THE INDIAN Premier League (IPL) is one of the most-watched sporting competitions on the planet, drawing hundreds of millions of viewers across a packed schedule of Twenty20 cricket every spring. Whether you are a seasoned fan or coming to the tournament fresh, there is plenty to get your head around before the first ball is bowled. From the team structure to the knockout format, and from the fixture schedule to the growing world of IPL betting, this guide covers everything you need to know.
What is the IPL?
The IPL was founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007 and held its first edition in 2008. It operates as a franchise-based Twenty20 league, modelled loosely on the structures used by football’s top leagues and American sports.
Each team is owned by a private consortium, and players are acquired through an annual auction rather than traditional contracts. That auction system is one of the tournament’s most distinctive features, and it regularly generates enormous transfer fees for the world’s top players.
The competition runs annually, typically across April and May, with matches played at stadiums across India. The 2026 edition began in late March and will conclude in late May, with games spread across venues from Mumbai to Kolkata.
How many teams are in the IPL?
The IPL currently features ten franchises, having expanded from eight teams ahead of the 2022 season with the addition of Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans.
The full list of current IPL teams is:
· Mumbai Indians – the most successful side in the competition’s history with five titles
· Chennai Super Kings – five-time champions and consistently one of the competition’s strongest franchises
· Kolkata Knight Riders – three-time winners, owned in part by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan
· Royal Challengers Bengaluru – perennial contenders who are yet to win the title despite a string of high-profile squads
· Delhi Capitals – formerly Delhi Daredevils, rebranded in 2019
· Sunrisers Hyderabad – 2016 champions, known for producing some of the tournament’s best bowling attacks
· Punjab Kings – one of the original eight franchises, still searching for their first title
· Rajasthan Royals – winners of the inaugural 2008 edition
· Lucknow Super Giants – newcomers from 2022 who quickly established themselves as genuine contenders
· Gujarat Titans – the other 2022 expansion side, who won the title in their debut season
How does the IPL format work?
The league phase sees each team play 14 matches, facing every other side at least once. Points are awarded in the standard fashion: two for a win, one each for a tie or no result, and none for a defeat. At the end of the group stage, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs.
The playoff structure uses a format designed to give the top two sides an advantage. First and second play each other in Qualifier 1, with the winner going straight to the final. Third and fourth meet in the Eliminator, and the loser is knocked out. The Qualifier 1 loser then faces the Eliminator winner in Qualifier 2, with the prize being the second final spot.
The final is a single match played at a neutral venue, typically one of India’s largest stadiums.
IPL fixtures: what to expect
The fixture list for each season is released by the BCCI in the weeks before the tournament begins. With 10 teams each playing 14 league matches, the group stage alone produces 70 games, before the four playoff fixtures bring the total to 74.
Matches are usually played in the evening Indian Standard Time to maximise the television audience, which means most games fall in the early afternoon or morning for viewers in the United Kingdom. Day games are occasionally scheduled, particularly at weekends. For those looking to follow the cricket odds across the tournament, the sheer volume of matches means there is almost always something happening from late March through to late May.
What makes the IPL so popular?
Several factors have combined to make the IPL the phenomenon it is today. The short T20 format keeps matches to around three hours, making them accessible even for casual viewers. The player auction creates storylines and talking points before a ball has been bowled. And the presence of the world’s best players, drawn from every major cricket nation, guarantees a standard of play that rivals any format of the game.
The IPL has also been a launchpad for young Indian talent, with the platform it provides helping to shape the national team’s batting and bowling resources for years to come. Players like Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya, and Rishabh Pant all used IPL seasons as a springboard to international recognition.
A competition that keeps growing
Since its first edition in 2008, the IPL has grown into a commercial juggernaut. Broadcast rights have sold for billions of dollars, international stars rearrange their schedules to be available, and the tournament’s influence on global cricket, from franchise leagues in other countries to the T20 format’s wider growth, is impossible to overstate.
For fans, the IPL offers something rare: a competition where any team can beat any other on a given night, where the best players in the world share a dressing room with emerging talents, and where the cricket is genuinely world-class from the first ball to the last.
Article written by Katie Hillson
