The Indian Premier League

 Brittanica would define this league better than I would, so, 

Indian Premier League (IPL), Indian professional Twenty20 (T20) cricket league established in 2008. The league, which is based on a round-robin group and knockout format, has teams in major Indian cities.

The brainchild of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the IPL has developed into the most lucrative and most popular outlet for the game of cricket. Matches generally begin in late afternoon or evening so that at least a portion of them is played under floodlights at night to maximize the television audience for worldwide broadcasts. Initially, league matches were played on a home-and-away basis between all teams, but, with the planned expansion to 10 clubs (divided into two groups of five) in 2011, that format changed so that matches between some teams would be limited to a single encounter. The top four teams contest three play-off matches, with one losing team being given a second chance to reach the final, a wrinkle aimed at maximizing potential television revenue. The play-off portion of the tournament involves the four teams that finished at the top of the tables in a series of knockout games that allows one team that lost its first-round game a second chance to advance to the final match.

With the advent of the IPL, almost overnight the world’s best cricketers—who had seldom made the kind of money earned by their counterparts in other professional sports—became millionaires. The owners of the IPL franchises, who included major companies, Bollywood film stars, and media moguls, bid for the best players in auctions organized by the league. At the outset of the IPL, the well-financed Mumbai Indians had the league’s biggest payroll, more than $100 million. It cost the Chennai Super Kings $1.5 million to secure the services of Mahendra Dhoni in the initial auction for the 2008 season and the Kolkata Knight Riders $2.4 million to sign Gautam Gambhir, the opening batsman for the Indian national team, in the bidding for the 2011 season.

The eight founding franchises were the Mumbai Indians, the Chennai Super Kings, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Deccan Chargers (based in Hyderabad), the Delhi Daredevils, the Punjab XI Kings (Mohali), the Kolkata Knight Riders, and the Rajasthan Royals (Jaipur). In late 2010 two franchises, Rajasthan and Punjab, were expelled from the league by the BCCI for breaches of ownership policy, but they were later reinstated in time for the 2011 tournament. Two new franchises, the Pune Warriors India and the Kochi Tuskers Kerala, joined the IPL for the 2011 tournament. The Cochin club played just one year before the BCCI terminated its contract. In 2013 the Deccan Chargers were replaced in the IPL by the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

The first tournament, held over 44 days in 2008, was won by the Rajasthan Royals, one of the smaller-market franchises, captained by Shane Warne, the great Australian bowler. In the wake of the IPL’s success, other cricketing countries scrambled to grab some of the riches by forming their own domestic T20 leagues.

Pakistan, neighbor country of India, is not an active member in the IPL, following the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai.

A report by Sporting News read: 

Due to the 2008 Mumbai attack, political relations between India and Pakistan took a turn which resulted in Pakistan players being banned from joining the IPL.

On the 26th of November 2008, the city of Mumbai was under attack by 10 terrorists.

Ajmal Kasab - one of the 10 - revealed information about how the terrorist group organised its attack in Pakistan, which developed India's anger.

As a result, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to ban Pakistani players from participating in the IPL and have been excluded since.

The tension between the two countries also meant that they only faced each other in ICC and ACC events, but in no bilateral series since 2012-13.

Pakistan has made it known their frustrations of being prohibited from the IPL - that attracts players from all over the world.

In August last year, a report from InsideSport  revealed that Pakistan players may be facing further exclusions from other tournaments - such as the CSA and UAE T20 leagues.

Team owners of the IPL, who also own franchises in those tournaments, are not keen on acquiring Pakistani players for the competition.

A franchise official spoke to the publication about the barring of some players from foreign leagues as well as the IPL.

“No, we are not considering Pakistani players. There are way too many obstacles to go for Pakistani players," a franchise official told InsideSport.

"First, it’s a hard negotiation with the board to get them on board and allow them NOC.

"Then, comes the backlash of it. I don’t think any fans in India will be happy with their playing for us.

"It’s an investment and there is a lot at stake in every business.

"No one would want to hurt the sentiments of the customers. In this case, Indian fans are the biggest customers for us.

“We have decided not to pursue any Pakistani talent. They have some of the best players in the world but it’s not in our best interest."

Enough about the history, though. IPL happened in 2023, and it was AMAZING. From the surprise knocks by Yashaswi Jaiswal, to the disappointing performances by the former kings of the Indian Premier League, the 2023 edition brought a lot on the table to talk about. 

First, we must talk about the new rules added in the IPL this season:

A number of new laws/rules have been introduced in this season:

• A penalty of five runs if unfair movement by a fielder or wicketkeeper occurs as a ball is being delivered and before it is received by the batsman. The dead ball will also be declared.

• Teams can be declared after the toss.

• An "Impact Player" rule allows sides to substitute a player during a match from four named substitutes.

• If a team fails to bowl their 20 overs in the allocated time, only four fielders will be allowed outside of the fielding restrictions circle for the remainder of the innings.

• Teams can review balls for wides and no-balls using the Decision Review System (DRS). This change was first used during the 2023 Women's Premier League. (won by Mumbai Indians in the first ever edition of WPL)

The teams are divided into two groups (A and B) of five teams. Each team plays twice against all five teams in the other group (home and away), and once against all four of the teams in its own group. All teams play seven home and seven away games.

There were 74 matches that were played in the IPL, which would be a hassle to go through, for both you and I, so I decided to focus on the final.

Gujarat Titans v Chennai Super Kings: Super Soaked Victory

A passing shower interrupted the match between the two teams and the second innings had to be reduced to 15 overs giving Chennai 171 to chase. In the first innings, Sai Sudharsan (96) narrowly missed out on his century as Gujarat Titans posted 214/4, the highest-ever score in an IPL final, against the Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Wriddhiman Saha gave him apt support with his own half century.

Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami. 

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Deepak Chahar, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana

Chennai won via the DLS method, and a commentary transcript for the last ball read:

 Mohit Sharma has the ball for the last over. It's gone right down the wire. First ball and it's a dot! WOW! Pressure on CSK now. Just a single off the next one. Jadeja on strike and even he is unable to negotiate for more than a single. What a spell this has been from Mohit Sharma!

BUT HANG ON, RAVINDRA JADEJA HAS SMACKED MOHIT SHARMA STRAIGHT DOWN THE GROUND FOR SIX! OH MY GOD! FOUR NEEDED OFF THE LAST BALL. OH MY MY! IN COMES MOHIT SHARMA FOR THE LAST ONE. AND JADEJA HAS FLICKED IT BEHIND FOR FOUR. CHENNAI WIN IPL 2023!

Chennai Super Kings looked down and out! From 21 needed off the last two overs to 10 needed off the last two balls. Mohit Sharma had brought Gujarat back in the game. But RAVINDRA JADEJA had other plans. A six down the ground. A flick down fine leg for four and CSK are five time IPL champions. On par with the Mumbai Indians. More than any other. What a swansong for Ambati Rayudu, who played an incredible cameo, he's in tears. MS Dhoni was expressionless on the CSK bench ahead of the last ball, face down. He's all smiles. You have to think most of those who were watching are. Their Thala has another IPL title to his name. 

Truly, one of the most fascinating and enjoyable IPL finals to date.