With IPL 2022 featuring 10 teams after the addition of the Ahmedabad and Lucknow franchises, it will be the second time that the tournament sees 10 teams.
In 2011, when there were 10 teams, Kochi Tuskers and Pune Warriors were the other two teams apart from the current lot of eight.
This time, RPSG Ventures Ltd. has bagged the ownership rights of the Lucknow franchise for Rs 7,090 crore while private equity firm Irelia Company Pte Ltd. (CVC Capital Partners) has bought the Ahmedabad team for Rs 5,625 crore.
The addition of two teams also means that there will be more matches in the season, however it is unlikely to be the same league format.
The BCCI has confirmed that the season will comprise 74 matches (instead of the current 60), with each team playing seven home and seven away games.
So, it is likely that the IPL will go back to the 2011 format which also had 74 games as staying on with the current league format would involve playing close to 100 games.
How Did IPL 2011 Work?
With 10 teams in the competition in IPL 2011, the sides were divided into two groups of five teams each but were ranked on one points table.
In the group stage, every team played 14 games where in they first faced the other four teams in their group twice each (one home and one away game), four teams in the other group once, and the remaining team another couple of times, home and away.
A random draw was used to determine the groups and who plays whom across the groups once and twice.
Once the teams have all played 14 games through the first round, the tournament then went into the playoff rounds, where there were 4 games including the final – much like the current format.
In 2013, however, there were 9 teams in the tournament and there were 76 matches played.
It is likely that the IPL will revert back to this format from next season, as this would also not cause a crunch in what is an already very hectic calendar for the Indian men’s team.
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