IPL – at 15 going on 16 – is back to conquer the world

A good 15 years after it hit the ground running, the 2023 edition of the Indian Premier League could go on to become its most epochal one yet.
Every now and then, the IPL has made it a habit to rise like a phoenix when unforeseen turbulence threatens to keep pulling it down.

The ugly episodes of spot-fixing, the onus on conflicts surrounding the league, the apex court’s view on all that it saw amendable, the onslaught of the pandemic – all came and went, and the IPL – like a warrior worthy of the battle fought – survived and won.

Apropos the economy, apropos the traditional view that continues to drive the narrative of the game, the IPL has kept going and that is because the product itself has been the driving force. That the country comes to a standstill two months every year and primetime slots continue to get charmed by the wave is an ode to that product.

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This year, the IPL returns with multiple shots in the arm. If you thought the league’s revenue pool had grown four times over in 2018, the numbers generated last year – after the sale of its broadcast rights at over Rs 48,000 crore – have now put the property on par with the finest around the world.

The National Football League, the National Basketball Association, the English Premier League, IPL, Major League Baseball – the sequence is not really out of place and at Rs 104 crore ($13.4 million) per game, this can be argued ‘for’ more than ‘against.’ Considering the T20 cricket league is still a ‘teenager’ – 15 going on 16 – this has been quite a jump.
And for the first time, in a 10-franchise avatar, the league finds itself at home, unlike what happened between 2011 and 2013.

The tender processes that took place under this Board of Control for Cricket in India administration, unlike the ones back then, clearly had one priority higher than anything else – the demand for absolute transparency and an e-auction or a public one (in the case of franchise sale) and it did happen that way.

So, a pat on the back for the BCCI to have ticked all the boxes right.
The league expanded by just two franchises. Not three, four or five. This ensured that the available global talent in T20s once again got distributed in equal measure across all teams, thus ensuring a competitive edge, which we will witness over the course of the next two months, starting March 31.
All the 10 teams look formidable on paper. On paper.

On the field, things can be gauged only when they begin stepping out.
The other day, a prominent name in the game used the word ‘scary’ to describe the Chennai Super Kings and it’s quite understandable why they’ll start this season as the clear favourites.

Followed by Gujarat Titans, Rajasthan Royals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants, Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore – in that order, on paper – the competition has been building up.

The tournament is back to its popular home-and-away concept, although for lack of a big enough window, the league will go back to the 2011 format – 10 teams divided into two groups of five and every team set to play 14 league-stage matches, including seven home and seven away games over 52 days and 12 venues – rounding up to a total of 74 matches.

In the next couple of years, the number of matches will increase to 94 and therefore, to say the IPL is just about beginning to boom will not be incorrect.

The editions of 2022 and 2023 also saw the league getting their best sponsorships yet – the total pool of partners, including the title, helped the BCCI earn Rs 1,000 crore per season for the first time last year, with the Orange and Purple caps getting a sponsor for the first time.
All in all, a shot in the arm as the ‘buzz’ promises an extravaganza like never before. And knowing the IPL, that’s quite something to look forward to.