The Indian Premier League or IPL is the world’s largest Twenty20 cricket tournament. The league is organized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and contested by 14 teams representing various cities in India. The league was established to create an additional platform for domestic Twenty20 cricket, which was developing rapidly in 2007 when the first season of competition began.

The league is the primary funding source for the New Indian Cricket League, which has become a second-tier domestic tournament in India since its creation in 2008. The IPL is now played for over three years, with the sponsor’s logo displayed on every ball when it is sold. The BCCI had been considering starting a major Twenty20 competition since 1998.

The Indian Premier League was created with support from Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Lalit Modi and Sundar Raman were the architects of the IPL, while the league provided a platform for many new talents and up-and-coming players. The main reason behind its creation was twofold: To make more money for IPL owners and to develop cricket in India. It also aims to increase the popularity of cricket in India.

How Are The Teams Chosen?

The management and owners of various Indian Premier League teams must make an application for participation in the league every year if they wish to continue playing in it. The player auctions, held on 18 January 2014, featured 175 players, including 46 international players. Each team can spend up to $3 million (Rs 16 crore) on buying players at the auction. However, the owners cannot spend more than $9 million (Rs 48 crore) combined on their team’s XI.

The team owners and the franchise holders cannot field more than four overseas players in an 11-member squad. A franchise will also have to pay $400,000 (Rs 2 crore) per season to hire a marquee player. The league went ahead with the names of the two pavilions as Champions Pavilion and Challengers Pavilion, respectively.

How Many Teams Take Part In IPL?

The first Indian Premier League tournament was contested by eight teams chosen through three different methods: two teams were promoted from the Challenger Series held in 2008, two were selected through an auction based on pre-tournament financial bids, and BCCI picked another four based on bids made in their application forms. The 2010 edition of the tournament had nine teams, out of which Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were the first two newcomers to take part.

The 2012 and 2013 editions had ten teams each, while a new team – Royal Challengers Bangalore – was added in the 2013 season. As a result, the 2014 tournament will have eleven teams.

The inaugural IPL auction, held on 18 January 2014, set a six-year high in average individual player price. Overall spending reached an estimated $2 billion. The most expensive player was Praveen Kumar at $1.3 million (Rs 5 crore), while Kieron Pollard was sold for $900,000.

How Many Players Can Join A Single Team?

A team can register a total of 25 players for the IPL. However, only four players, including one foreign player and a maximum of three players of Indian origin, are allowed to play in the main XI. A franchise can have five overseas players in their squad, including one marquee player who is not counted in the salary cap.

The rest will be included in the “Player Category B” and be counted under the salary cap. A franchise can include seven local players from their squad before trading starts. After eight weeks, when retention rules come into effect, franchisees will be allowed to retain only two local and one overseas player from their existing squads before they start trading again.

How Are Players Distributed Among Teams?

Each team was allowed to pick eight players in the draft held on 26 November 2013. The eight players were divided into two groups, with four players selected in the first round and another four in the draft’s second round. Each team was also allowed to pay Rs 31 crore (about $6 million) per player. Bids were limited to Rs 10 crore (about $20 million) for Indian players (excluding marquee and rookie payments) and Rs 20 crore for overseas players.

Following the auction, teams were allowed to trade players before buying new ones to buy players that they preferred. The trading period was extended from 15 days to 25 days. The draft was held in the second week of January 2016. The first two draft rounds were held in Bangalore on 31 January and 1 February 2016. All eight franchises completed their eight picks by this stage, meaning teams had to complete their squad by 6 February 2016.

Which team has the highest records in IPL?

If you are an avid cricket fan or not, you don’t need an introduction to the IPL. The Indian Premier League is possibly one of the most popular cricket tournaments played anywhere in the world. The league has garnered millions of views over the years and is one of the most coveted events in the world of cricket. Cricketers from all over the world participate in the IPL, making it an excitingly diverse tournament. To date, the IPL has had 14 seasons played over the course of more than a decade. Its 15th season is set to be hosted in 2022 and the auction for the teams has been completed in February 2022. 

The IPL has had a glorious history of 14 years. You must be wondering which team has performed the best over the years and maintained the highest records. In terms of overall records, Mumbai Indians boast the highest records in IPL history, with all its players consistently performing well. Here’s more:

• The highest number of wins: Mumbai Indians have won the IPL title 5 times. They won in the years 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020. Chennai Super Kings is a close second, with 4 title wins in their bag.
• Highest runs scorer: Virat Kohli, the team captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, holds the title for the highest number of runs scored in the tournament. He has played 207 matches and scored a total of 6,283 runs. Shikhar Dhawan comes second, with 5,784 runs in 194 matches.
• Most wickets were taken: Lasith Malinga, the renowned Sri Lankan bowler, played for Mumbai Indians in his stint in the IPL. He played 122 matches and took the highest number of wickets in the tournament; a total of 170. Dwayne Bravo, who plays for Chennai Super Kings, comes second with 167 wickets.    
• Most orange caps won by a team: Sunrisers Hyderabad has had 4 of its batsmen win the Orange cap in the history of IPL, in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019. David Warner won it thrice, 2015-562, 2017-641, 2019-692. 
• Most purple caps won by a team: Chennai Super Kings has 4 of its bowlers win the Purple Cap in 4 out of 14 seasons of the IPL. Dwayne Bravo won it twice, in 2013 and 2015, with 18 and 16 wickets in the respective years. Mohit Sharma and Imran Tahir won it in 2014 and 2019 respectively.

The IPL has consistently maintained its reputation as an entertaining cricket tournament. Each year, 8 teams participate in the tournament. Each of these 8 teams represents an Indian city or state. Some teams have come and gone while others have remained constant. In the 15th season, two more teams joined the IPL, taking the team count to 10. The two new teams are Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants. In the previous seasons, we have seen teams like Pune Warriors India, Gujarat Lions, Rising Pune Supergiants, Kochi Tuskers Kerala, and Deccan Chargers. No matter how many teams changed, some teams have consistently outperformed others and have maintained great records.