Introduction of the Indian Premier League (IPL)
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) established the men’s T20 cricket league known as the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2007. Teams from several Indian cities compete in it, and it typically takes place between March and May of each year.
The Indian Premier League is not only the most well-known cricket league, but it is also ranked sixth among all sports leagues in terms of average attendance. The IPL 2020 season set a huge viewership record with 31.57 million average impressions, and overall consumption increased by 23 percent from the 2019 season. The IPL’s brand value was 6.3 billion USD in 2019. (RS 47,500 Crore).
The Background Indian Premier League (IPL)
In 2007, Zee Entertainment Companies supported the establishment of the Indian Cricket League. The players’ participation in this unofficial league did not sit well with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Since the ICL was deemed a rebel league by the BCCI, it was decided that there would be a lifelong ban on players who would join this league. The BCCI also decided to enhance the prize money in their domestic competitions in order to discourage players from joining this league.
Foundation of Indian Premier League (IPL)
Following India’s triumph at the 2007 Men’s T20 World Cup, the BCCI announced plans to hold the Indian Premier League, a franchise-based T20 cricket competition with eight teams from various cities around the nation.
The inaugural season of the IPL was set to begin in April 2008, and Lalit Modi presided over a high-profile ceremony in Delhi to make the tournament’s formats, prize money, franchise income model, and squad makeup guidelines official.
Additionally, it was revealed that a seven-man board of directors, made up of former BCCI executives and players from the Indian Premier League, would oversee the competition. It was also revealed that the top two clubs would earn spots in the Champions League T20 for that year.
An auction with a base price of $400 million USD was held on January 24th, 2008 to choose the owners for the new league. After the conclusion of the auction, the successful bidders and the cities where the winning teams will be based were disclosed. The largest real estate company in India at the time, DLF, earned the title sponsorship and agreed to a 4-year deal with the BCCI.
List of Franchises that were part of IPL 2008 (First season)
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Chennai Super Kings
Deccan Chargers
Delhi Daredevils
Kings XI Punjab
Kolkata Knight Riders
Mumbai Indians
Rajasthan Royals
Format of Indian Premier League
The round-robin structure used by the league is identical to that used by the NBA and the English Premier League. At the conclusion of the league stage, the top four teams will be qualify for the playoffs after playing each other twice in a home-and-away format.
The top two teams from the league stage will face off in the first qualifying match; the winner advances directly to the season finale, while the losing club will have another opportunity to qualify for the championship match by competing in the second qualifying match.
In an elimination game, the third and fourth-place teams from the league stage will face off against one another. The loser of the game will be eliminated from the competition, and the winner will face the loser of the first qualifying game. The winner of this game will then advance to play the winner of the first qualifying game in the final game, and the victor will be crowned the Indian Premier League champion.
Player Acquisition, Squad Composition, and Payment of Salaries
There are three ways to Player Acquisition
1. The annual player auction
2. Trading players with other teams during trade windows.
3. Signing replacements for unavailable players.
1. The yearly player auction: players sign up for this method themselves, determine their base price, and are purchased by the organization that makes the highest bid. Players who aren’t sold are then eligible to sign as replacement players.
2. Transferring players with other teams during trade windows: Under this technique, a player may only be exchanged with his consent and can either be bought or sold to other teams.
The buying franchise is required to pay the difference between the previous contract and the new deal, which will then be split between the player and the old franchise if the new contract is worth more than the old one.
There are generally 3 trading windows two are before the auction and one is after the auction but before the tournament starts players have to be traded inside the trading windows and players cannot be traded during the tournament.
- Signing replacements for unavailable players: A franchise may substitute a player for one who is not available. Replacements may be signed before or during the event for the unsold players in the yearly auction.
Some of the Squad Composition rules (as of 2020 season) are as follows:
1. A squad should have a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 25 players, with no more than 8 players from outside the country.
2. The total salary cap for the team cannot be higher than Rs 85 crore (11 million USD)
3. Players under the age of 19 cannot be selected by a team unless they have participated in a first-class match of cricket.
4. A team can only have four foreign players in its starting eleven. A term of a player contract is for one year and the franchise will have the option to extend the contract for one or two years.
Before the 2014 season, salaries were paid in U.S. dollars. International players can be paid in the currency of their choice at the exchange rate on either the contract signing day or the actual payment day.
Retention and Auction of players in the Indian Premier League
The previous IPL teams will be asked to keep a maximum of four players while releasing the remaining players for the auction.
Rules and regulations for retentions:
1. If a franchise keeps four players, player No. 1 will cost Rs 16 crore, player No. 2 Rs 12 crore, player No. 3 Rs 8 crore, and player No. 4 Rs 6 crore, for a total deduction from the budget of Rs 42 crores.
2. If a franchise keeps three players, Player 1, Player 2, and Player 3 will each cost Rs 15 crore, Rs 11 crore, and Rs 7 crore, respectively, and a total of Rs 33 crore would be subtracted from the purse value.
3. If the franchise keeps two players, player 1 would cost Rs. 14 crores and player 2 will cost Rs. 10 crores, resulting in a total deduction of Rs. 24 crores.
Aside from those who are retained, the remaining players will be released by their respective organizations, set their base price for yearly auctions, and sign a contract with the franchise that offers the highest bid.
Prior to the 2014 IPL season, Indian local players could sign with the franchise for an agreed-upon fee, with a deduction of between Rs 10 lakhs (13,000 USD) and Rs 30 lakhs (40,000 USD) from the franchise budget for each signing. These players were not part of the auction pool.
The IPL committee decided to include domestic players in the player auction pool after hearing allegations from other opposition franchises that the wealthy franchises were acquiring players through shady transactions.
Match rules of the Indian Premier League
There is no set amount of time that teams must finish their innings during IPL matches; instead, television timeouts are used. But, if the umpires discover that teams are abusing this privilege, they will apply a penalty.
Each inning will include two 90-second strategic timeouts for each team, one from the bowling team between the ends of the sixth and ninth overs and the other from the hitting team between the ends of the thirteenth and sixteenth overs.
In accordance with the umpire decision review system (DRS), which was implemented for the 2018 season and is used in all IPL games, each club is given one opportunity to challenge an on-field umpire’s decision per inning.
Prize money for the Winners and Runners of the IPL season
In 2021, prize money will be awarded to the IPL season’s champions. The IPL season champions receive a prize fund of Rs 20 crore, while the runners-up receive a reward fund of Rs 12.50 crore. Half of the prize fund goes to the winning franchise, and the other half is distributed equally among the players.
List of additional awards given at the conclusion of the IPL season:
Orange Cap: Ten lakhs rupees
Purple Cap: Ten lakhs rupees
The Season’s Best Catch: Rs. 10 lakhs
Super Striker of the Season: ten thousand rupees
Season’s Biggest Game-Changer: Rs. 10 lakhs
Most sixes: 10 lakhs rupees
Seasonal Power Player: Rs. 10 lakhs
10 lakhs are the season’s valuable.