Indian Premier League

In April 2007, Essel Group launched the Indian Cricket League (ICL) in partnership with IL&FS.^[18][19] The ICL was not recognized by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or the International Cricket Council (ICC). Moreover, the BCCI was unhappy about its committee members joining the ICL executive board.^[20][21] In response, the BCCI increased the prize money for its domestic tournaments and imposed lifetime bans on players who joined the ICL, which it considered a rebel league.^[22][23]

On 13 September 2007, as the 2007 ICC World Twenty20 began, the BCCI launched the Indian Premier League, an annual franchise-based Twenty20 cricket competition.^[24] The inaugural season was scheduled to start in April 2008, commencing with a "high-profile ceremony" in New Delhi. BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi, who led the IPL initiative, provided details of the tournament, including its format, prize money, franchise revenue system, and squad composition rules. The league, to be managed by a seven-person governing council, would also serve as the qualifying mechanism for that year's Champions League Twenty20.^[24][25]

To determine team ownership, an auction for the franchises was held on 24 January 2008. The reserve prices for the eight franchises totalled $400 million,^[23] but the auction ultimately raised $723.59 million.^[26] The league officially commenced in April 2008, featuring Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Mumbai Indians (MI), Delhi Daredevils (DD), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Deccan Chargers (DC), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).^[27]

In 2009, the BCCI and other national boards offered amnesty to rival ICL's players and officials, provided they terminated their contracts. The resulting player exodus and financial difficulties forced ICL to shut down later that year.^[28][29][30]

New franchises, Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala, joined the league before the fourth season in 2011.^[31] The Sahara Adventure Sports Group purchased the Pune franchise for $370 million, while Rendezvous Sports World bought the Kochi franchise for $333.3 million.^[31] The Kochi franchise was terminated after just one season due to their failure to pay the BCCI the 10% bank guarantee element of the franchise fee.^[32]

In September 2012, the Deccan Chargers franchise agreement was terminated after the BCCI failed to find new owners.^[33] In October, an auction was held for a replacement franchise; Sun TV Network won the bid for what became the Hyderabad franchise;^[34] the team was named Sunrisers Hyderabad.^[35]

Pune Warriors India withdrew from the IPL in May 2013 due to financial differences with the BCCI.^[36] The BCCI officially terminated the franchise in October, and the league reverted to eight teams.^[37]

In June 2015, the two-time champions Chennai Super Kings and the inaugural season champions Rajasthan Royals were suspended for two seasons following their involvement in a spot-fixing and betting scandal.^[38] The two teams were replaced for two seasons by Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions, based in Pune and Rajkot, respectively.^[39][40]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the venue for the 2020 season was moved and games were played in the United Arab Emirates.^[41][42] In August 2021, the BCCI announced that two new franchises, based in two of six shortlisted cities, would join the league in the 2022 season.^[43][44] In closed bidding held in October, the RPSG Group and CVC Capital won the bids for the teams, paying ₹7,000 crore (US$830 million) and ₹5,200 crore (US$620 million), respectively.^[45][46] The teams were subsequently named Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans.

Several IPL franchise owners have expanded their business by acquiring teams in other franchise leagues, such as the West Indies' Caribbean Premier League (CPL), South Africa's SA20, the UAE's International League T20 (ILT20) and the USA's Major League Cricket (MLC).

In 2023, owners of three existing IPL teams - Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured the rights for the homonymous franchises in the Women's Premier League.^[47]

In addition to these acquisitions, Delhi Capitals also bought a stake in MLC's Seattle Orcas.^[48]

In 2025, stakes in teams from The Hundred became available. RPSG Group (Lucknow Super Giants) bought a 70% stake in Manchester Originals for around £81m, while Reliance Industries (Mumbai Indians) bought a 49% stake in the Oval Invincibles for £60m.^[49] Yorkshire sold 100% of Northern Superchargers to Sun Group (Sunrisers Hyderabad) for £100m.^[50] The GMR Group (Delhi Capitals) had already acquired Hampshire in a 2024 deal, including the club's 51% stake in the Southern Brave^[51] and bought the remaining 49% for around £48m.^[52]

