In 2010, the IPL became the first sporting event to broadcast live onYouTube.[6][7] In 2014, it ranked sixth in attendance among all sports leagues.[8] Inspired by the success of the IPL, otherIndian sports leagues have been established.[a][11][12] The IPL is the second-richest sports league in the world by per-match value, after theNational Football League.[13] In 2023, the league sold its media rights for the next four seasons for US$6.4 billion toViacom18 andStar Sports,[14] which meant that each IPL match was valued at $13.4 million.[15] As of 2025, there have been 18 seasons of the tournament. The current champions are theRoyal Challengers Bengaluru, who won the2025 season after defeating thePunjab Kings in thefinal.
On 13 September 2007, as the2007 ICC World Twenty20 began, the BCCI launched the Indian Premier League, an annual franchise-based Twenty20 cricket competition.[24] The inaugural season was scheduled to start in April 2008, commencing with a "high-profile ceremony" in New Delhi. BCCI vice-presidentLalit 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'sChampions League Twenty20.[24][25]
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.[28][29][30]
New franchises,Pune Warriors India andKochi Tuskers Kerala, joined the league before the fourth season in 2011.[31] TheSahara Adventure Sports Group purchased the Pune franchise for $370 million, whileRendezvous Sports World bought the Kochi franchise for $333.3 million.[31] 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.[32]
In September 2012, theDeccan Chargers franchise agreement was terminated after the BCCI failed to find new owners.[33] In October, an auction was held for a replacement franchise;Sun TV Network won the bid for what became theHyderabad franchise;[34] the team was namedSunrisers Hyderabad.[35]
Pune Warriors India withdrew from the IPL in May 2013 due to financial differences with the BCCI.[36] The BCCI officially terminated the franchise in October, and the league reverted to eight teams.[37]
The IPL's headquarters are located in the Cricket Centre, next to theWankhede Stadium inChurchgate, Mumbai. The Governing Council is responsible for the league's functions, including the organization of tournaments. As of March 2025[update], its members included:[53]
The 2022 season of the IPL offered total prize money of₹46.5crore (equivalent to₹49 crore or US$5.8 million in 2023), with the winning team netting₹20 crore (equivalent to₹21 crore or US$2.5 million in 2023) and the second-placed team₹13 crore (equivalent to₹14 crore or US$1.6 million in 2023).[56][57] League rules mandate that half of any prize money must be distributed among the franchise's players.[58] Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their first IPL title in 2025, receiving ₹20 crore, while runners-up Punjab Kings earned ₹12 crore.[59]
Rules and format
The IPL has several rules which vary from the establishedlaws of cricket or those used in otherTwenty20 leagues:
IPL games incorporatetelevision timeouts. Each team is given a two-and-a-half-minute "strategictime-out" during each innings. One must be taken by the bowling team at the end of either 6th, 7th, 8th or 9thover and the other by the batting team at the end of either 13th, 14th, 15th or 16th over. A penalty may be imposed if umpires find teams misusing this privilege.[60]
Since the 2018 season, theDecision Review System (DRS) has been used in all IPL matches, allowing each team two opportunities in each innings to review an on-field umpire's decision.[61] From the2023 season, this was extended to allow the review ofwides andno-balls.[62]
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 theinnings,[62] or the match referee may impose financial sanctions on the bowling team after the match, with players fined a proportion of their match fee.[63]
Teams can use asubstitute, 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.[64][65]
Teams can declare their playing eleven to the match referee before or after the toss.[64]
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 asdead ball.[66][62][64]
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.[65]
Teams must include 25 players, with a maximum of eight overseas players.[67]
From the2024 season, bowlers will be allowed to deliver two bouncers an over. This change in playing conditions was trialled during the2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India's domestic T20 tournament.[68]
In most tournaments, the tournament consists of around-robin group stage followed by asingle-elimination knockout stage.
A team can acquire players through the annualplayer auction, trading with other teams during trading windows, and signing replacements for unavailable players.
