The Indian Premier League is the richest cricket competition on Earth, valued at over $10 billion and watched by hundreds of millions of fans globally. But its origins were controversial, its growth was explosive and its impact on world cricket has been revolutionary. Here are 15 facts about the IPL that every cricket fan should know.
The IPL was created in 2008 by BCCI Vice President Lalit Modi after the Board of Control for Cricket in India rejected a rival Twenty20 league called the Indian Cricket League (ICL) that had been launched by Zee Entertainment. Rather than allow a private company to control cricket in India, the BCCI rapidly created its own franchise-based T20 competition. The first season launched in April 2008 with eight franchises.
The IPL's first match on April 18, 2008 featured Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in Bengaluru. New Zealand's Brendon McCullum opened the batting for KKR and smashed an extraordinary 158 not out off 73 balls — setting the tone for the entire competition with a display of breathtaking hitting that announced the IPL had arrived.
💡 Fun fact: McCullum's 158* in that opening match remained the highest individual score in IPL history for four years until Chris Gayle scored 175* in 2013.
Mumbai Indians have won the IPL title a record five times — in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2020. They are the only franchise to have won back-to-back titles (2019 and 2020) and their victories have been driven by a consistent team-building philosophy that values long-term player relationships over short-term signings.
The IPL media rights for 2023-2027 were sold for a record $6.2 billion — which works out to approximately $13.4 million per match. This makes the IPL the second most valuable sports league per match in the world, behind only the NFL. Star Sports and JioCinema share the broadcast rights across television and digital platforms.
West Indian batsman Chris Gayle scored a century off just 30 balls for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013 — the fastest century in T20 cricket history. His innings of 175* off 66 balls also remains the highest individual score in IPL history, containing 17 sixes and 13 fours.
In 2015, a Supreme Court-appointed committee found evidence of spot-fixing and betting involving team officials from Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Both franchises were suspended for two seasons (2016 and 2017). CSK players were absorbed into two new franchises — Rising Pune Supergiant and Pune Supergiants — before CSK returned triumphantly in 2018 and won the title.
Virat Kohli has scored over 7,000 runs in the IPL — the highest by any batsman in the competition's history. He has also scored the most centuries in IPL history with eight hundred-plus scores, all for Royal Challengers Bangalore, a franchise he has represented since the very first season in 2008.
Before the IPL, young cricketers in the Caribbean, South Africa and Australia had limited financial incentives to pursue cricket over other sports. The IPL auction system — where teenagers can be bought for crores of rupees — transformed cricket's ability to attract athletic talent. Players like Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya were discovered through IPL trials and academies.
💡 Fun fact: Jasprit Bumrah was picked up by Mumbai Indians in 2013 for just ₹10 lakh after being spotted playing club cricket in Gujarat. He went on to become the world's number one Test bowler.
The 2014 IPL Final between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab in Bengaluru was affected by rain and the Duckworth-Lewis method was applied — making it one of the very few major finals in cricket history where the weather intervened to affect the result. KKR won their second IPL title.
MS Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings to five IPL titles and appeared in ten finals as captain — the most of any captain in IPL history. His calm decision-making under pressure, particularly in the death overs when choosing his bowlers, is credited as one of the key reasons for CSK's extraordinary consistency across fifteen seasons.
The Indian Premier League has fundamentally changed global cricket. It accelerated the shift towards T20 cricket, created a generation of attacking batsmen and death-overs specialists, established the financial model that other T20 leagues around the world now copy, and gave India enormous soft power in international cricket politics. Love it or debate it, the IPL is the most significant development in cricket since the introduction of ODI cricket in the 1970s.
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