IPL (Men's)	WPL (Women's)	The Hundred (Men's & Women's)	T20 Blast (Men's & Women's)	SA20 (Men's)	ILT20 (Men's)	CPL (Men's)	MLC (Men's)
Chennai Super Kings				Joburg Super Kings			Texas Super Kings
Delhi Capitals	Delhi Capitals	Southern Brave	Hampshire	Pretoria Capitals	Dubai Capitals		Seattle Orcas[b]
Gujarat Titans
Kolkata Knight Riders					Abu Dhabi Knight Riders	Trinbago Knight Riders	Los Angeles Knight Riders
Lucknow Super Giants		Manchester Originals[b]		Durban's Super Giants
Mumbai Indians	Mumbai Indians	Oval Invincibles[b]		MI Cape Town	MI Emirates		MI New York
Punjab Kings						Saint Lucia Kings
Rajasthan Royals				Paarl Royals		Barbados Royals
Royal Challengers Bengaluru	Royal Challengers Bengaluru
Sunrisers Hyderabad		Sunrisers Leeds		Sunrisers Eastern Cape
	UP Warriorz				Sharjah Warriorz

The IPL's headquarters are located in the Cricket Centre, next to the Wankhede Stadium in Churchgate, Mumbai. The Governing Council is responsible for the league's functions, including the organization of tournaments. As of March 2025^[update], its members included:^[53]

• Arun Singh Dhumal – Chairman^[54][55]
• Devajit Saikia – Honorary Secretary, BCCI, Member
• Prabhtej Singh Bhatia – Honorary Treasurer, BCCI, Member
• Avishek Dalmiya – Member
• Vankina Chamundeswara Nath – Indian Cricketers' Association's representative, Member
• CM Sane – CAG Nominee, Member

The 2022 season of the IPL offered total prize money of ₹46.5 crore (equivalent to ₹49 crore or US$5.8 million in 2023), with the winning team netting ₹20 crore (equivalent to ₹21 crore or US$2.5 million in 2023) and the second-placed team ₹13 crore (equivalent to ₹14 crore or US$1.6 million in 2023).^[56][57] League rules mandate that half of any prize money must be distributed among the franchise's players.^[58] Royal Challengers Bengaluru won their first IPL title in 2025, receiving ₹20 crore, while runners-up Punjab Kings earned ₹12 crore.^[59]

The IPL has several rules which vary from the established laws of cricket or those used in other Twenty20 leagues:

• IPL games incorporate television timeouts. Each team is given a two-and-a-half-minute "strategic time-out" during each innings. One must be taken by the bowling team at the end of either 6th, 7th, 8th or 9th over and the other by the batting team at the end of either 13th, 14th, 15th or 16th over. A penalty may be imposed if umpires find teams misusing this privilege.^[60]
• Since the 2018 season, the Decision Review System (DRS) has been used in all IPL matches, allowing each team two opportunities in each innings to review an on-field umpire's decision.^[61] From the 2023 season, this was extended to allow the review of wides and no-balls.^[62]
• If the bowling team does not complete its overs in the allocated time, it may place only four fielders outside of the fielding restrictions circle for the remainder of the innings,^[62] or the match referee may impose financial sanctions on the bowling team after the match, with players fined a proportion of their match fee.^[63]
• Teams can use a substitute, termed an "impact player", from a list of five players named as possible substitutes. The substitution can be made before the start of the innings, when a wicket falls, when a batter retires or at the end of an over. Both teams can introduce a substitute once per match.^[64][65]
• Teams can declare their playing eleven to the match referee before or after the toss.^[64]
• A five-run penalty is imposed if a fielder or wicket-keeper makes an unfair movement while the bowler is bowling and the ball is designated as dead ball.^[66][62][64]
• Teams can include a maximum of four overseas players in their playing eleven. If a team wants an overseas player as impact player, then it must include a maximum of three overseas players in their playing eleven.^[65]
• Teams must include 25 players, with a maximum of eight overseas players.^[67]
• From the 2024 season, bowlers will be allowed to deliver two bouncers an over. This change in playing conditions was trialled during the 2023–24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, India's domestic T20 tournament.^[68]

In most tournaments, the tournament consists of a round-robin group stage followed by a single-elimination knockout stage.

