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What Should We Expect From the 2023 Indian Premier League?

by Cricket World Wednesday 15 March 2023

Jofra Archer (RR)

©RR

The 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) will be the 16th installment of the competition. This professional T-20 Indian cricket league, established by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), creates an incredible sense of anticipation amongst both Indian cricket fans and lovers of the sport all over the world. For the first time since 2019, the IPL season will return to its standard format and feature both Home and Away games. As a result of two new teams being added in recent years, two new Home grounds will feature for the first time, adding a breath of fresh air to an already scintillating affair. With both Gujarat Titans, the defending champions, and Rajasthan Royals, last season’s runners-up, looking in good shape, the 2023 IPL is set to once again blow cricket fans away on a global level.

The Build-Up

As with every major sports tournament, fans begin making predictions as to which teams and players will perform the best well in advance of the actual competition beginning. While a lot of competitions, in various sports, have qualifiers in the build-up to determine who will actually take part, the IPL has something a little bit different. In Bangalore, on the 16th of December 2022, around 650 players took part in what is called the IPL Auction.

The auction is a draft system that allows teams to choose which players they will retain and which players they will acquire. This year’s auction brought an extra level of interest due to how big of an impact the 2022 auction had on the outcome of the season. The players acquired by Gujarat Titans, last season’s winners, played a pivotal role in allowing them to win the competition outright. With this auction still fresh in the memory, every team will be doing their utmost to get every possible advantage they can out of the 2023 draft.

Naturally, every team kept a close eye on the choices made by the aforementioned defending champions. The fact that Gujarat Titians, in a parallel vein, were wary of not freshening up their squad, while also keeping their core and balance, added an extra level of intrigue to the draft. With so much interest, cricket fans will be thankful for any information, including this comprehensive betbarter review that can shed light on the potential happenings during the season.

A Unique Affair

The fact that there is so much intrigue before the IPL season even kicks off is part of the reason that it is regarded as one of the most prestigious cricket tournaments today. There is never a dull moment between the end of one season and the beginning of the next.

Of course, once the draft has been finalised, the tournament will take place in its usual round-robin format. The ten teams will be divided into two separate groups of five at the beginning of the competition. Unlike the majority of group tournaments, the structure of the fixtures is not so straightforward. The teams face the other four teams in their group two times each (one home and one away game), four teams in the other group once, and the remaining team two times, with all teams playing fourteen games each.