Indian Premier League: Rules explainer

The Indian Premier League is the most prestigious T20 franchise league in the world and the 18th edition of the IPL takes place in 2025.

Without further ado, we have taken a look at the key rules and regulations that make the IPL a unique part of the cricketing calendar.

Impact Players can be game-changers in the IPL

The 10 IPL franchises are permitted to name 25 players in their squads and a maximum of eight can be overseas players.

The playing 11 must contain at least seven Indian players and up to four overseas stars while franchises have the option to confirm their team either before or after the toss has taken place.

A major factor in Kolkata's success in 2024 was their settled selection of overseas players. West Indian all-rounders Sunil Narine and Andre Russell were ever-presents and Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc missed only one match for the champions.

In 2023, the IPL introduced the 'Impact Player' rule, allowing the use of one substitute for each team during a match.

Five potential Impact Players must be named at the start of the game and one of those can be introduced during a break in play – either at the end of an over, after the fall of a wicket or at the start of the second innings of the match.

If the substitute is an overseas player then the starting 11 must feature no more than three non-Indian players.

The 'Impact Player' rule offers teams the opportunity to make in-game tactical tweaks, hopefully enhancing their chances of victory.

Often a specialist batsman will be replaced by a specialist bowler once their innings is over, or vice versa if the team is fielding first.

But the rule also means sides can respond to changes of pitch or weather conditions, or bolster their batting depth if they lose early wickets.

Strategic time-outs give TV viewers a chance to catch their breath

The IPL attracts enormous television audiences and a record 350 million viewers tuned in for the first 10 fixtures of the 2024 season.

Two 'strategic time-outs' take place during each innings of an IPL match, allowing teams to reassess their tactics and broadcasters to cash in on lucrative advertising breaks.

Each time-out lasts for two minutes and 30 seconds. The bowling team can choose when to take the first one, either at the end of the sixth, seventh, eighth or ninth overs of the 20-over innings. The batting team must call for their strategic time-out after the 13th, 14th, 15th or 16th over.

The bowling team is responsible for completing their 20 overs within an allotted length of time. If they fall behind the over-rate, the number of fielders they can place on the boundary could be reduced and there is also the potential for financial punishments after the match.

Reviewing contentious decisions adds to the drama

The Decision Review System (DRS) is widely used in international and domestic cricket competitions and it was introduced in the IPL in 2018.

Each team has two chances per innings to review a decision made by the on-field umpires.

Most of these decisions involve batsmen who are given out, or not given out, lbw or caught by the wicketkeeper but, unlike in other tournaments, teams can also contest the umpire's call on a wide or a no-ball.

This regulation was first implemented in the Women's Premier League and the IPL in 2023 and England Women captain Heather Knight, who played in the WPL for Mumbai Indians, welcomed the innovation.

"I do think it's a good thing," said Knight. "In close games those sort of calls can have an effect on the match."

Batters untroubled by change of bouncer regulations in 2024

The 10 IPL teams each play 14 league-stage matches, seven at home and seven away, with the top four in the standings advancing to the play-offs.

The teams who finish first and second meet in Qualifier 1 and the winners go straight into the final. 

The losers of that fixture get another chance of qualifying for the final in Qualifier 2, where they face the winners of the Eliminator between the third- and fourth-placed teams. 

One rule change that came in for the 2024 IPL season permitted bowlers to deliver up to two bouncers per over.

That amendment to the playing conditions did not appear to trouble batsmen, however – the 2024 IPL featured eight of the nine highest totals in the tournament's history, including Sunrisers Hyderabad's record score of 287-3 against RCB in Bengaluru.