MI

KKR

PBKS

RCB

RR

DC

SRH

CSK

GT

LSG

class=notpageimage|

All 10 IPL teams in the cities they are based in

The IPL began in 2008 IPL with eight teams. Over the years, the league saw several team changes. Deccan Chargers, were terminated in 2012 due to financial issues and were replaced by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2013. Kochi Tuskers Kerala debuted in 2011 but lasted only one season before being terminated for contract breaches. Pune Warriors India participated from 2011 IPL to 2013 IPL but withdrew due to financial disputes. In 2016, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) were suspended for two years due to the 2013 betting scandal, leading to the temporary inclusion of Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions, both of which played in 2016 IPL and 2017 IPL before being dissolved when CSK and RR returned in 2018 IPL. In 2022 IPL, the league expanded again with the introduction of Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants, making it a ten-team tournament. Over time, some teams underwent rebranding, such as Delhi Daredevils becoming Delhi Capitals in 2019 and Kings XI Punjab rebranding as Punjab Kings in 2021. Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians remain the most successful franchises, winning five IPL titles each.^[69] As of the 2025 season, the league consists of 10 teams.

Present teams Former teams Suspended

A team can acquire players through the annual player auction, trading with other teams during trading windows, and signing replacements for unavailable players.

For the 2025 IPL season, the total salary cap for each team is ₹120 crore. Each team must spend at least 75% of their total salary cap. Each squad must have a minimum of 18 players, a maximum of 25 players and a maximum of 8 overseas players.

Before the auction, teams are permitted to retain a select number of players for the following season. The rules for retaining players are determined by the league prior to each auction. The salaries of retained players are deducted from the team's salary cap prior to the auction.^[79] These players do not participate in the auction and merely continue with their current franchise.

The auction usually takes place in the winter months, in the middle of the IPL's offseason. Players who are not retained, and players who were not attached to a team in the previous tournament, can enter the auction. Each player signs up for the auction, sets their base price and plays for the highest-bidding franchise.^[80] Once purchased, the final bid determines the player's salary for that season, and the amount is deducted from the salary cap. Unsold players at the auction can become replacement signings for injured or unavailable players.

The league holds an auction every year, but every 3 years the league will hold a 'mega auction'.^[81][82] At this mega auction, teams can only retain a small number of players (6 players at the most recent mega auction)^[82] and are required to release a majority of their squad to the auction pool. This system is designed to ensure parity between teams as it forces them to rebuild their squads at regular intervals. Non-mega auctions, where teams can retain a high number of players, are often called 'mini-auctions'.^[83]

If a team wants to retain a player who does not want to be retained, the player can request to be traded or released into the auction pool. However, the team has the final say in whether or not to trade or release them. The exception to this is at a mega auction, when the player can demand to be released into the auction pool even if the team intends to retain them.^[84]

Trades require player consent, and any contract differences are covered by the franchise. There are typically three trading windows: two before the auction and one before the tournament. No trading is allowed outside these windows or during the tournament, but replacements can be signed before or during the IPL.

Other notable rules, as of the 2024 season, include:

• The salary cap of the entire squad have been allotted a purse of ₹120 crore each.^[85]
• Under-19 players cannot be picked unless they have previously played first-class or List A cricket.^[86]

Player contracts run for one year but can be extended by one or two years if the franchises take up the option. Since the 2014 season, player contracts have been denominated in the Indian rupee, before which the contracts were in the US dollar. Overseas players can be remunerated in the currency of the player's choice, at the exchange rate on either the contract due date or the actual payment date.^[87] Before the 2014 season, Indian domestic players were not included in the player auction pool. They could be signed up by franchises at a discrete amount while a fixed sum of ₹10 lakh (US$12,000) to ₹30 lakh (US$35,000) would be deducted per signing from the franchise's salary purse. This received significant opposition from franchise owners, who complained richer franchises were "luring players with under-the-table deals." The IPL later decided to include domestic players in the player auction.^[88]

The BCCI give 10% of foreign players' salaries to their country's national cricket board.^[89]

