New Delhi: The 2022 Indian Premier League (PL) will see a tweak in format as 10 teams will be divided into groups of five. However, the number of matches per side will remain 14. The groupings were released Friday by BCCI. Group A comprises Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Rajasthan Royals (RR), Delhi Capitals (DC) and Lucknow Supergiants (LSG). Group B will have Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Punjab Kings (PKS) and Gujarat Titans (GT).
Over the years, the IPL has been an eight-team affair. Each team played each other twice at the round robin league stage to complete 14 games.
However this group league format is not new in the IPL. It was once used a decade back when Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers Kerala were part of the league.
Ready Reckoner for Format
The rows and columns of the groups (A and B) has been done as per IPL performances – number of titles and number of finals reached.
First, the groupings have been done as per IPL performance where group A has MI (Team 1) with five titles as first team. Correspondingly, in group B, the first team is CSK (Team 2) which has four titles.
Team 3 is again placed in Group A and that is KKR with two titles and the corresponding Team 4 placed in group B is SRH with a sole title.
Team 5 again in Group A is RR (one title) and its corresponding Team 6 in Group B is RCB, which has played three finals.
Also read: IPL to start March 26, around 40% crowd to be allowed in Maharashtra stadiums
Team 7 in Group A is DC, which has one final appearance and two play-offs while corresponding Team 8 in Group B is Punjab Kings with one final appearance. Newcomers LSG is Team 9 in Group A and Gujarat Titans is corresponding team 10 in Group B.
How each team play 14 games
Each team plays the other teams in its group twice, which makes it eight matches. The balance six games they play against the five teams in the other group.
So MI from Group A will play two games CSK which is their equivalent team in Group B and one match against the other four teams. Similarly KKR, the second-placed team in Group A, plays SRH in Group B twice, and all other teams once.
This is how teams attain (8+6) 14 group league games.