Player acquisition
For the 2025 IPL season, the total salary cap for each team is ₹120 crore. Each team must spend at least 75% of their total salary cap. Each squad must have a minimum of 18 players, a maximum of 25 players and a maximum of 8 overseas players.
Auction
Before the auction, teams are permitted to retain a select number of players for the following season. The rules for retaining players are determined by the league prior to each auction. The salaries of retained players are deducted from the team's salary cap prior to the auction.[79] These players do not participate in the auction and merely continue with their current franchise.
The auction usually takes place in the winter months, in the middle of the IPL's offseason. Players who are not retained, and players who were not attached to a team in the previous tournament, can enter the auction. Each player signs up for the auction, sets their base price and plays for the highest-bidding franchise.[80] Once purchased, the final bid determines the player's salary for that season, and the amount is deducted from the salary cap.Unsold players at the auction can become replacement signings for injured or unavailable players.
The league holds an auction every year, but every 3 years the league will hold a 'mega auction'.[81][82] At this mega auction, teams can only retain a small number of players (6 players at the most recent mega auction)[82] and are required to release a majority of their squad to the auction pool. This system is designed to ensure parity between teams as it forces them to rebuild their squads at regular intervals. Non-mega auctions, where teams can retain a high number of players, are often called 'mini-auctions'.[83]
If a team wants to retain a player who does not want to be retained, the player can request to be traded or released into the auction pool. However, the team has the final say in whether or not to trade or release them. The exception to this is at a mega auction, when the player can demand to be released into the auction pool even if the team intends to retain them.[84]
Trades
Trades require player consent, and any contract differences are covered by the franchise. There are typically three trading windows: two before the auction and one before the tournament. No trading is allowed outside these windows or during the tournament, but replacements can be signed before or during the IPL.
Contracts and salaries
Other notable rules, as of the 2024 season, include:
Thesalary cap of the entire squad have been allotted a purse of ₹120 crore each.[85]
Under-19 players cannot be picked unless they have previously playedfirst-class orList A cricket.[86]
Player contracts run for one year but can be extended by one or two years if the franchises take up the option. Since the 2014 season, player contracts have been denominated in theIndian rupee, before which the contracts were in the US dollar. Overseas players can be remunerated in the currency of the player's choice, at the exchange rate on either the contract due date or the actual payment date.[87] Before the 2014 season, Indian domestic players were not included in the player auction pool. They could be signed up by franchises at a discrete amount while a fixed sum of₹10 lakh (US$12,000) to₹30 lakh (US$35,000) would be deducted per signing from the franchise's salary purse. This received significant opposition from franchise owners, who complained richer franchises were "luring players with under-the-table deals." The IPL later decided to include domestic players in the player auction.[88]
The BCCI give 10% of foreign players' salaries to their country's national cricket board.[89]
Based on a 2024 report byForbes India, the average IPL salary among the top 10 highest-paid players is ₹12.37 crore,[90] the second-highest of sports leagues in the world. Because players in the IPL are contracted only for the duration of the tournament – less than two months – the weekly IPL salaries are extrapolatedpro data to obtain an average annual salary, unlike other sports leagues in which players are contracted by a single team for the entire year.[91]
According to a report byThe Telegraph, IPL players are paid 18% of the revenue, which is the lowest amount compared to other major sports leagues, in which players receive at least 50% of the revenue. TheFederation of International Cricketers' Associations said that IPL players must be paid fairly.[92][93][94]
Here is a table listing the most expensive player acquisitions in each Indian Premier League (IPL) season, along with their respective teams and purchase prices.
List of most expensive player in IPL Auction each year
Starting with the 2025 season, the distribution of the prize money is as follows.
Winner team: ₹20 crore (US$ 2.4 Million)
Runner-up team: ₹12 crore (US$ 1.4 Million)
Third-place team: ₹7 crore (US$ 0.83 Million)
Fourth-place team: ₹6.5 crore (US$ 0.77 Million)
Fair Play Award
The Fair Play Award is given after each season to the team considered to have the best fair play record. After each match, the two on-field umpires and thethird umpire score the performance of both teams, with the highest-scoring team at the end of the season receiving the award.[114] The 2025 winners wereChennai Super Kings.
