Indian Premier League 2026

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league held in India every spring. Founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007 and launched in 2008, the IPL quickly became the most-watched and most-attended cricket competition on earth. The inaugural edition, won by Rajasthan Royals under Shane Warne, set the template for the franchise model that has since transformed cricket worldwide.

Each season, ten franchise teams representing major Indian cities compete across a double round-robin group stage followed by play-offs, culminating in a single final. The format — 20 overs per innings, lasting roughly three hours — is ideally suited to prime-time television and the packed stadium atmospheres that IPL has come to define. The league's auction system, where franchises bid for players from a pool of domestic and international talent, creates intense pre-season drama and ensures player values are transparently set by market forces.

The IPL's financial scale is extraordinary. The league's media rights deals are valued in the billions, and the opportunity to compete in front of packed Indian stadiums — and the massive global television audience — has made IPL the most coveted domestic T20 contract for players at every level of the game. Top international stars including Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler, Pat Cummins, and Rashid Khan have made IPL the centrepiece of their annual cricket calendar.

From a records perspective, the IPL has produced some of cricket's most extraordinary individual performances. Chris Gayle's unbeaten 175 against Pune Warriors in 2013 remains the highest individual T20 score in history. Virat Kohli holds the record for most runs in a single IPL season (973 runs in 2016) as well as the all-time IPL run-scoring record. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings — each with five titles — are the competition's two dominant dynasties.

IPL 2026 ended on 31 May 2026 with Royal Challengers Bengaluru defending their title, beating Gujarat Titans by 5 wickets in the Ahmedabad final. Chasing 156, RCB got home with 12 balls to spare on the back of an unbeaten 75 from Virat Kohli, who was named Man of the Match. RCB became only the third franchise after CSK (2010–11) and MI (2019–20) to win back-to-back IPL titles. Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Rajasthan Royals, 776 runs) won the Orange Cap as the youngest ever to top the charts, while Kagiso Rabada (Gujarat Titans, 29 wickets) claimed the Purple Cap.