Based on a 2024 report by Forbes India, the average IPL salary among the top 10 highest-paid players is ₹12.37 crore,^[90] the second-highest of sports leagues in the world. Because players in the IPL are contracted only for the duration of the tournament – less than two months – the weekly IPL salaries are extrapolated pro data to obtain an average annual salary, unlike other sports leagues in which players are contracted by a single team for the entire year.^[91]

According to a report by The Telegraph, IPL players are paid 18% of the revenue, which is the lowest amount compared to other major sports leagues, in which players receive at least 50% of the revenue. The Federation of International Cricketers' Associations said that IPL players must be paid fairly.^[92][93][94]

Here is a table listing the most expensive player acquisitions in each Indian Premier League (IPL) season, along with their respective teams and purchase prices.

List of most expensive player in IPL Auction each year

Year	Auction Location	Player	Nationality	Team	Price INR	Ref.
2008	Mumbai	MS Dhoni	India	Chennai Super Kings	9.5 crore	[95]
2009	Goa	Kevin Pietersen	England	Royal Challengers Bangalore	9.8 crore	[96]
		Andrew Flintoff		Chennai Super Kings
2010	Bengaluru	Shane Bond	New Zealand	Kolkata Knight Riders	4.8 crore	[97]
		Kieron Pollard	West Indies	Mumbai Indians
2011		Gautam Gambhir	India	Kolkata Knight Riders	14.9 crore	[98]
2012	Chennai	Ravindra Jadeja		Chennai Super Kings	12.8 crore	[99]
2013		Glenn Maxwell	Australia	Mumbai Indians	6.3 crore	[100]
2014	Dubai	Yuvraj Singh	India	Royal Challengers Bangalore	14 crore	[101]
2015	Bengaluru			Delhi Daredevils	16 crore	[102]
2016		Shane Watson	Australia	Royal Challengers Bangalore	9.5 crore	[103]
2017		Ben Stokes	England	Rising Pune Supergiant	14.5 crore	[104]
2018				Rajasthan Royals	12.5 crore	[105]
2019	Jaipur	Varun Chakravarthy	India	Kings XI Punjab	8.4 crore	[106][107]
2020	Kolkata	Pat Cummins	Australia	Kolkata Knight Riders	15.5 crore	[108]
2021	Chennai	Chris Morris	South Africa	Rajasthan Royals	16.25 crore
2022	Bengaluru	Ishan Kishan	India	Mumbai Indians	15.25 crore
2023	Kochi	Sam Curran	England	Punjab Kings	18.5 crore
2024	Dubai	Mitchell Starc	Australia	Kolkata Knight Riders	24.75 crore
2025	Jeddah	Rishabh Pant	India	Lucknow Super Giants	27 crore

Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have each won five titles, the most in the tournament. Kolkata Knight Riders have won three titles,^[109] while Rajasthan Royals, Deccan Chargers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Gujarat Titans and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have each won a single title.^[110][111] The reigning champions are the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who defeated the Punjab Kings by six runs in the 2025 IPL final to secure their first title.

^† Team now defunct

• Active teams are listed alphabetically. Defunct teams are listed by order of entry to the league, then alphabetically.

  Champions
  Runners up
  Team won the 3rd place playoff; only took place in 2010
  Team qualified for the playoffs or semi-final

  Indicates winner
  Indicates runners-up
  Indicates qualified for playoffs

As of 3 June 2025

Source

As of 3 June 2025

Source

As of 3 June 2025^[update]

• Source: ESPNcricinfo^[113]
• Currently active IPL players appear in boldface.

Starting with the 2025 season, the distribution of the prize money is as follows.

• Winner team: ₹20 crore (US$ 2.4 Million)
• Runner-up team: ₹12 crore (US$ 1.4 Million)
• Third-place team: ₹7 crore (US$ 0.83 Million)
• Fourth-place team: ₹6.5 crore (US$ 0.77 Million)

The Fair Play Award is given after each season to the team considered to have the best fair play record. After each match, the two on-field umpires and the third umpire score the performance of both teams, with the highest-scoring team at the end of the season receiving the award.^[114] The 2025 winners were Chennai Super Kings.