The Orange Cap is awarded to the highest run-scorer at the end of each season. It is an ongoing competition with the current highest run-scorer wearing the cap whilst fielding. The eventual winner keeps the cap for the season.Brendon McCullum was the first player to wear the Orange Cap andShaun Marsh the inaugural winner of the award. Australian batsmanDavid Warner has won the award three times, more than any other player.[115] Sai Sudharsan ofGujarat Titans, who scored 759 runs during the 2025 season, is the most recent winner of the award.[116][117]
The Purple Cap is awarded to the highest wicket-taker at the end of each season. It is an ongoing competition and the bowler who is the leading wicket-taker wears a purple cap whilst fielding. The eventual winner keeps the cap for the season.Bhuvneshwar Kumar andDwayne Bravo are the only players to have won the award twice.[118][119]Harshal Patel ofPunjab Kings, who took 24 wickets during the2024 season, is the most recent winner of the award.
Most Valuable Player
The Most Valuable Player award, formerly called the "Man of the Tournament" until the 2012 season, is awarded using a ratings system introduced in 2013.Sunil Narine won the award in 2024.
Emerging Player Award
The Emerging Player Award was presented to the best under-19 player in 2008 and the best under-23 player in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 and 2012, the award was known as "Rising Star of the Year," and in 2013 the "Best Young Player of the Season." Since 2014, the award has been called the Emerging Player of the Year.Mustafizur Rahman is the only foreign player to win this award.[120] The 2024 winner wasNitish Kumar Reddy.
Maximum Sixes Award
The Maximum Sixes Award is presented to the player who hits the most sixes at the end of the season.[121]
From 2008 to 2012, the IPL title sponsor wasDLF, a real estate developer, which bid₹200 crore (US$24 million).[124] After 2012,PepsiCo bought the rights for₹397 crore (US$47 million) for five seasons,[125] but terminated the deal in 2015, two years before expiry, due to the two-season suspension of the Chennai and Rajasthan franchises.[126] The BCCI transferred the rights for those two seasons to Chinese smartphone manufacturerVivo for₹200 crore (US$24 million).[127]
In 2017, Vivo retained the rights for 2018-22 with a winning bid of₹2,199 crore (US$260 million).[128][129] In August 2020, Vivo canceled the rights due to amilitary stand-off between India and China.[130] The withdrawal was also a result of Vivo's market losses due to the COVID pandemic; Vivo intended to return as sponsor for the following three years.[131]Dream11 became sponsors for 2020 for₹222 crore (equivalent to₹261 crore or US$31 million in 2023).[132] Vivo returned for 2021[133] but withdrew again, and was replaced by theTata Group for the next two seasons.[134]InsideSport reported the BCCI would receive₹498 crore (US$59 million) for the 2022-23 seasons from title sponsors. Vivo had agreed to pay a higher amount for the last two seasons of its contract due to the league's expansion from 2022. Due to the new deal's structure, Tata would pay₹335 crore (US$40 million) per year while Vivo would pay the deficit of₹163 crore (US$19 million).[135][136]Aramco bought the rights to advertise on the Purple and Orange caps in 2022.[137]
Payments to foreign national boards
The BCCI pays 10% of the auctioned value of players to their national cricket boards. In 2018, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said the IPL would double the amount paid to cricket boards that made their players available for an entire season.[138] In 2022, theAustralian Cricketers' Association expressed its unhappiness about this.[89]
Brand value
The IPL tournament rapidly grew in value between 2016-18. Experts valued it at US$4.2 billion in 2016, $5.3 billion in 2017 and $6.1 billion in 2018. A report from Duff & Phelps said a contributing factor was a television deal with Star India Private Limited, which engaged more viewers because the IPL was transmitted to regional channels in eight languages; under the previous deal, transmissions were limited to sports networks with English-language commentary.[139][140]
In 2022, the IPL became adecacorn valued at US$11 billion, registering a 75% growth since 2020 when it was valued at $6.2 billion.[141]
