A Beginner's Guide to the IPL: How the Tournament Works
If you have ever switched on a match in April and wondered why a team in yellow is playing a team in purple in a stadium 1,500 km from either of their cities, this guide is for you. The Indian Premier League looks complicated from the outside, but the structure is simple once you know the pieces.
The basics
The IPL is a Twenty20 (T20) competition, which means each side bats for a maximum of 20 overs. A match lasts around three and a half hours. It is organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and has been played every year since 2008, usually between late March and the end of May.
There are ten franchise teams. Each is privately owned and represents a city or region: Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jaipur (Rajasthan), Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Delhi, Mohali (Punjab) and Lucknow.
Who plays for whom?
Unlike international cricket, players are not tied to where they were born. Squads are built through an auction, where franchises bid for players with a fixed purse. Every squad mixes Indian internationals, uncapped domestic players and overseas stars. The one hard rule on match day: a playing XI can contain no more than four overseas players.
The league stage
Each team plays 14 league matches, seven at home and seven away. A win is worth two points and a washed-out game gives one point to each side. When teams are level on points, net run rate decides the order, which is why you will see teams chasing quickly even after a match is effectively won.
Across the ten teams that adds up to 70 league games, followed by four playoff matches, for a total of 74.
The playoffs
The top four on the table qualify, but the IPL does not use a simple semi-final format. Instead it rewards finishing first or second:
- Qualifier 1: 1st plays 2nd. The winner goes straight to the final.
- Eliminator: 3rd plays 4th. The loser is out.
- Qualifier 2: the loser of Qualifier 1 plays the Eliminator winner for the second final spot.
- Final: one match, one champion.
Finishing in the top two gives a team two chances to reach the final. Finishing third or fourth gives one. It is the biggest incentive in the league stage.
Rules unique to the IPL
- Impact Player: teams may swap one player from a list of five substitutes during the match. Read our full explainer.
- Strategic timeouts: each innings has two mandatory two-and-a-half-minute breaks, one for the bowling side and one for the batting side.
- DRS: each team gets two unsuccessful reviews per innings.
- Over-rate penalties: slow bowling sides can be fined and forced to keep an extra fielder inside the circle.
How to follow a season
Start with the points table. Watch how the top two shape up by the last fortnight, keep an eye on net run rate for the teams around fourth, and remember that home venues matter: Chennai is slow and spinning, Bengaluru is small and high-scoring, Mumbai favours quick bowlers under lights.
Once you know the format, the rest is pure entertainment. Pick a team, learn their squad, and enjoy two months of the most exciting cricket in the world.