The Indian Premier League (IPL) is an Indian professional league for men's Twent y20 cricket clubs with

double round-robin and playoffs. Currently contested by e ight clubs, it is India's primary Twenty20 cricket club competition. Only clubs based in India are qualify to play in the Premier League. Seasons run in the Ind ian summer spanning between April and June, with most games are played in the af ternoons. In the absence of any Twenty20 cricket league system, the IPL does not operate on a system of promotion and relegation. The competition was formed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) i n 2008 after an altercation between the BCCI and the now-defunct Indian Cricket League.[1] The Premier League is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra,[2][3] and is currently supervised by BCCI Vice-President Ranjib Biswal, who serves as the League's Chairman and Commissioner.[4] The Premier League is the most-watched Twenty20 cricket league in the world. It is generally considered to be the highest-profile showcase in the world for Twen ty20 club cricket, the shortest form of professional cricket with just 20 overs per innings. IPL is as well known for its commercial success and for the quality of Twenty20 cricket played. During the sixth IPL season (2013) its brand value was estimated to be around US$3.03 billion.[5][6] Live rights to the event are syndicated around the globe, and in 2010, the IPL b ecame the first sporting event to be broadcast live on YouTube.[7] It is current ly sponsored by Pepsi and thus officially known as the Pepsi Indian Premier Leag ue.[8] Two eligible bids were received, with Pepsi winning over Airtel with a bi d of INR3968 million.[9] However, the League has been the subject of several con troversies where allegations of cricket betting, money laundering and spot fixin g were witnessed.[10][11] Of the 11 clubs to have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 20 08, five have won the title: Chennai Super Kings (2), Rajasthan Royals (1), Decc an Chargers (1), Kolkata Knight Riders (1) and Mumbai Indians (1). The current c hampions are Mumbai Indians, who won the title in the 2013 season.The IPL is a T wenty20 cricket tournament which was inaugurated in 2008. During the same period Zee "Indian Cricket League" was operational. Twenty20 cricket was first introduced at a competitive level by the England and Wales cricket board in 2003 but the Indian Premier League is largely credited wi th being the institution that projected the format of the game onto the world st age.The Indian Premier League was initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and has been an enormous success. The annual tournament, played in the months of April and May has gone from strength to strength and is largely viewed as being the 'richest' tournament in world cricket. There are the eight franchises that field teams to play in the IPL (in brackets original cost of franchise in $/million): Chennai Super Kings, CSK (91) Delhi Daredevils, DD (84) Kings XI Punjab, KXIP (76) Kolkata Knight Riders, KKR (75.1) Mumbai Indians, MI (111.9) Rajasthan Royals, RR (67) Royal Challengers Bangalore, RCB (111.6) Sunrisers Hyderabad, SRH (159) The following three teams have played in the IPL but due to financial constraint s have ceased to exist: Pune Warriors India, PWI (370) Kochi Tuskers Kerala, KTK (333) Deccan Chargers, DC (107) Until 2012, the Indian Premier League was sponsored by DLF after they paid $50 m illion for the five year sponsorship. Pepsi will take over the contract for the 2013 IPL after paying close to 4 billion rupees for the 5 year contract. In 2008, Sony paid $1 billion for the broadcasting rights over a ten year period . The IPL is watched across the world and in 2010 made history by becoming the f irst sporting event to be broadcast live on YouTube. The Indian Premier League has had its controversies over the year, with Lalit Mo

di being suspended as chairman and Commissioner of the IPL on 2 April 2010 for w hat were deemed alleged acts of independent misdemeanours . Recently the player Moh nis Mishra was suspended from the game after becoming embroiled in a match fixin g scandal during the 2012 tournament. The tournament is the largest, best known and most prestigious Twenty20 tourname nt in cricket. First season