In 2022, the BCCI took insurance of₹5,000 crore (US$590 million) for the IPL. This policy involves all stakeholders, including broadcasters, ancillary services providers, and sponsors. The BCCI is covered in case of revenue losses due to weather, riots, and unforeseen events.[147]
The IPL has been India's most-watched sports property;JioCinema estimated that an average of 620 million viewers watched part of the2024 Indian Premier League overall, with at least 350 billion minutes streamed across the tournament.[148] The 2025 final was seen onStar Sports by 169 million viewers, making it the most-watched cricket broadcast to-date onlinear television.[149]
Currently, domestic media rights are held byJioStar, under contracts originally awarded in 2022 to its corporate predecessors Disney Star and Viacom18; coverage is carried via its streaming serviceJioHotstar, and the Star Sportspay television networks.[150][151] The main packages for domestic television and digital rights were collectively valued at around US$6.2 billion (more than double the value of the previous contract), causing the IPL to overtake thePremier League in English football as the second highest-valued sports media property worldwide, behind only theNational Football League (US$111 billion).[152][153][154][155]
The media rights were then held by Star India from 2018 to 2022, under a contract valued at US$2.55 billion—which, at the time, was the highest-valued broadcast rights contract in the history of cricket. Star Sports would hold the pay television rights, whileDisney+ Hotstar held the digital rights.[161][162][163][164] In 2022, Disney Star lost the digital rights to a consortium ofReliance Industries andViacom18 (which would stream the IPL for free via their streaming service JioCinema),[165] while maintaining the pay television rights for Star Sports. The loss of IPL rights notably contributed to Disney losing 2.4 millionDisney+ subscribers worldwide in fiscal Q4 2022.[166][167]
In the2013 IPL spot-fixing and betting case, Delhi police arrested playersAjit Chandila,Ankeet Chavan andS. Sreesanth on allegations of spot-fixing; they received a lifetime ban from the BCCI. The police also arrestedGurunath Meiyappan, Chennai Super Kings' team principal and son-in-law of then BCCI president N. Srinivasan, for illegally betting on IPL matches and passing team information to bookmakers.[175][176]
TheLodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court of India, bannedRajasthan Royals (RR) andChennai Super Kings (CSK) for two years. CSK's team principal, Gurunath Meiyappan, was found guilty of betting and bringing the IPL and the game into disrepute. After this, the BCCI banned Meiyappan from involving in the game. JusticeRM Lodha said that due to all this fixing-betting matter, the reputation of the game had been hurt quite grievously. "Disrepute has been brought to cricket, the BCCI and the IPL to such an extent that there are doubts abound in the public whether the game is clean or not," Justice Lodha said. He further elaborated on his committee's observations and said it had been proven beyond doubt that Meiyappan, CSK's team principal, was heavily involved in betting on his team.[177]
Strategic timeouts
Starting with the2009 season, the IPL introduced a new system: the "strategictimeout", taken at the end of the tenth over in each innings and lasting seven-and-a-half minutes.[178] Franchises andSachin Tendulkar disapproved of it.[179] Many saw it as the BCCI's use of 'extended drinks break' to earn money and it faced widespread backlash.[180][181] The then-president of the IPL said that the rule is intended to allow teams to make strategies during the game. Still, critics disagreed with this argument and said that the strategic timeout was a way to generate money. In the2010 season, due to the "widespread criticism", the BCCI created a more flexible system, reducing the duration to two-and-a-half minutes for each side per innings (five minutes total each innings).[181][182]
