Top 5 most followed cricket leagues in the world

The inception of T20 cricket brought an unprecedented transformation to the traditional sport. Cricket started out as a long-extended affair, with a single match running for over five days. As times changed, the sport preserved its true essence in the Test format, with the red-ball fixture played over five days. However, with the advancement of the sport, the game simultaneously transitioned to host multiple formats with the introduction of One-Day Internationals, a 50-over game. Then came T20Is, a rather short 20-over fixture with proceedings culminating within a matter of mere hours. The start of T20Is led to respective cricket-participating nations minting their own cricket leagues in the T20 format. 

A look at the most followed T20 cricket league in the world

Cricket leagues officially started back in 2003 when the England and Wales Cricket Board introduced the T20 Blast, also known as the Vitality Blast. However, the concept of T20 leagues truly picked up pace when India introduced the coveted Indian Premier League. The IPL was launched in 2008, with eight teams slotted in the original tournament.

The Indian cricket league didn’t take long to attract the audience’s attention, laying the path for other boards to design and execute similar T20 tournaments. Then came the Big Bash League, developed and launched by Cricket Australia in 2011. Now, almost every cricket-playing nation has introduced its own league, with discussions around the lucrative deals of cricket leagues luring players out of their central contracts running rampant. As cricket league pick pace around the world, the upcoming matches are likely to cover the entire cricketing calendar round the year. Here’s a look at the most followed T20 cricket leagues in the world.

1. The Indian Premier League - IPL

IPL launched in 2008 with eight teams staging the tournament as stars from around the world came together to script the ultimate spectacle. In 18 years of its course, IPL has multifolded in every aspect, not that the cricket league was any small to start with. Now, 10 teams play the tournament, and the window has increased to span almost two months. The international cricketing calendar seemingly hits a break during the IPL window, with almost all the major players from around the world participating. Eighteen years since its inception, the IPL is now running on course to dethrone the world-renowned NFL as the most valuable sports league in the world.

2. The Big Bash League - BBL

Following the successful path laid by the IPL, Cricket Australia launched the Big Bash League in 2011. With eight teams playing across a window of over a month, the BBL swiftly struck the fans’ interest as T20 cricket leagues gained precedence among avid followers of the game. The Australian league gained enough traction for the board to announce a women’s counterpart of the tournament. The WBBL, containing the same number of teams as the men’s tournament, is often rated as the highest-followed women’s cricket league in the world.

3. The International T20 League - ILT20

Among the newer cricket leagues, the ILT20 didn’t take much time to pique public interest. Barring the BCCI, which doesn’t allow its players to participate in any cricket league except IPL until they have retired from all forms of cricket, the ILT20 is joined by players from almost every nation. Introduced in 2023, the ILT20 is only second to IPL in terms of the lucrative deals offered to players. The UAE-based cricket league, in fact, is rated as the second-richest cricket league in the world, only behind the IPL.

4. SA20

The South Africa cricket league, like the ILT20, is among the newly launched T20 tournaments. The South African tournament consists of six teams, with big IPL franchises like the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians playing their SA20 counterparts in the league. The SA20, introduced in 2023, has already been reported to lay a positive impact on the nation’s economy, generating massive revenues through high-octane sporting action. 

5. The Caribbean Premier League - CPL

The CPL followed IPL and BBL in its inception. Introduced in 2013, the Caribbean Premier League is regarded as one of the original T20 leagues in the world. The West Indies Cricket Board introduced this league in 2013 to replace the Caribbean T20. Currently, the CPL consists of six teams and is played across a window of almost a month during August-September.