What Is the IPL? How the Indian Premier League Works

The Indian Premier League, the IPL, is India's professional T20 cricket competition and the richest cricket league in the world. Ten city-based franchises play each spring, over about two months from late March to the end of May. The BCCI launched it in 2007, the first season was in 2008, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru are the champions, having won in 2025 and 2026. This page explains how the league works: the teams, the season format, the playoffs, squads and the auction, the money, and its history.

The IPL at a Glance

How It Started

The BCCI launched the IPL in September 2007, partly to see off a rival breakaway competition, the Indian Cricket League. The idea was a franchise T20 league of city teams, with players allocated by open auction, on the model of American sports leagues. The first match, on 18 April 2008 in Bengaluru, set the tone: Brendon McCullum made 158 not out for Kolkata Knight Riders, who beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 140 runs. Virat Kohli made one run for Bangalore that night. Eighteen years later he was player of the match in the 2026 final.

The Ten Teams

Eight teams played in 2008. The league has had ten since 2022, when Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants joined. The current ten are Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Capitals, Gujarat Titans, Kolkata Knight Riders, Lucknow Super Giants, Mumbai Indians, Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Our guide to the IPL teams has each team's ground, owner, titles and captain, and our page on how IPL teams are owned explains the franchise model.

How the Season Works

Each team plays 14 league matches, seven at home and seven away, making 70 in all. The ten teams are split into two groups of five, seeded by past results, only to set the fixture list: each team plays the four others in its group twice, one team from the other group twice, and the remaining four once. There is a single league table, with two points for a win.

The top four reach the playoffs:

1. Qualifier 1: first against second. The winner goes straight to the final.
2. Eliminator: third against fourth. The loser is out.
3. Qualifier 2: the loser of Qualifier 1 against the winner of the Eliminator, for the other place in the final.
4. Final.

In 2026 the playoffs were played at Dharamshala and New Chandigarh, and the final was moved from Bengaluru to Ahmedabad, as the IPL announced in May 2026. Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Gujarat Titans there by five wickets.

Squads, the Auction and the Rules

• Squads: a team can hold up to 25 players, no more than eight of them from overseas, and can field no more than four overseas players at once.
• The auction: squads are rebuilt at a mega auction every three years, when teams can keep only a handful of players, with smaller mini auctions in between. The last mega auction was in Jeddah in November 2024, for IPL 2025; the IPL 2027 auction is in Goa in December 2026.
• The Impact Player rule: since 2023 each side can bring in one substitute who can bat and bowl in full. It is officially in place until the end of 2027, but the BCCI is reviewing it and had announced no decision as of 15 October 2026.

Our guides to IPL retention rules, the IPL auction and the Impact Player rule go into each in detail.

The Money

The IPL's media rights for 2023 to 2027 sold for 48,390.32 crore rupees, about $6 billion, in an auction in June 2022, the BCCI announced. That was almost three times the previous deal, with television in India going to Disney Star and digital and most overseas rights to Viacom18. The Tata Group is the title sponsor from 2024 to 2028, for 2,500 crore rupees, the largest sponsorship in the league's history.

The money has carried the IPL's owners into other leagues. Mumbai Indians' owners now have teams in five competitions, the IPL, SA20, Major League Cricket, the ILT20 and the Hundred, and the Knight Riders group in four, according to Wisden.

Seasons Moved or Interrupted

• 2009: the whole tournament moved to South Africa, because it clashed with India's general election.
• 2014: the first 20 matches were played in the UAE, again because of the election.
• 2020: the whole season was played in the UAE because of the pandemic.
• 2021: the season was suspended in May and finished in the UAE in September and October.
• 2025: the BCCI suspended the league for a week in May during hostilities between India and Pakistan.

Champions

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings have five titles each, Kolkata Knight Riders three and Royal Challengers Bengaluru two, with one each for Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans. Our guide to IPL records covers the players behind them.

IPL Shirts

Every team plays in its own kit, often with a special edition during the season. An IPL mystery box holds one official shirt from any of the ten teams, and our IPL jerseys guide covers every team's colours.

FAQs: The Indian Premier League

What is the IPL?
India's professional T20 cricket league, run by the BCCI, with ten franchise teams playing each spring since 2008.

How many teams are in the IPL?
Ten, since 2022.

How many matches are in an IPL season?
Seventy-four: 70 in the league stage and four playoffs.

How many overseas players can an IPL team play?
Four in a match, from up to eight in the squad.

Who won IPL 2026?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru, beating Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the final on 31 May 2026.

When does IPL 2027 start?
No dates have been announced. The BCCI secretary has said he wants it to start earlier, in early March.