The Indian Premier League, also known as the IPL, is one of the most popular Indian cricket competitions in the world. It is hotly contested each year by eight teams during the months of March, April, and May. Below you will find everything that you need to know about this highly entertaining T20 tournament.
When Did the Indian Premier League Come into Being?
In September 2007, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BBCI) announced that the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League would be launched in April the following year. In January 2008, an auction was held in order to determine the owners of the teams that would participate in the league.
The winners were eventually announced to the public, as well as the cities that the eight teams would be from Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Mohali. In the end, the eight teams were sold for a combined total of $723.59 million.
Fun Facts
Praveen Kumar has bowled the most dot balls in IPL history. He played 119 matches and bowled a staggering 1075 dot balls. To add to this, he has also bowled the most maidens (fourteen). He also bowled the very first over of the IPL.
Dale Steyn bowled the highest number of dot balls in one IPL tournament. In 2013, he bowled 407 balls, with 212 of them being dots.
David Warner and Chris Gayle have won the orange cap two times. Warner won it in 2015 and 2017, while Gayle won it in 2011 and 2012. For those of you who don’t know, an orange cap is worn by the leading run-scorer throughout the tournament, with the eventual top scorer getting to keep it.
Bhuveneshwar Kumar has won the purple cap twice, which is more than any other bowler. He won it in 2016 (23 wickets) and in 2017 (26 wickets). The purple cap is worn by the tournament’s leading wicket taker.
Chris Gayle has scored the most IPL centuries (six) and has the most Man of the Match awards (twenty). If this wasn’t enough, he also has the record for the highest IPL score. While playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2013, he scored 175 runs off just 66 balls against Pune Warriors.
Brendon McCullum scored 158* in his first IPL innings becoming the player who scored the competition’s first run, four, six, fifty, hundred and one-hundred and fifty. He was also the first to be awarded Man of the Match.
You can now show your friends and family that you know your cricket by sharing these fun facts with them. I’m sure they will be just as intrigued as you were.
What Teams Compete in the Indian Premier League?
There are always eight teams competing, but it has not always been the same teams since 2008. In the table below you will find information regarding the eight teams that currently compete in the IPL.
| Team | City | Home Ground | Debut | Owner |
| Chennai Super Kings | Chennai, Tamil Nadu | M.A. Chidambaram Stadium | 2008 | India Cements |
| Delhi Capitals | Delhi, NCR | Feroz Shah Kotla Ground | 2008 | GMR Group and JSW Group |
| Kings XI Punjab | Mohali, Punjab | PCA Stadium, Mohali Holkar Stadium, Indore | 2008 | Preity Zinta, Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | Kolkata, West Bengal | Eden Gardens | 2008 | Mehta Group and Red Chillies Entertainment |
| Rajasthan Royals | Jaipur, Rajasthan | Sawai Mansingh Stadium | 2008 | Manoj Badale |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | Bengaluru, Karnataka | M. Chinnaswamy Stadium | 2008 | United Spirits |
| Mumbai Indians | Mumbai, Maharashtra | Wankhede Stadium | 2008 | Reliance Industries |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | Hyderabad, Telengana | Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium | 2013 | Sun Tv Network |
Below you will find the former teams that competed in this tournament:
| Team | City | Home Ground | Debut | Dissolved | Owner |
| Decan Chargers | Hyderabad, Telangana | Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium | 2008 | 2012 | T. Venkattram Reddy and Gayatri Reddy |
| Kochi Tuskers Kerala | Kochi, Kerala | Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium | 2010 | 2011 | Rendezvous Consortium |
| Pune Warriors India | Pune, Maharashtra | DY Patil Stadium, Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium | 2010 | 2014 | Subrata Roy |
| Rising Pune Supergiant | Pune, Maharashtra | Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium | 2016 | 2018 | Sanjiv Goenka |
| Gujarat Lions | Rajkot, Gujarat | Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium | 2016 | 2018 | Keshav Bansal |
Indian Premier League Format and Player Acquisition
Each team plays every other team twice home-and-away. At the end of the round-robin league, the top four qualify for the play-offs. The team that finishes first will play the team the finishes second, with the winning side qualifying for the IPL final. The two teams that finished third and fourth will play each other, and the winning team will play the team that lost in the first match.
The two teams will then play in the final for the chance to be crowned IPL champions.
Player Acquisition
Teams can get new players in three different ways:
- Annual player auction: Players register for the auction and set their price. The franchise owners then bid for each player, with the highest bid winning.
- Trading players: During a trading window, a player can be traded (if he consents to the move), with the new team paying the difference in the contract. There are three trading windows – two before the auction begins and one after (before the tournament has started).
- Signing replacements: Those players that are unsold at the auction can be signed as replacement players.
Composition Rules
- Each squad must have 18-25 players (no more than eight overseas players).
- The whole salary of the team must not go above 80 crores.
- Players under the age of 19 cannot be selected unless they have played first-class cricket.
- Only four overseas players can be in a team’s starting XI.
Prize Money
The 2019 IPL had a total prize fund of 50 crores, with the victorious team picking up a cheque for 20 crores. The team that finishes second received 12.5 crores, while the teams that came third and fourth received 8.75 crores each.
Which Teams Have Won This Prestigious Tournament?
| Year | Winner | Winning Margin | Runner-Up |
| 2008 | Rajasthan Royals | 3 wickets | Chennai Super Kings |
| 2009 | Deccan Chargers | 6 runs | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| 2010 | Chennai Super Kings | 22 runs | Mumbai Indians |
| 2011 | Chennai Super Kings | 58 runs | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| 2012 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 5 wickets | Chennai Super Kings |
| 2013 | Mumbai Indians | 23 runs | Chennai Super Kings |
| 2014 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 3 wickets | Kings XI Punjab |
| 2015 | Mumbai Indians | 41 runs | Chennai Super Kings |
| 2016 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 8 runs | Royal Challengers Bangalore |
| 2017 | Mumbai Indians | 1 run | Rising Pune Supergiant |
| 2018 | Chennai Super Kings | 8 wickets | Sunrisers Hyderabad |
| 2019 | Mumbai Indians | 1 run | Chennai Super Kings |
So, as you can see from the table, Mumbai Indians are the most successful team as they have won the competition four times. The Chennai Super Kings have won it three times, but they have lost the final four times.
Don’t Forget to Check out Our IPL Prognostics
We have a wide range of prognostics available for the Indian Premier League, so check them out if you are thinking about placing some bets on one (or many) of the games. The tips that you will find will help you increase your chances of winning some money.
