Even though T20 cricket and the IPL are still in their baby years as global sports compared to other marquee leagues in Football, Basketball, and Baseball, the phenomenon that is the IPL has taken the cricketing world by storm.
It has taken the attention of everyone following cricket with its riches, glamour, celebrity power in attraction, and, of course, the world-renowned players.
Despite everyone acknowledging the rapid growth of the IPL in the past 15 years, it still came a moment of surprise when the BCCI sold their digital+TV rights for the 2023-27 cycle for an incredible sum of INR 48,390 crores for 410 IPL games scheduled across five years, translating to about INR 118 crore per match! With this, the IPL is now the 2nd most valued sporting league in the world in terms of per-match value.
Before every IPL season, the interesting bit for the fans is the auction. Be it a mega-auction or a mini-auction, fans keenly follow actions and decisions of not just their own favorite franchise, but of others too. Of course, the franchises are also given a chance to retain players before releasing others.
So, in this article we will reveal to you how much amount of money the current 10 franchises have spent on player salaries so far:
Gujarat Titans – INR 88.3 cr, and Lucknow Super Giants – INR 89.2 cr
These two franchises were added to the IPL in 2022 and have only been part of one auction.
Led by Hardik Pandya, the Titans won their maiden IPL trophy in their debut season itself. KL Rahul marched the Super Giants into the playoffs but they couldn’t reach the final.
Rajasthan Royals – INR 613.3 cr
RR were the proper Moneyball franchise in the early years as they looked to save any money they can in the auctions in the initial years of the IPL. Despite the lack of star players in the first season – apart from Warne and Watson – Rajasthan won the maiden IPL. They have, however, been in just one another final in the last 14 seasons – in 2022, losing to Gujarat.
RR also missed two seasons in 2016 and 2017, so their total salary spent is less than some other franchises who have been part of all 15 seasons.
Sunrisers Hyderabad – 646.9 cr
Introduced in the IPL in 2012, SRH won their maiden and yet only title in 2016 under David Warner. They reached the IPL 2018 final under Kane Williamson’s captaincy but lost to CSK.
Chennai Super Kings – 761.1 cr
Like RR, CSK also were also banned from the 2016 and 2017 season. They still, however, have the second-most number of IPL trophies in their cabinet – 4 – and remain the most decorated franchise in the league with a huge amount of fan-following. driven mostly by skipper MS Dhoni.
Punjab Kings – 778.3 cr
A change of name and logo from Kings XI Punjab to Punjab Kings still didn’t help the franchise win a title. Punjab, who have played in all 15 seasons in the IPL, have reached only one final – in 2014 when they lost to KKR.
Punjab also have the embarrassing record of the highest number of different captains in the IPL for a franchise; if anyone is keeping the stat, they perhaps also would have the most number of coaches in all IPL teams.
Delhi Capitals – INR 826.6 cr
Now, coming to the big spenders in the IPL auction. The Delhi Capitals, who were previously the Daredevils, have splurged out over 800 crore in player salaries over the 15 years of the IPL. However, they have only reached the final once, in 2020 IPL, and lost it to Mumbai Indians.
Kolkata Knight Riders – INR 852.5 cr
Captain Gautam Gambhir changed the fortunes of the KKR franchise, leading them to their only two IPL titles – in 2012 and 2014. However, before and after that golden period, the Shah Rukh Khan-owned franchise has not reached the final.
Mumbai Indians – INR 884.5 cr
The most successful IPL franchise, Mumbai Indians had to wait in the initial years for an IPL trophy. But when they won their first IPL title in 2013, the Rohit Sharma-led team became a force to reckon with and now have 5 IPL trophies in their cabinet, along with 2 champions league titles.
Though MI are big spender in the auction, they also know how to play it smartly and their success on the field underlines their good work done in the auction.
Royal Challengers Bangalore – INR 910.5 cr
The RCB is the only franchise to have spent over 900 crores in player salaries. However, they still don’t have an IPL trophy to show for it, though their fans have remained loyal, and start the wave of Ee Sala Cup Namde every year.
For your amusement, here’s a nice joke, and a hilarious trolling of RCB by Herschelle Gibbs:
And still no 🏆 https://t.co/SFyx6XW3S2
— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) November 18, 2022
