the league before the fourth season in 2011. The Sahara Adventure Sports Group purchased the Pune franchise for $370 million, while Rendezvous Sports World bought the Kochi franchise for $333.3 million. The Kochi franchise was terminated after just one season due to their failure to pay the BCCI the 10% bank guarantee element of the franchise fee.
In September 2012, the Deccan Chargers franchise agreement was terminated after the BCCI failed to find new owners. In October, an auction was held for a replacement franchise; Sun TV Network won the bid for what became the Hyderabad franchise; the team was named Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Pune Warriors India withdrew from the IPL in May 2013 due to financial differences with the BCCI. The BCCI officially terminated the franchise in October, and the league reverted to eight teams.
In June 2015, the two-time champions Chennai Super Kings and the inaugural season champions Rajasthan Royals were suspended for two seasons following their involvement in a spot-fixing and betting scandal. The two teams were replaced for two seasons by Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions, based in Pune and Rajkot, respectively.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the venue for the 2020 season was moved and games were played in the United Arab Emirates. In August 2021, the BCCI announced that two new franchises, based in two of six shortlisted cities, would join the league in the 2022 season. In closed bidding held in October, the RPSG Group and CVC Capital won the bids for the teams, paying and, respectively. The teams were subsequently named Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans.
Several IPL franchise owners have expanded their business by acquiring teams in other franchise leagues, such as the West Indies' Caribbean Premier League, South Africa's SA20, the UAE's International League T20 and the USA's Major League Cricket.
In 2023, owners of three existing IPL teams – Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured the rights for the homonymous franchises in the Women's Premier League.
In addition to these acquisitions, Delhi Capitals also bought a stake in MLC's Seattle Orcas.
In 2025, stakes in teams from The Hundred became available. RPSG Group bought a 70% stake in Manchester Originals for around £81m. Reliance Industries bought a 49% stake in the Oval Invincibles for £60m, renaming the team MI London in December 2025. Yorkshire sold 100% of Northern Superchargers to Sun Group for £100m, before announcing the team would be known as Sunrisers Leeds in November 2025. The GMR Group had already acquired Hampshire in a 2024 deal, including the club's 51% stake in the Southern Brave and bought the remaining 49% for around £48m.

Organization

The IPL's headquarters are located in the Cricket Centre, next to the Wankhede Stadium in Churchgate, Mumbai. The Governing Council is responsible for the league's functions, including the organization of tournaments., its members included:
The 2022 season of the IPL offered total prize money of, with the winning team netting and the second-placed team. League rules mandate that half of any prize money must be distributed among the franchise's players. Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their first IPL title in 2025, receiving ₹20 crore, while runners-up Punjab Kings earned ₹12 crore.

Rules and format

The IPL has several rules which vary from the established laws of cricket or those used in other Twenty20 leagues:
  • IPL games incorporate television timeouts. Each team is given a two-and-a-half-minute "strategic time-out" during each innings. One must be taken by the bowling team between the conclusion of the 6th and 9th overs and the other by the batting team between the end of the 13th and 16th overs. A penalty may be imposed if umpires find teams misusing this privilege.
  • Since the 2018 season, the Decision Review System has been used in all IPL matches, allowing each team two opportunities in each innings to review an on-field umpire's decision. From the 2023 season, this was extended to allow the review of wides and no-balls.
  • If the bowling team does not complete its overs in the allocated time, it may place only four fielders outside of the fielding restrictions circle for the remainder of the innings, or the match referee may impose financial sanctions on the bowling team after the match, with players fined a proportion of their match fee.
  • Teams can use a substitute, termed an "impact player", from a list of five players named as possible substitutes. The substitution can be made before the start of the innings, when a wicket falls, when a batter retires or at the end of an over. Both teams can introduce a substitute once per match.
  • Teams can declare their playing eleven to the match referee before or after the toss.
  • A five-run penalty is imposed if a fielder or wicket-keeper makes an unfair movement while the bowler is bowling and the ball is designated as dead ball.
  • Teams can include a maximum of four overseas players in their playing eleven. If a team wants an overseas player as impact player, then it must include a maximum of three overseas players in their playing eleven.
  • Squads can include a maximum of 25 players, including up to eight overseas players.
  • Since the 2024 season, bowlers have been allowed to deliver two bouncers an over. This change in playing conditions was trialled during the 2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India's domestic T20 tournament.

    Teams

The IPL began in 2008 IPL with eight teams. Over the years, the league saw several team changes. Deccan Chargers, were terminated in 2012 due to financial issues and were replaced by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013. Kochi Tuskers Kerala debuted in 2011 but lasted only one season before being terminated for contract breaches. Pune Warriors India participated from 2011 IPL to 2013 IPL but withdrew due to financial disputes. In 2016, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended for two years due to the 2013 betting scandal, leading to the temporary inclusion of Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions, both of which played in 2016 IPL and 2017 IPL before being dissolved when CSK and RR returned in 2018 IPL. In 2022 IPL, the league expanded again with the introduction of Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, making it a ten-team tournament. Over time, some teams underwent rebranding, such as Delhi Daredevils becoming Delhi Capitals in 2019 and Kings XI Punjab rebranding as Punjab Kings in 2021. Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians remain the most successful franchises, winning five IPL titles each. As of the 2025 season, the league consists of 10 teams.