Indian Premier League is the second most lucrative league in the world among the sport tournaments.

Cricket needs to move from the select 10-12 countries playing the game to a higher number playing the gentleman’s game. If there is any revolution which has come after the coloured clothing and limited over format in the Kerry Packer era, it definitely has to be the birth and growth of the T20 format.

While the purest prefer the 5-day format as the ultimate game, the new global audience will watch the game if the game is short, fast and result oriented. There is no better game if the game is limited to a short time frame good enough for a family get together and make it a game for the family. This is exactly the reason that basketball and badminton are more popular amongst the general TV viewers.

T20 format brought in the revolution in the game of cricket and the exponential growth in its success has now threatened the very fabric of the other formats in the game. This is evident in the weakening of interest in the ODI 50 over game. While this is the year of the 2023 ODI 50 over World Cup, please do not be surprised that this might be the last in its current form.

One of the reason football is more watched in the modern era is because of football leagues across the globe wherein talented footballers come together from various countries and participate in franchise / club sports. This is much more entertaining and the quality of the game goes up a notch.

Apart from the club games, countries play World Cup and friendlies in between to keep the country vs the club divide. If it can help football why not cricket.

There is a definite effort in commentary and in the press to highlight how good the longest format of the game is but the writing is on the wall. The ultimate truth is T20 is now the most popular format in the game and any sense of false bravado cannot change that. ODI 50 over format tournaments which were seeing falling interest levels amongst crowds in the stadiums and from the broadcasters are now moving to T20 format tournaments and thus creating revenue for the boards.

Pakistan, a financially bankrupt cricketing Nation was able to revive a little by floating Pakistan Super League which has brought in the crowd to the stadium.

T20 format brings in a whole new set of people of all ages and audience are hooked to the TV

Non cricket playing countries like China, Hongkong, Spain, Japan, Argentina and Brazil have shown interest in the game and that is good news for the spread of the game. T20 has made it possible.

More audience means more advertisement and that brings in more money

We will list the current top 5 Best T20 Cricket Leagues in the world

Caribbean Premier League (CPL)

The West Indies cricket style of play suits the T20 format. West Indies cricket is seeing an ascendancy in popularity after years of decline when the stars of the game retired. With ongoing disputes with various boards, domestic cricket has taken a huge beating which led to a talent deficit in the national team.

For the love of the T20 league format, there is no shortage of domestic talent in the shorter format and due to the lack of domestic tournaments players tend to be free agents and play all the T20 cricket leagues across the globe and at times give a thumbs down on national duty if it clashes with bigger leagues like IPL or Big Bash.

Caribbean Premier League (CPL) was established by the Cricket West Indies (CWI) in 2013 and since then it has been one of the most followed tournaments globally. The Caribbean Premier T20 league is well accepted and competitively played. Many Foreign players participate in the tournament. India TV viewership is high even though the games are televised in odd hours. The wider audience has helped the tournament generate good revenues for the boards

The winner of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) receives prize money of $1 million which is approximately equal to INR 7.98 Crores while the CPL runner-up receives prize money of $660,000. The third-placed team receives $250,000 and the fourth-placed team gets $100,000. The players have been distributed prize money of $150,000 for participating in the CPL.

Pakistan Super League (PSL)

Pakistan Super League (PSL) single handedly revived Pakistan Cricket from the verge of total cricket annihilation as  international teams were unwilling to send their squad to tour Pakistan due to Terror threats and an unstable government. The Tournament mirrors the Indian format and all Pakistan players domestic and Internationals play in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). While the domestic quality is not as good as the Caribbean Premier League but still manages to hold itself as a competitive tournament. Pakistan is a cricket crazy nation and the crowd support for the tournament is huge. The tournament is streamed live and telecasted in India which helps them generate a sizeable revenue. Some recently retired foreign internationals participate in the tournament along with players who are in the fringes to play for their country.

The winner of Pakistan Super League (PSL) recives cash prize was much lower than other leagues at the start, however, it has been raised in the last few years. The winner of the PSL receives prize money of PKR 80 million which is equal to INR 3.40 Crores approximately while the runner-up receives PKR 32 million. The player of the tournament receives PKR 3 million.

Big Bash League (BBL)

One of the better T20 franchise cricket leagues in the world the Big Bash League had a head start compared to the others. It generated the crowd to the stadium but could not live up to the hype it created.

Big Bash T20 League (BBL) was established by Cricket Australia (CA) in 2011 as the country’s premier T20 league tournament and the first edition of the tournament took place in 2011-12.  The tournament is slowly losing its grip as the Australian Internationals fail to show up consistently to the tournament as their international commitments clashes with the Big Bash League Schedule. Even with a good crowd support and sponsors the tournament allows only 2 overseas player is allowed in each team. The TV coverage is excellent but the commentary with the Australian slang is unbearable sometimes . The tournament also has a women’s league which runs parallel which is great for women’s cricket.

The winner of the Big Bash League (BBL) gets a cash prize of $450,000 which is equal to INR 2.48 Crores while the runner-up receives $260,000. The two losing semi-finalists receive $80,000 while the fifth-placed team gets $20,000.

Indian Premier League (IPL)

Though one of the last to start the Franchise cricket tournament, The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been revolutionizing the sport in more than one way imaginable. It is the biggest T20 League in the world in terms of player participation, money involved in the sport and its sheer size of the pie in the franchise sport. Indian Premirer League run by the richest cricket board in the world of cricket had to be special. The best players, officials, grounds and coverage make the tournament the best. The tournament is played in a window where no international cricket is played. This helps the international players to be part of the IPL for the entire season along with the Indian talent. All Indian internationals and stars play in this tournament and are financially well compensated. The huge pool of domestic Indian talent is in show and acts as a foot in the door for performers to join the national squad someday. 4 international players are allowed so this helps more participation from the international stars. Pretty much most of the top-quality overseas players are able to play in the IPL (Indian Premier League). International boards choose not to schedule games during IPL season. The BCCI has announced the Women’s Premier League to be held before the IPL from this year onwards. This will also bring a revolution in women sports in India

The winner of the Indian Premier League (IPL) receives cash prize INR 20 Crores, while the runner-up prize INR 13 Crores. The third and fourth-placed team gets prize of INR 6.5 Crores each.

The Hundred

The Hundred is a 100 ball cricket tournament and a franchise league of England Cricket Board. Eight teams from the men and women team play the tournament and is the newest league format played in cricket. The tournament is run by the England and Wales Cricket Board. Compared to the T20 Blast, The Hundred has fewer teams, full involvement of England’s specialist white-ball players and more overseas players, the quality is higher. The Hundred is the shortest format of cricket where each team gets 100 balls to play. The tournament comprises 15 players including 3 foreign players and each team represents 8 different cities of England. The top-class players take part from around the globe in this tournament in order to make the league more exciting. The Hundred has made everyone in the cricket world realise that cricket has to be evolve to make it more interesting to keep it viable and popular.