The Indian Premier League 2012 is the fifth edition of the IPL, a Twenty20 tournament played by clubs consisting of Indian international and domestic cricketers along with cricketers from other countries. The IPL first began in the year 2007 and was an instant success since then. The IPL has mixed Cricket with Entertainment with some of the leading stars in the Film industry joining the mega event in various roles.
The fifth season of the IPL will see 9 teams take part with a total of 76 matches to be played between April 4th and May 27. The last season had 10 teams in total, but one of them – Kochi Tuskers Kerala was terminated due to some violations.
Each of the 9 teams play against each other twice in the league matches. This will be followed up by the Playoff stage, which will consist of two Qualifier Matches, 1 Eliminator Match and a Final. The opening match and also the Final of the DLF IPL 2012 will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Here are the nine teams taking part in the DLF IPL 2012: Chennai Super Kings, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Pune Warriors India.
As many as 12 venues will be used for the various matches to be played in the DLF IPL 2012.
Winners of the Previous Editions of the IPL:
DLF IPL 2008: Rajasthan Royals led by Australian Spinning legend – Shane Warne won the inaugural IPL beating Chennai Super Kings.
DLF IPL 2009: For starters, the second season of the IPL moved to South Africa because of security concerns in India with also the general elections scheduled at the same time. Deccan Chargers led by Australian Great Adam Gilchrist defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore to clinch the title. Ironically both these teams were sitting at the bottom of the table in the first season!
DLF IPL 2010: Chennai Super Kings led by Captain Cool MS Dhoni went onto defeat Mumbai Indians to clinch their first IPL title.
DLF IPL 2011: Two new franchises made their debuts in the IPL 4 namely Pune Warriors and Kochi Tuskers Kerala to add more colour to the tournament. The Chennai Super Kings led by MS Dhoni won the tournament for the second time in a row and this time they defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Final.
