The Indian Premier League, created by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC), is a Twenty20 cricket competition. It is the brainchild of former BCCI vice-president Lalit Modi and is modelled along the lines of club football in Europe, which is unlike anything cricket has known in the past. The best players from around the world will not play according to their nationality but as per the market forces.

The first season of the Indian Premier League, also known as the DLF Indian Premier League, began on April 18, 2008, in Bangalore, and ended on June 1, 2008, with the victory of the Rajasthan Royals in the final at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai.

The second edition of the cash-rich event was conducted in South Africa and was won by Deccan Chargers.

The third edition returned to India and Chennai Super Kings led by MS Dhoni won the title.

The magnitude of the Indian Premier League was confirmed when the winning bidders for the eight franchises were announced on January 24, 2008. While the total base price for auction was US$400 million, the auction fetched US$723.59 million. The official list of franchise owners announced and the winning bids were as follows.

The original eight franchises were:

Bangalore - Vijay Mallya/UB group - $111.6 million
Chennai - India Cements - $91 million
Delhi - GMR group - $84 million
Hyderabad - Deccan Chronicle - $107 million
Jaipur - Emerging Media (Manoj Badale, Lachlan Murdoch, Suresh Chellaram and investors) - $67 million. Last season, Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty and Dubai-based businessman Raj Kundra picked up 12 per cent stake worth over $11.6 million in the Rajasthan Royals franchise team.
Kolkata - Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment in partnership with Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta - $75.09 million
Mohali - Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia (Bombay Dyeing), Karan Paul (Apeejay Surendera Group) and Dabur's Mohit Burman - $76 million
Mumbai - Mumbai Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Limited - $111.9 million.

WINNERS

2008 Winners - Rajasthan Royals
Runners Up - Chennai Super Kings

Even before the tournament began in 2008, everybody tipped some or the other team as the champion side. Little did many think the underdogs will walk away with the title. Rajasthan Royals did not boast of big stars with the exceptions of Shane Warne and Graeme Smith. Warne shepherded his young team in a manner that each one of them contributed in their success. In the final they took on MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings only to emerge as the new kings of IPL.


2009 Winners - Deccan Chargers
Runners Up - Royal Challengers Bangalore

The second season of the T20 tournament was even more dramatic. The two bottom-placed teams of 2008 - Royal Challengers and Deccan Chargers - went on to outperform everyone to set up a title clash. Adam Gilchrist-led Chargers prevailed over Anil Kumble's boys to lift the trophy.

2010 Winners - Chennai Super Kings
Runners Up- Mumbai Indians

A string of defeats and then a couple of victories was CSK's report card from the league stages of the tournament last year. Fortunately for them, their wins were big and they qualified for the semi final on the basis of net run-rate.  They defeated Deccan Chargers here and vanquished Mumbai Indians to lift the cup.