The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the world’s biggest and most successful domestic Twenty20 (T20) cricket league. It features ten teams from across the country, and the latest edition is the seventeenth season (IPL 17), which is scheduled to run from March 22 until May 26, 2024.
Let’s dive straight in to reveal which IPL teams are more famous than others and learn a little more about the world’s most fascinating cricket league.
What are the three most famous Indian Premier League cricket clubs?
The IPL is known across the world for its thrilling action each season, with ten teams representing cities across India.
Some teams have a bigger following in India and around the world than others, and since the IPL’s first-ever season in 2008, the three teams that one can argue are more famous than any others are the following:
- Team: Mumbai Indians (MI). City: Mumbai. State. Maharashtra. Debut season: 2008. Home stadium/ground: Wankhede Stadium. Capacity: 33,108. Current head coach: March Boucher. Current captain: Hardik Pandya. IPL titles won: 5. Number of seasons played: 16 (so every season since the IPL started)
- Team: Chennai Super Kings (CSK). City: Chennai. State. Tamil Nadu. Debut season: 2008. Home stadium/ground: M. A. Chidambaram Stadium. Capacity: 39,000. Current head coach: Stephen Fleming. Current captain: M.S Dhoni. IPL titles won: 5. Number of seasons played: 14
- Team: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). City: Kolkata. State. West Bengal. Debut season: 2008. Home stadium/ground: Eden Gardens. Capacity: 65,500. Current head coach: Chandrakant Pandit. Current captain: Shreyas Iyer. IPL titles won: 2. Number of seasons played: 16
These three IPL teams are the most famous in India and most other countries where cricket is enjoyed. They are also the three most popular teams to place a wager on during an IPL season on today’s most trusted Indian sites for online betting.
The player of the season each year has often helped increase the popularity of that team. In 2010, for example, when the Chennai Super Kings beat the Mumbai Indians in the final, Sachin Tendulkar (MI) was the player of the season who helped shine a light on the league.
Similarly, when the Kolkata Knight Riders won the 2012 IPL outright, the player of the season was Sunil Narine. The Mumbai Indians won in 2014, and the player of the season this year was Andre Russell (KKR).
Sunil Narine also won the player of the season in 2018, but it was CSK who won the IPL this year. Andre Russell won the player of the season in 2019, but it was the Mumbai Indians who won.
What are the ranking factors that make some teams more popular than others?
Many ranking factors come into play when determining which teams are more popular than others. The most important things to consider are the following:
- Star players – IPL clubs with huge stars in their squad often have a huge fan following. Both foreign and domestic players like Virat Kohli (India), MS Dhoni (India), Rohit Sharma (India), AB de Villiers (South Africa), David Warner (Australia), Chris Gayle (West Indies), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), and Jos Butler (England) can help bolster a team’s following across the globe
- Fan following – similar to above, the more fans an IPL club has, the more popular that team is
- Brand value – the brand value can also tell us how popular an IPL team is based on things like sponsorship deals, ticket sales, average attendance, brand partnerships/advertising deals, merchandise sales, and so much more
- On-field performance/IPL titles – how well a team performs week-in and week-out greatly impacts how popular an IPL team is. The number of IPL titles a team has won also helps with its popularity
- Regional and local connection – IPL teams that try to connect with fans in the local, regional, and international areas tend to have a much bigger following
- Social media following – you can also take into account how many followers an IPL team has on any social media platforms they have a presence on, such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
Final thoughts
IPL 17 (aka IPL 2024, or TATA IPL 2024 as it’s known for sponsorship reasons) is fast approaching and shaping up to be one of the most thrilling seasons in recent memories.
The odds-on favourites to win this year are CSK (Chennai Super Kings), the current reigning champions, and they will be looking to clinch their sixth IPL title. However, the Mumbai Indians will also be looking to do the same and make history by winning a history-making sixth title in what promises to be another action-packed season.