These timeouts boost the IPL's revenue; every 10-second slot gets sold for ₹5 lakh or more.[180] Due to these timeouts, an IPL match halts four times for more than 10 minutes.Sunil Gavaskar said that along with many other reasons, strategic timeouts delay the IPL matches, causing them to not end at the stipulated time of 3 hours and 10 minutes but rather after 4 hours.[183] During the Super Giants versus Mumbai Indians eliminator game in2023, he remarked, "How many times batsmen get out after a strategic timeout," during the broadcast, indicating that it plays a negative role in immediate fall of wickets by disrupting concentration of the batters.[184]
Some cricketers have criticized strategic timeouts for interrupting the flow of play. In the past, it even facedPublic Interest Litigation with the possibility that the breaks were being used by bookies to connect with players. IPL's stakeholders admitted that they are unavoidable because they provide the BCCI and broadcasters with additional time for more ads. In 2013, after aspot-fixing matter, then-presidentN. Srinivasan was sacked due to a pending inquiry, andJagmohan Dalmiya was appointed as interim president. Dalmia openly expressed that he wants to end strategic timeouts and take other measures to restrain malpractices in the IPL.[180]
Incidents with players
In the 2008 edition, after a game,Harbhajan Singh, who was playing for Mumbai Indians, slappedS. Sreesanth. The IPL fined and banned him from the remaining entire edition. However, years later, he apologized to Sreesanth for it on TV and said that he was ashamed of doing it.[185][186]
In a 2022 interview,Yuzvendra Chahal revealed two incidents of physical harassment that happened with him while he was with Mumbai Indians. In 2013, at a party of the team in a building, a drunken teammate took him to the balcony, overpowered him and hung him from the 15th floor of the building. Yuzvendra said he narrowly survived that day.[187][188][189] In another incident, two teammates, includingAndrew Symonds, tied him up, gagged his mouth and threw him into a hotel room. He remained alone in that room the entire night. When the hotel room service arrived in the morning, they untied his hands and legs.[190] He did not reveal the names of the offenders involved in the first incident. Reacting to these revelations,Virender Sehwag expressed that he wanted Yuzvendra to reveal the offender's name, and furiousRavi Shastri expressed that the offender should be banned.[188][189]
In 2010, the BCCI bannedRavindra Jadeja from the IPL for one year after he violated the IPL guidelines by not signing a renewal contract with his team Rajasthan Royals, and instead negotiated a more lucrative contract with other teams through the back door.[191]
Rajasthan Royals ownership dispute
In 2010, the BCCI presidentShashank Manohar stated in a press conference that the IPL Governing Council did not know the true identities of the owners of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).[192] Amid the controversy,Shilpa Shetty stated via Twitter that she was a proprietor of the RR.[193] Manohar revealed that during the franchise bidding process, onlyPreity Zinta had initially come forward to bid for the KXIP.[194] Zinta subsequently formed a company and signed a franchise agreement with the BCCI; however, it was later revealed she did not hold any shares in her name within that company.[195] Manohar alleged that Shetty and Zinta may have violated their agreements, as prior permission from the BCCI was mandatory before transferring ownership shares to other individuals.[196]
N. Srinivasan's ownership of CSK
In 2010, an e-mail leaked in Indian media, according to anEconomic Times article, said that former IPL presidentLalit Modi helped then-BCCI presidentN. Srinivasan to buyAndrew Flintoff in the auction for his teamChennai Super Kings (CSK).[197] Srinivasan was criticized for owning an IPL team due to hisconflict of interests. Former BCCI presidentA. Muthiah filed a lawsuit against Srinivasan in theSupreme Court of India; he claimed that Srinivasan altered the BCCI's rules to allow himself to purchase a team. TheLodha Committee banned CSK from the IPL for two years when their team principal,Gurunath Meiyappan, was found guilty of betting and providing inside information to bookies.[198] The supreme court criticized Srinivasan for buying an IPL team while serving as the BCCI president; a judge commented, "How can a BCCI chief own a team?"[199] However, he still owns the team and his daughterRupa Gurunath often appears in stadiums during CSK's games.
