The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most anticipated events in the modern cricketing calendar. The tournament showcases some of the most talented T20 players in the world and some impressive young Indian players. The IPL motto – Where talent meets opportunity – is the best way to describe the enthralling cricketing action that takes place over the course of two months in the summer.

IPL began in 2008, inspired by the Indian cricket team’s success in the 2007 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The franchise-based competition turned out to be a game-changer for cricket in the 21st century, enabling T20 cricket to reach a global audience and provide high-quality entertainment for the spectators.

The Indian Premier League began with eight franchises in 2008 and currently has 10, for the first time since 2011. In the current format, a group of five teams play each other twice, home and away, and a game against two teams from the other group in the league stage. It is followed by the playoffs consisting of two qualifiers and an eliminator before the grand final. Along with the IPL trophy, the Orange Cap (top run-scorer), the Purple Cap (for the top wicket-taker) and the Player of the Tournament trophy is awarded every season.

Mumbai Indians, led by current Indian captain Rohit Sharma, are the all-time record winners of the IPL with five titles – 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. Three of MI’s five wins in the final have come against MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings. Meanwhile, CSK are the second most successful team in IPL history with four titles, the most recent one in 2021. The Chennai-based franchise have also finished runners-up on five occasions, which is the most in this competition.

Kolkata Knight Riders were the champions of the IPL 2012 edition while stopping runners-up CSK from winning three titles on the bounce. KKR won the Indian Premier League title once again in 2014. Rajasthan Royals were the inaugural champions of the IPL in 2008 when the Shane Warne-led franchise surpassed all expectations to beat Chennai Super Kings in the final. 

The IPL trophy has twice gone to a Hyderabad-based franchise, with Deccan Chargers winning the tournament in 2009 and the Sunrisers Hyderabad winning it in 2016. Gujarat Titans made their IPL debut in style as Hardik Pandya and co. were crowned champions after a seven-wicket victory against the inaugural winners Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League 2022 final. 

Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals (previously Delhi Daredevils), Punjab Kings (previously Kings XI Punjab) and Royal Challengers Bangalore are yet to win the IPL title. RCB have finished runners-up thrice, while the DC and PBKS have reached the final once.

Virat Kohli is the all-time top run-scorer in the IPL with 6624 runs, followed by Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner. The 2022 edition saw Dwayne Bravo take over from Lasith Malinga as the all-time wicket-taker in the IPL with 183 wickets. Amit Mishra and Yuzvendra Chahal are joint third on the list. 

Chris Gayle’s whirlwind 175-run knock against Pune Warriors India in 2013 is the highest score in IPL history, while fellow West Indian Alzarri Joseph’s spell of 6/12 in 2019 are the best bowling figures in the tournament.

IPL Winners List

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Player of the Tournament
2008	Rajasthan Royals	Chennai Super Kings	Shane Watson
2009	Deccan Chargers	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Adam Gilchrist
2010	Chennai Super Kings	Mumbai Indians	Sachin Tendulkar
2011	Chennai Super Kings	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Chris Gayle
2012	Kolkata Knight Riders	Chennai Super Kings	Sunil Narine
2013	Mumbai Indians	Chennai Super Kings	Shane Watson
2014	Kolkata Knight Riders	Kings XI Punjab	Glenn Maxwell
2015	Mumbai Indians	Chennai Super Kings	Andre Russell
2016	Sunrisers Hyderabad	Royal Challengers Bangalore	Virat Kohli
2017	Mumbai Indians	Rising Pune Supergiants	Ben Stokes
2018	Chennai Super Kings	Sunrisers Hyderabad	Sunil Narine
2019	Mumbai Indians	Chennai Super Kings	Andre Russell
2020	Mumbai Indians	Delhi Capitals	Jofra Archer
2021	Chennai Super Kings	Kolkata Knight Riders	Harshal Patel
2022	Gujarat Titans	Rajasthan Royals	Jos Buttler