The Orange Cap is awarded to the highest run-scorer at the end of each season. It is an ongoing competition with the current highest run-scorer wearing the cap whilst fielding. The eventual winner keeps the cap for the season. Brendon McCullum was the first player to wear the Orange Cap and Shaun Marsh the inaugural winner of the award. Australian batsman David Warner has won the award three times, more than any other player.^[115] Sai Sudharsan of Gujarat Titans, who scored 759 runs during the 2025 season, is the most recent winner of the award.^[116][117]

The Purple Cap is awarded to the highest wicket-taker at the end of each season. It is an ongoing competition and the bowler who is the leading wicket-taker wears a purple cap whilst fielding. The eventual winner keeps the cap for the season. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Dwayne Bravo are the only players to have won the award twice.^[118][119] Harshal Patel of Punjab Kings, who took 24 wickets during the 2024 season, is the most recent winner of the award.

The Most Valuable Player award, formerly called the "Man of the Tournament" until the 2012 season, is awarded using a ratings system introduced in 2013. Sunil Narine won the award in 2024.

The Emerging Player Award was presented to the best under-19 player in 2008 and the best under-23 player in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 and 2012, the award was known as "Rising Star of the Year," and in 2013 the "Best Young Player of the Season." Since 2014, the award has been called the Emerging Player of the Year. Mustafizur Rahman is the only foreign player to win this award.^[120] The 2024 winner was Nitish Kumar Reddy.

The Maximum Sixes Award is presented to the player who hits the most sixes at the end of the season.^[121]

From 2008 to 2012, the IPL title sponsor was DLF, a real estate developer, which bid ₹200 crore (US$24 million).^[124] After 2012, PepsiCo bought the rights for ₹397 crore (US$47 million) for five seasons,^[125] but terminated the deal in 2015, two years before expiry, due to the two-season suspension of the Chennai and Rajasthan franchises.^[126] The BCCI transferred the rights for those two seasons to Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo for ₹200 crore (US$24 million).^[127]

In 2017, Vivo retained the rights for 2018-22 with a winning bid of ₹2,199 crore (US$260 million).^[128][129] In August 2020, Vivo canceled the rights due to a military stand-off between India and China.^[130] The withdrawal was also a result of Vivo's market losses due to the COVID pandemic; Vivo intended to return as sponsor for the following three years.^[131] Dream11 became sponsors for 2020 for ₹222 crore (equivalent to ₹261 crore or US$31 million in 2023).^[132] Vivo returned for 2021^[133] but withdrew again, and was replaced by the Tata Group for the next two seasons.^[134] InsideSport reported the BCCI would receive ₹498 crore (US$59 million) for the 2022-23 seasons from title sponsors. Vivo had agreed to pay a higher amount for the last two seasons of its contract due to the league's expansion from 2022. Due to the new deal's structure, Tata would pay ₹335 crore (US$40 million) per year while Vivo would pay the deficit of ₹163 crore (US$19 million).^[135][136] Aramco bought the rights to advertise on the Purple and Orange caps in 2022.^[137]

The BCCI pays 10% of the auctioned value of players to their national cricket boards. In 2018, IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said the IPL would double the amount paid to cricket boards that made their players available for an entire season.^[138] In 2022, the Australian Cricketers' Association expressed its unhappiness about this.^[89]

The IPL tournament rapidly grew in value between 2016-18. Experts valued it at US$4.2 billion in 2016, $5.3 billion in 2017 and $6.1 billion in 2018. A report from Duff & Phelps said a contributing factor was a television deal with Star India Private Limited, which engaged more viewers because the IPL was transmitted to regional channels in eight languages; under the previous deal, transmissions were limited to sports networks with English-language commentary.^[139][140]

In 2022, the IPL became a decacorn valued at US$11 billion, registering a 75% growth since 2020 when it was valued at $6.2 billion.^[141]

In 2022, the BCCI took insurance of ₹5,000 crore (US$590 million) for the IPL. This policy involves all stakeholders, including broadcasters, ancillary services providers, and sponsors. The BCCI is covered in case of revenue losses due to weather, riots, and unforeseen events.^[147]

