IPL Specials

The Format of IPL – Explained

Published

5 months ago

May 4, 2024

The Indian Premier League is arguably the biggest T20 league in the world and is considered one of the biggest events in cricketing calendar. And as expected, IPL is also the longest tournament both in terms of number of games played as well as the window it consumes.

The reason is quite simple as it features almost all the top tier talents from the cricketing globe. 2024 season will see a whopping 74 games being played including the 4 playoffs fixtures.

IPL Teams

So, coming to the format of IPL, there 10 teams currently vying for the title post 2022 edition. They are the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Delhi Capitals (DC), Punjab Kings (PBKS), Mumbai Indians (MI), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and Gujarat Titans (GT).

The Group Formation

All these sides are split into 2 groups with 5 teams each. Each side will play a maximum of 14 games each in the league phase of the tournament on a home and away basis. A franchise can play host to a maximum of 7 games in league stages. The top 4 teams from the standings go to the playoffs.

Points Table & Qualification

The points table for the league stages is quite simple. Winning a game, irrespective of whether it is home or away, a side can earn a maximum of 2 points. If the game ends in a no contest due to rain or other foreseen reasons, a point will be shared among the sides and a loss merits 0 points.

With 14 games per team, a side can claim a maximum of 28 points if they win all their games in the league stages, while the minimum possible point that can be earned is zero. If any sides are level on points having won the same number of games, the superior team will be decided with the help of Net run rate (NRR).

So based on this calculation, the 4 teams with the maximum number of points will automatically move to the next round.

The Playoffs

Playoffs or the IPL knockouts will have 4 games played among the teams that finished in the top 4. The 2 table toppers will play the Qualifier 1, with winners directly going to the final game. The loser of this contest will face the winner of the Eliminator game (3^rd and 4^th placed team) in Qualifier 2 to determine who is the 2^nd finalist.