Undeniably cricket flows through the veins of Indians. When it comes to excitement and frenzy, nothing can beat the enthusiasm generated by a cricket match.
The Indian Premier league (IPL), is a professional Twenty20 league played in India organised during April and May of every year by franchised teams representing Indian cities and states. This league was founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007. The IPL is the most attended cricket league in the world and was ranked sixth among all the sports leagues in 2014. IPL was the the first ever sporting event to be broadcast live on YouTube.
There have been 10 seasons of the IPL tournament till now. The cup holders list are as follow:-
2008 – Rajasthan Royals Won by 3 wickets.
2009 – Deccan Chargers Won by 6 runs.
2010 – Chennai Super Kings won by 22 runs.
2011 – Chennai Super Kings won by 58 runs.
2012 – Kolkata Knight Riders won by 5 wickets.
2013 – Mumbai Indians won by 23 runs.
2014 – Kolkata Knight Riders won by 3 wickets.
2015 – Mumbai Indians won by 41 runs.
2016 – Sunrisers Hyderabad won by 8 runs.
2017 – Mumbai Indians won by 1 run.
IPL 2018
IPL 2018 began on April 7, 2018, with the first match being held at Wankhede stadium, Mumbai. The first match was between Mumbai Indians and two-time winner Chennai Super Kings.
A total of 60 matches will be played within 51 days at nine venues.
This year’s IPL will have 8 teams. They are as follows:
1. Royal Challengers Bangalore led by Virat Kohli
2. Chennai Super Kings led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni
3. Kolkata Knight Riders led by Dinesh Karthik
4. Kings XI Punjab led by Ravichandran Ashwin
5. Mumbai Indians led by Rohit Sharma
6. Delhi Daredevils led by Gautam Gambhir
7. Rajasthan Royals led by Ajinkya Rahane
8. Sunrisers Hyderabad led by Kane Williamson
This year, Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals – two teams which had been baned due to match fixing – are making a comeback.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is back as the skipper of Chennai Super Kings. Australian captain Steve Smith was going to handle the captaincy of Rajasthan Royals but due to the ball tampering case, the BCCI banned Steve Smith as well as David Warner from the IPL.
Surprisingly, there will be no international matches during the IPL tournament. This shows the importance the lPL has for other cricket boards.
Interestingly, BSNL announced a special plan of 153 GB data with 51 days validity as IPL special. Reliance Jio announced a 102 GB data pack at ₹251 for streaming IPL matches.
The final will be played on May 27, 2018. Let’s get ready for another fiery and exciting season of cricket.