The IPL has been India's most-watched sports property; JioCinema estimated that an average of 620 million viewers watched part of the 2024 Indian Premier League overall, with at least 350 billion minutes streamed across the tournament.^[148] The 2025 final was seen on Star Sports by 169 million viewers, making it the most-watched cricket broadcast to-date on linear television.^[149]

Currently, domestic media rights are held by JioStar, under contracts originally awarded in 2022 to its corporate predecessors Disney Star and Viacom18; coverage is carried via its streaming service JioHotstar, and the Star Sports pay television networks.^[150][151] The main packages for domestic television and digital rights were collectively valued at around US$6.2 billion (more than double the value of the previous contract), causing the IPL to overtake the Premier League in English football as the second highest-valued sports media property worldwide, behind only the National Football League (US$111 billion).^{[152][153][154][155]}

The IPL's media rights were originally held from 2008 to 2017 by Sony Pictures Networks (domestic) and World Sport Group (international) under a ten-year contract valued at US$1.03 billion.^[156][157] Coverage was split between SPN channels such as Sony Max (which primarily carried coverage in the Hindi language), Sony Six (Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu), and Sony ESPN (English).^[158] SPN also produced Extraaa Innings T20, an aftershow that combined post-match analysis with entertainment features such as celebrity guests and interviews.^[159][160]

The media rights were then held by Star India from 2018 to 2022, under a contract valued at US$2.55 billion—which, at the time, was the highest-valued broadcast rights contract in the history of cricket. Star Sports would hold the pay television rights, while Disney+ Hotstar held the digital rights.^{[161][162][163][164]} In 2022, Disney Star lost the digital rights to a consortium of Reliance Industries and Viacom18 (which would stream the IPL for free via their streaming service JioCinema),^[165] while maintaining the pay television rights for Star Sports. The loss of IPL rights notably contributed to Disney losing 2.4 million Disney+ subscribers worldwide in fiscal Q4 2022.^[166][167]

In the 2012 IPL spot-fixing case, the BCCI gave a lifetime ban to Deccan Chargers player TP Sudhindra and suspended four other players.^[170] In a sting operation, Pune Warriors India player Mohnish Mishra was recorded stating that IPL franchise owners pay their players through black money. Mishra later apologized for his incorrect statement.^[171][172] On 20 May 2012, police detained Rahul Sharma and Wayne Parnell when they were caught during a raid at a rave party in a suburb of Mumbai; both the players denied taking drugs or drinking alcohol.^[173] However, it was later proven that in reality, they had taken banned drugs after police tested their urine and blood samples in a lab.^[174]

In the 2013 IPL spot-fixing and betting case, Delhi police arrested players Ajit Chandila, Ankeet Chavan and S. Sreesanth on allegations of spot-fixing; they received a lifetime ban from the BCCI. The police also arrested Gurunath Meiyappan, Chennai Super Kings' team principal and son-in-law of then BCCI president N. Srinivasan, for illegally betting on IPL matches and passing team information to bookmakers.^[175][176]

The Lodha Committee, appointed by the Supreme Court of India, banned Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for two years. CSK's team principal, Gurunath Meiyappan, was found guilty of betting and bringing the IPL and the game into disrepute. After this, the BCCI banned Meiyappan from involving in the game. Justice RM Lodha said that due to all this fixing-betting matter, the reputation of the game had been hurt quite grievously. "Disrepute has been brought to cricket, the BCCI and the IPL to such an extent that there are doubts abound in the public whether the game is clean or not," Justice Lodha said. He further elaborated on his committee's observations and said it had been proven beyond doubt that Meiyappan, CSK's team principal, was heavily involved in betting on his team.^[177]

Starting with the 2009 season, the IPL introduced a new system: the "strategic timeout", taken at the end of the tenth over in each innings and lasting seven-and-a-half minutes.^[178] Franchises and Sachin Tendulkar disapproved of it.^[179] Many saw it as the BCCI's use of 'extended drinks break' to earn money and it faced widespread backlash.^[180][181] The then-president of the IPL said that the rule is intended to allow teams to make strategies during the game. Still, critics disagreed with this argument and said that the strategic timeout was a way to generate money. In the 2010 season, due to the "widespread criticism", the BCCI created a more flexible system, reducing the duration to two-and-a-half minutes for each side per innings (five minutes total each innings).^[181][182]