Australian players' dispute with Cricket Australia regarding IPL contracts
Due to the BCCI giving one-tenth of foreign players' salaries to their respective countries' national cricket boards, a dispute between Australian cricketers andCricket Australia started. TheAustralian Cricketers' Association also opposed the arrangement.[89]
Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda Pushkar's sweat equity in RSW
In 2010, the IPL president revealed thatSunanda Pushkar, wife of the Minister of State for External AffairsShashi Tharoor, hadsweat equity shares inRendezvous Sports World (RSW), the proprietor ofKochi Tuskers Kerala. The opposition partyBJP agitated against theIndian National Congress. Later, it was revealed that Pushkar had equity worth ₹70 crore in RSW. Tharoor offered to leave his equity, but many within the Congress party felt that by doing this, Tharoor pleaded guilty. Due to pressure, the Congress party demanded his resignation. He was the first minister of theUnited Progressive Alliance 2 who got slammed for his illegal moves.[200]
Slow over rates
Field umpires sometimes penalize teams by restricting them to having only four fielders outside the 30-yard area, or match referees penalize captains and team members by reducing their match fees, but these measures have not solved the problem. Games often run at a slow speed and finish late. During the2024 season, Rishabh Pant, captain of Delhi Capitals, and Shubman Gill of Gujarat Titans were fined ₹12 lakhs each for their teams' slow over rates during matches against Chennai Super Kings.[201] Millions of viewers feel that IPL matches should be fast-paced.[202]
Negative impact on international cricket
Former India captainKapil Dev claimed that there was an increasing risk of injury to Indian players from playing in the IPL. He felt that some players avoided the national team's matches but appeared in all of their IPL fixtures.[203]
A similar situation occurred during the2014 season due to the2014 general elections, as then Home MinisterSushil Kumar Shinde declined to provide security.[206] However, due to different schedule, the tournament was jointly hosted by India and theUnited Arab Emirates, and the opening 20 matches were held in theUAE at three different stadiums inAbu Dhabi,Dubai andSharjah, with the tournament returning back to India on 2 May 2014.[207]
On 9 May 2025, the2025 season was suspended for one week caused by theIndia-Pakistanconflict, which resulted from thePahalgam terrorist attack. The decision was taken by the IPL Governing Council after consulting all the relevant stakeholders.[208][209] The geopolitical tensions caused by the conflict led to closure of several airports in North India, following which theIndian Railways organized specialVande Bharat Express trains for players, support staff, commentators, production crew members, and operations staff on the request of the BCCI.[210]
Exclusion of Pakistani and Bangladeshi players
Following theNovember 2008 terrorist attacks inMumbai by Pakistan-based terrorist groupLashkar-e-Taiba, geopolitical tensions surged between India and Pakistan. The aftermath of the attack led to the exclusion of Pakistani players from playing in the IPL, as none of them were picked by any team during the2009 IPL auction.[211] While they had been selected by several teams for the inaugural IPL season (2008), theircontracts were terminated before the 2009 edition, and have been excluded for subsequent editions.[212] Protests took place in Pakistan after the auction for the2010 IPL season, as no franchise bid for any Pakistani player.[213] Among the critics of the BCCI and IPL owners has been retired cricketer and former Pakistan prime ministerImran Khan, who stated that they "take it out on Pakistan players". He accused the BCCI of "arrogance" but also stated that "Pakistan should not worry about it".[214] Certain Pakistani players, includingHasan Ali andSohail Tanvir expressed disappointment about not getting an opportunity to be a part of the IPL.[215][216] In addition to the exclusion of Pakistani players from the IPL, India refused to play with Pakistan in any bilateral series and pulled out from the2009 series.[217]
During the2025 IPL auction on 24 and 25 November 2024 at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 13 Bangladeshi players were registered, out of which 12 were auctioned.[218] However, none of the players were sold, prompting a backlash from Bangladeshi fans and cricketers.[219] After the auction concluded, the exclusion of Bangladeshi players was largely supported by Indians following theviolence against Hindus in Bangladesh in the aftermath ofresignation ofSheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024.[220]
