Indian Premier League Cricket: the 2025 season review

The Indian Premier League 2025 ended with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru winning for the first time in the competition’s 18-year history. They edged past the Punjab Kings by a margin of six runs. With both teams eyeing their first trophy, the final guaranteed a heartbreak for one of them. After 74 games over 10 weeks, here is what stood out from the eighteenth season.

Batters Win Matches, Bowlers Win Tournaments
Clichéd, but the Top 4 teams this season proved it. While last season saw batting-heavy teams like the Sunrisers Hyderabad do incredibly well, this time the teams which were balanced on both fronts dominated the season. Punjab, Bengaluru, Gujarat, and Mumbai have all shown that a successful team needs reliable bowlers in both departments, pace and spin, to add to the batting firepower that most teams possess.

Pace Bowler’s Favourite Tool Is Back
The league reallowed pace bowlers to use saliva to shine the ball this year after the pandemic. The pacers now generate some reverse swing later in the innings, and suddenly it doesn’t look like T-20 cricket is just a batter’s game. The 250-plus scores normalised last year were not so common this time around. Was saliva-ban the secret to batter’s success, or have the pitches become more bowler-friendly too?

Home Ground Disadvantage
The forced break and venue changes caused some teams to change their home grounds in the second part of the season. Despite this, figures from teams’ performances at their designated home grounds continued to disappoint. This season, of the 61 games held at the original home grounds, just 26 were won by the home team. Only Punjab, Mumbai, and Gujarat won more than half of their league-stage home games; all three of these teams made it to the Top 4.

Team managements blamed poor form on a lack of support from the pitch curators. Teams often recruit players that they think are best suited for their home ground, as game plans vary with the conditions underfoot. A lack of pitch curators’ support seems to have spoiled team strategies, and will make it challenging for teams to plan for uncertain conditions next season.

IPL – An Unstoppable Talent Machine
IPL continuously exposes India to new talents who deserve a place in the national T-20 side. The number of players deserving and ready to represent India could only be accommodated if India played 4 T-20 matches simultaneously. While sounding like a luxury, the overflow might hurt Indian cricket. There is no reason to replace members of the current T-20 team or to deny the cap to a newcomer. With so many players knocking on the door, it would be crucial for members present in the team to excel each time they get the opportunity – if they fail, the chance of being axed are higher than ever. Frequent changes in the team could lead to instability, lack of clarity, insecurity of positions, and a headache for selectors.

Cricket’s Superstars Bigger than Cricket Itself
The broadcasters play a vital role throughout the tournament in setting the narrative during the season. This year’s approach to the IPL story was widely criticised. Consistently throughout the tournament, it was noticeable how the narratives were set largely around the more popular players and their teams. On most occasions, the well-earned star-power overpowered the appreciation of good cricket. The role of commentators and anchors in the disproportionate discussion of the sport has been critiqued online. Broadcasters must promote neutrality in their narrative so that the fans can decide what to think about the game and the players. If the superstars are relied upon to promote the league and garner relevance, has the machinery lost faith in the quality of cricket that is played?

Is Franchise Cricket the Future?
The quality of cricket played in the IPL is second to none, and the competition is arguably the most challenging cricket tournament in the world. Here, each team is as good as the other and both need to play their best cricket to win. This is in stark contrast to International Cricket where some countries have raced away over the years. Would cricket fans be as excited to see a lopsided contest between two international sides as an even contest between two franchises? Is this the point when T-20 cricket emulates football and basketball, where franchise leagues dominate throughout the year?

Noteworthy are the effects of such a shift on West Indies. Earning large sums in global leagues, international cricket is not their cricketers’ priority. The results are alarming. Yet there have been contrasting results for Afghanistan, as the Afghans who partake in different leagues have gained exposure and developed their skills. Now, their national team is capable to take the fight to any of International Cricket’s giants.

As another season of the IPL concludes, cricket fans now turn their attention to a completely different format: Test Cricket. The much-awaited World Test Championship Final between Australia and South Africa will be played at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London from June 11.