These timeouts boost the IPL's revenue; every 10-second slot gets sold for ₹5 lakh or more.^[180] Due to these timeouts, an IPL match halts four times for more than 10 minutes. Sunil Gavaskar said that along with many other reasons, strategic timeouts delay the IPL matches, causing them to not end at the stipulated time of 3 hours and 10 minutes but rather after 4 hours.^[183] During the Super Giants versus Mumbai Indians eliminator game in 2023, he remarked, "How many times batsmen get out after a strategic timeout," during the broadcast, indicating that it plays a negative role in immediate fall of wickets by disrupting concentration of the batters.^[184]

Some cricketers have criticized strategic timeouts for interrupting the flow of play. In the past, it even faced Public Interest Litigation with the possibility that the breaks were being used by bookies to connect with players. IPL's stakeholders admitted that they are unavoidable because they provide the BCCI and broadcasters with additional time for more ads. In 2013, after a spot-fixing matter, then-president N. Srinivasan was sacked due to a pending inquiry, and Jagmohan Dalmiya was appointed as interim president. Dalmia openly expressed that he wants to end strategic timeouts and take other measures to restrain malpractices in the IPL.^[180]

In the 2008 edition, after a game, Harbhajan Singh, who was playing for Mumbai Indians, slapped S. Sreesanth. The IPL fined and banned him from the remaining entire edition. However, years later, he apologized to Sreesanth for it on TV and said that he was ashamed of doing it.^[185][186]

In a 2022 interview, Yuzvendra Chahal revealed two incidents of physical harassment that happened with him while he was with Mumbai Indians. In 2013, at a party of the team in a building, a drunken teammate took him to the balcony, overpowered him and hung him from the 15th floor of the building. Yuzvendra said he narrowly survived that day.^{[187][188][189]} In another incident, two teammates, including Andrew Symonds, tied him up, gagged his mouth and threw him into a hotel room. He remained alone in that room the entire night. When the hotel room service arrived in the morning, they untied his hands and legs.^[190] He did not reveal the names of the offenders involved in the first incident. Reacting to these revelations, Virender Sehwag expressed that he wanted Yuzvendra to reveal the offender's name, and furious Ravi Shastri expressed that the offender should be banned.^[188][189]

In 2010, the BCCI banned Ravindra Jadeja from the IPL for one year after he violated the IPL guidelines by not signing a renewal contract with his team Rajasthan Royals, and instead negotiated a more lucrative contract with other teams through the back door.^[191]

In 2010, the BCCI president Shashank Manohar stated in a press conference that the IPL Governing Council did not know the true identities of the owners of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).^[192] Amid the controversy, Shilpa Shetty stated via Twitter that she was a proprietor of the RR.^[193] Manohar revealed that during the franchise bidding process, only Preity Zinta had initially come forward to bid for the KXIP.^[194] Zinta subsequently formed a company and signed a franchise agreement with the BCCI; however, it was later revealed she did not hold any shares in her name within that company.^[195] Manohar alleged that Shetty and Zinta may have violated their agreements, as prior permission from the BCCI was mandatory before transferring ownership shares to other individuals.^[196]

In 2010, an e-mail leaked in Indian media, according to an Economic Times article, said that former IPL president Lalit Modi helped then-BCCI president N. Srinivasan to buy Andrew Flintoff in the auction for his team Chennai Super Kings (CSK).^[197] Srinivasan was criticized for owning an IPL team due to his conflict of interests. Former BCCI president A. Muthiah filed a lawsuit against Srinivasan in the Supreme Court of India; he claimed that Srinivasan altered the BCCI's rules to allow himself to purchase a team. The Lodha Committee banned CSK from the IPL for two years when their team principal, Gurunath Meiyappan, was found guilty of betting and providing inside information to bookies.^[198] The supreme court criticized Srinivasan for buying an IPL team while serving as the BCCI president; a judge commented, "How can a BCCI chief own a team?"^[199] However, he still owns the team and his daughter Rupa Gurunath often appears in stadiums during CSK's games.

