We are just days away from the start of the 2025 IPL and the excitement is ramping up.
The biggest and best T20 competition in the world, all of the game’s major stars will head over to India in the search of IPL glory.
Ahead of the first match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore, here is everything you need to know.
When did the IPL begin?
It’s fair to say that nothing has altered the cricketing landscape like T20 cricket. With there being growing fears over the future of the game, T20 cricket was first introduced in England and the all-action nature of the game was an immediate hit.
Wanting to jump on the bandwagon, the BCCI devised the IPL in 2007 and rolled out its first tournament in 2008.
With a promise to be bigger and better than any other tournament previously held, the IPL offered fame and fortune to players all over the world and significantly altered the nature of professional cricket.
Catching fire, the presence of all of the game's best players was a real draw and hundreds of millions of cricket fans tuned into the action. The first IPL was won by the Rajasthan Royals.
When will the 2025 IPL be played?
The action for this year’s IPL will start on the 22nd March and will run all the way until the 25th May.
The final will be held in Kolkata at the world famous Eden Gardens.
Who are the teams that will play in 2025?
Ten teams will take to the field for IPL 2025. All will be hoping to add their names to the list of former winners.
The ten teams set to compete this year are;
Chennai Super Kings
Delhi Capitals
Kolkata Knight Riders
Mumbai Indians
Punjab Kings
Rajasthan Royals
Gujurat Titans
Lucknow Super Giants
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Who is the most successful team in IPL history?
When it comes to IPL success two teams lead the way with five victories, the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians and both teams will be desperate to become the best team in IPL history when the action kicks off.
Although Chennai and Mumbai have won over half of the titles in the competition's history, plenty of other teams have tasted success.
The Kolkata Knight Riders will return as the defending champions and will be hoping to win the IPL for a fourth time.
The Gujurat Titans, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan have all won one title apiece. The Deccan Chargers were also winners back in 2009 but no longer operate as a franchise.
How does the IPL draft work?
Months before the start of the IPL season headlines are made by the IPL draft, with teams only able to retain a certain number of players, each year players are bought and sold via the IPL draft.
It is at the draft where teams can bid to acquire the services of certain players. Those players who are highly sought after can often command millions.
Over the years some of the biggest names in the game have been fought after. Ben Stokes, Virat Kohli, Mitchell Starc and Shreyas Iyer are just some of the names that have at one time or other been the IPL’s biggest earners.
However the fees acquired for those players were blown out of the water this year with the news that Rishabh Pant would be signed by the Lucknow Super Giants for a record setting 27 Crowe - which roughly translates into being worth £2.54 million.
Pant is now the most expensive player in IPL history.
What is the format of the IPL?
The Group Stage
In total 74 matches will be played in IPL 2025 with all ten teams firstly being placed in two groups of five.
Here is how the groups are ordered
Group A
Chennai Super Kings
Kolkata Knight Riders
Punjab Kings
Rajasthan Royals
Royal Challengers Bangalore
Group B
Delhi Capitals
Gujurat Titans
Lucknow Super Giants
Mumbai Indians
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Unlike in other sports where the groups and their winners will progress to the next stage, each match will be registered on one large table where the top four teams will progress to the Playoff stage of the tournament.
Each team will play fourteen matches in the group stage of the tournament. They will face the teams in their own group twice, once at home and once away. Depending on their group order, they will face the corresponding team from the other group twice, before facing the other four teams once.
Once every team has played fourteen matches, the four teams from across the league with the most points will advance to the knockout phase.
The Knockouts
Rather than the four teams competing in two semi finals, the way that the knockouts are scheduled in the IPL are slightly different.
The first match of the playoffs will see the top two teams from the group phase compete against each other. The winner of this contest will advance to the final. For the loser, hope isn’t lost as they will still have one more chance to reach the final.
This is because the team that finishes third and fourth will also play a game. The winner of this match will play the team that has lost between the first and second placed teams, whilst the loser will be eliminated.
Before the final one more match between the beaten team in the first qualifying match and the winner of the eliminator will battle it out for the chance to reach the final.
The winner of that contest will then take on the initial winner of the first qualifier to determine who will be crowned the IPL champion for 2025.
Who are the favourites for IPL victory in 2025
The beauty of the IPL is that each and every year the tournament is an open contest and every team has a legitimate shot of victory, however there are some teams that the bookmakers believe have a better chance than others.
The current favourites are the Mumbai Indians who will be seeking a sixth IPL title and first since 2020.
A Goliath of the IPL since it was first invested, Mumbai have always had a talented squad and that is once again the case for this season.
Hardik Pandya will captain the side and he has the skills of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Rohit Sharma and Sky Yadav to call upon.
Last year was an abomination for the franchise who saw themselves finish bottom of the table and miss out on a place in the playoffs. So often Mumbai fans have been used to their team competing and challenging for the title and they will hope that last year was just a blip and the team can make a real challenge this time around.
Next in the betting comes the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Beaten finalists in last year’s competition, the Sunrisers will be aiming to win the IPL title for the first time since 2016.
Last year saw the Sunrisers finish second in the IPL table and they progressed to the final courtesy of winning via the eliminator and they will be hopeful of going one stage better this time around.
The acquisition of Pat Cummins has helped transform the Sunrisers but there are concerns whether the Australian Captain will be able to play a whole campaign considering he has just missed out on the Champions Trophy thanks to an injury.
Another Australian will also hope to help the Sunrisers when it comes to scoring runs in the form of Travis Head. Head has become one of the most destructive players in the game and when on form he can help chase down any total or put significant runs on the board.
Adam Zampa is a wily operator who will help the team maintain control and if runs are desperately needed, Heinrich Klassen can offer brute power down the order. Few teams look as well rounded as the Sunrisers and another deep run can be expected this year.
Rounding out the top three in the betting are the Chennai Super Kings, who like the Mumbai Indians will be hoping to bounce back this year following a year where they failed to make the playoffs.
Also chasing a sixth IPL crown, they were last victorious in 2023 and look to have a decent chance once again. Despite having retired from the international game years ago, MS Dhoni continues to defy Father Time and will once again don the gloves for a franchise he loves so much.
Despite the presence of Dhoni, it is Ruturaj Gaikwad who will captain the side and he will hope that Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Ravi Jadeja and Ravi Ashwin will all fire his team back up the table.
Tom Gibson
Tom Gibson, 33, possesses a keen interest in cricket combined with expertise in betting. Based in Newcastle, he is well-acquainted with the dynamics of the game and the betting world. With numerous years analyzing cricket matches and odds, Tom offers a unique perspective on the intersection of the sport and betting strategies