The Indian Premier League is all set to begin with a bigger format. The eight-team league will start its 15th edition journey with two new teams joining the cash-rich tournament. However, this will not be the first time that 10 teams will be contesting for the trophy. This also happened back in 2011. The IPL expanded to 10 teams for the first time in the year with the addition of Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala.
What’s New?
The teams have been divided in two groups of five teams and each side will play 14 matches each. The rows and columns of the groups have been decided on the basis of their past performances — the number of titles won, and the number of finals reached. Now each team will play others in their group twice and also with the team in the same row in the next group. Then the team will take on other sides once in the other group. The IPL 2022 format is very much similar to the IPL 2011 format where the teams were also divided into groups before playing 14 games each in the same way. So, this is definitely not the first time that IPL will see 10 teams taking on each other in such a format.
When more teams participate in a league it undoubtedly gets more exciting and competitive. And with a global T20 league like IPL, it has to be much better with more teams joining the fest. Moreover, the Indian Premier League is returning home after two years of pandemic and hence the expansion timing could not have been any better.
Pros and Cons
More teams mean more opportunity for the cricketers. While we will be able to see the magic of Hardik Pandya as captain, we will also see more cities getting attached to the league. Gujarat that already hosts to three Ranji teams, can easily be one of the most followed IPL teams. Same is applicable Lucknow Super Giants. LSG owners are not new to the league and therefore will try to execute all their knowledge from prior experience.
More opportunity means more exposure to the domestic players and newcomers. Even a lot of these youngsters will get to train alongside the superstars of world cricket as net bowlers. But if we talk about the experienced players, there a fixed number of players with prior T20 experience. So technically, the experienced and senior talent pool is limited. This means not all teams can have the perfect balance and some teams can be stronger than others. This can affect the overall competitiveness of the league.
IPL 2022 teams and groups
| Group A | Group B |
| Mumbai Indians (MI) | Chennai Super Kings (CSK) |
| Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) | Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) |
| Rajasthan Royals (RR) | Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) |
| Delhi Capitals (DC) | Punjab Kings (PBKS) |
| Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) | Gujarat Titans (GT) |
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