Due to the BCCI giving one-tenth of foreign players' salaries to their respective countries' national cricket boards, a dispute between Australian cricketers and Cricket Australia started. The Australian Cricketers' Association also opposed the arrangement.^[89]

In 2010, the IPL president revealed that Sunanda Pushkar, wife of the Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, had sweat equity shares in Rendezvous Sports World (RSW), the proprietor of Kochi Tuskers Kerala. The opposition party BJP agitated against the Indian National Congress. Later, it was revealed that Pushkar had equity worth ₹70 crore in RSW. Tharoor offered to leave his equity, but many within the Congress party felt that by doing this, Tharoor pleaded guilty. Due to pressure, the Congress party demanded his resignation. He was the first minister of the United Progressive Alliance 2 who got slammed for his illegal moves.^[200]

Field umpires sometimes penalize teams by restricting them to having only four fielders outside the 30-yard area, or match referees penalize captains and team members by reducing their match fees, but these measures have not solved the problem. Games often run at a slow speed and finish late. During the 2024 season, Rishabh Pant, captain of Delhi Capitals, and Shubman Gill of Gujarat Titans were fined ₹12 lakhs each for their teams' slow over rates during matches against Chennai Super Kings.^[201] Millions of viewers feel that IPL matches should be fast-paced.^[202]

Former India captain Kapil Dev claimed that there was an increasing risk of injury to Indian players from playing in the IPL. He felt that some players avoided the national team's matches but appeared in all of their IPL fixtures.^[203]

During the 2009 season, the then UPA Government refused to provide security by the Indian paramilitary forces, due to the 2009 general elections, further complicated by the attack on Sri Lankan cricket team in Pakistan on 3 March 2009.^[204] As a result of this, the BCCI shifted the season to South Africa.^[205]

A similar situation occurred during the 2014 season due to the 2014 general elections, as then Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde declined to provide security.^[206] However, due to different schedule, the tournament was jointly hosted by India and the United Arab Emirates, and the opening 20 matches were held in the UAE at three different stadiums in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, with the tournament returning back to India on 2 May 2014.^[207]

On 9 May 2025, the 2025 season was suspended for one week caused by the India-Pakistan conflict, which resulted from the Pahalgam terrorist attack. The decision was taken by the IPL Governing Council after consulting all the relevant stakeholders.^[208][209] The geopolitical tensions caused by the conflict led to closure of several airports in North India, following which the Indian Railways organized special Vande Bharat Express trains for players, support staff, commentators, production crew members, and operations staff on the request of the BCCI.^[210]

Following the November 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai by Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, geopolitical tensions surged between India and Pakistan. The aftermath of the attack led to the exclusion of Pakistani players from playing in the IPL, as none of them were picked by any team during the 2009 IPL auction.^[211] While they had been selected by several teams for the inaugural IPL season (2008), their contracts were terminated before the 2009 edition, and have been excluded for subsequent editions.^[212] Protests took place in Pakistan after the auction for the 2010 IPL season, as no franchise bid for any Pakistani player.^[213] Among the critics of the BCCI and IPL owners has been retired cricketer and former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, who stated that they "take it out on Pakistan players". He accused the BCCI of "arrogance" but also stated that "Pakistan should not worry about it".^[214] Certain Pakistani players, including Hasan Ali and Sohail Tanvir expressed disappointment about not getting an opportunity to be a part of the IPL.^[215][216] In addition to the exclusion of Pakistani players from the IPL, India refused to play with Pakistan in any bilateral series and pulled out from the 2009 series.^[217]

During the 2025 IPL auction on 24 and 25 November 2024 at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 13 Bangladeshi players were registered, out of which 12 were auctioned.^[218] However, none of the players were sold, prompting a backlash from Bangladeshi fans and cricketers.^[219] After the auction concluded, the exclusion of Bangladeshi players was largely supported by Indians following the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh in the aftermath of resignation of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August 2024.^[220]

• Cricket in India
• Sport in India – overview of Indian sports culture
• List of cricket leagues in India
• List of professional sports leagues in India