The Indian Premier League is a fairly new cricket League that was started in 2008 by the Board of Control for Cricket and India (BCCI). It is a championship league for Twenty20 cricket, sometimes called T20 cricket. The league began after a disagreement between the Indian Cricket League and the BCCI.
There are other Twenty20 championships that have modeled themselves after the IPL, such as Australias Big Bash League, the MiWay T20 Challenge in South Africa and the Bangladesh PL which is of course in Bangladesh.
It has gained popularity very quickly by offering quality matches that have brought fans within Indian and from abroad. The IPL has been valued somewhere between $3 and $4 billion as of the 5th season. The sport and league are so popular that it supports some of the highest salaries for sports players. The only league that has a higher salary is the National Basketball Association in North America. Where the average NBA player salary is $5.15 million, the average IPL salary is about $4 million. These are staggering figures which show how popular this league really is. This is truly remarkable given how young the IPL is compared to other sporting leagues. Looking for the 2013 IPL Schedule ?
Betting on IPL Matches
IPL cricket betting is easily accessible online. There are several quality bookmakers that accept Indian bettors; a few even accept Indian Rupees directly. Since the IPL has developed into a worldwide phenomenon with a large international interest, you will find IPL betting at nearly all online bookmakers. As Indian punters we prefer Bet365 and William Hill. Watch IPL Matches Live here.
Twenty20 Format
The Twenty20 format is popular in several cricket tournament formats. Sometimes called T20, it gets its name from the 20 maximum overs for each inning. It usually takes about 2.5 hours to complete each match. This is an average length for most other organized spectator sports. Traditionally, cricket matches are much longer, many times spanning over 2 and 3 days. This can lead to incomplete games due to risking weather interruptions that may lead to a draw. Where overs are limited, a limit of 50 is typical, but games can last over 5 hours in total. The Twenty20 format has the spectator in mind as it helps to insure a conclusion and definitive result, win or loss in a game. The limited format, particularly to 20 overs, also keeps the matches from dragging out which can be rather boring to some spectators.
IPL Rules and Policy
The Indian Premier League has some rather strict governing policies that address corruption, doping (performance enhancing steroids), racism, codes of conduct, etc. The integrity of the game is highly important to maintain spectator value for the league as fans want to be assured they will be viewing competitive and exciting matches. The league acknowledges that IPL betting has increased with technology which allows people to place bets on games from anywhere in the world even during live games. They take a strict stance to insure that corruption is severely punished, but they work very hard prevent it from happening in the first place (although there is no shortage of scandals and accusations of match fixing). In an effort to maintain the integrity of the game according to IPL standards, the league also strictly enforces an anti-doping policy which applies to all players, as well as anyone who may assist with providing performance enhancing substances.
Indian Premier League Results
IPL 5: Season 5 – 2012
The 2012 season of IPL concluded with an exciting match up between the defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, and the Kolkata Knight Riders. Kolkata won the final match by five wickets. The series ran from April 4th to May 27th. The top three teams from IPL 5, Kokata Knight Riders, Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils, will play in the 2012 T20 cricket tournament (October 10th – 28th), representing India.
Winner: Kolkata Knight Riders
Man of the Series: Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) 24 wickets, Average 13.5, Econ Rate 5.47
Most wickets: Morne Morkel (Delhi Daredevils) – 25
Most Runs: Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – 733
IPL 4: Season 4 – 2011
The fourth season of IPL had 10 teams participate with 74 matches played. The tournament began on April 8th and ran until May 28th for a total of 50 days. IPL4 was won by the IPL3 champions, the Chennai Super Kings, who beat out Royal Challengers Bangalore by a total of 58 runs.
Winner: Chennai Super Kings
Man of the Series: Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – 608 runs, 8 wickets
Most wickets: Lasith Malinga (Mumbai Indians) – 28
Most Runs: Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore) – 608
IPL 3: Season 3 – 2010
The third IPL season hosted 8 teams with 60 matches. It lasted for 34 days, beginning March 12th and ending April 15th. The final game was played between the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians. The Kings topped the Indians in the first ever cricket tournament that was shown live via Youtube.
Winner: Chennai Super Kings
Man of the Series: Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians) – 618 runs
Most wickets: Pragyan Ojha (Mumbai Indians) – 21
Most Runs: Sachin Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians) – 618
IPL 2: Season 2 – 2009
The 2009 season boasted more than 200 million viewers just in India. There were 59 matches played with 8 teams. The tournament began on April 18th and ended May 24th with a duration of 36 days. The final match was between Deccan Chargers and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. It should be noted that the Deccan Chargers came in last in the 2008 IPL.
Winner: Deccan Chargers
Man of the Series: Adam Gilchirst (Deccan Chargers) – 495 runs, 18 dismissals
Most wickets: RP Singh (Deccan Chargers) – 23
Most Runs: Matthew Hayden (Chennai Super Kings) – 23
IPL 1: Season 1 – 2008
The 2008 tournament was the inaugural IPL tournament that began April 18th and had a duration of 46 days. There were 8 teams, with 59 matches scheduled. 1 match was not played due to rain. It came to an exciting conclusion that was decided on the last ball. The Rajasthan Royals beat out the Chennai Super Kings in the final. Total attendance was about 3.4 million.
Winner: Rajasthan Royals
Man of the Series: Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals) – 472 runs, 17 wickets
Most wickets: Sohail Tanvir (Rajasthan Royals) – 22
Most runs: Shaun Marsh (Kings XI Punjab) – 616