In this article, we will try to decide which is the best IPL team of all, having considered the records of all participants across the league’s seasons.
p>Going by the number of titles won, Mumbai Indians are the most successful team in the IPL. They have won the most titles among various teams participating in the IPL, including two Champions League and four IPL trophies. They won their first Champions League title in 2011 by prevailing over Royal Challengers Bangalore by 31 runs in the title clash. Ironically, MI had a disappointing record in the first five IPL seasons when they had just one entry into the IPL final in 2010 to show for their effort. They lost that match to CSK and it wasn’t until 2013 that the side, this time led by Rohit Sharma, went on to win their maiden IPL trophy by registering a 23-run win over CSK in the final. Later the same year, they won their second Champions League title by beating Rajasthan Royals by 33 runs in the final. A second IPL title came MI’s way in 2015 when they prevailed by 41 runs over CSK in the final. A thrilling one-run victory over Pune Supergiants in 2017 gave MI their third IPL trophy. In 2019, another one-run win, this time over CSK, ensured a record-breaking 4th IPL title for Rohit Sharma’s wards.
CSK: Chennai Super Kingsp>All until MI won their 4th IPL title in 2019, CSK had been indisputably the most successful team in the IPL. They have won the IPL trophy on three occasions and the Champions League on two. CSK won their first IPL trophy in 2010, beating MI in the final by 22 runs. Later the same year, CSK won their maiden Champions League title by prevailing over Chevrolet Warriors by 8 wickets in the final. In 2011, CSK made a successful defence of their IPL title by beating RCB by 58 runs in the final. Their next title win came in the Champions League final in 2014 when CSK registered an 8-wicket win over KKR in the final. CSK’s last title win came in 2018 when they beat SRH in the final by 8 wickets. CSK have qualified for the playoffs 10 times in 10 seasons, becoming the only side to reach the playoffs in every season they played. They have also featured in 8 finals, finishing runners-up in 5 of them.
KKR: Kolkata Knight Ridersp>KKR are not only among the most successful IPL teams, but they are also among the most popular ones thanks to being owned by Bollywood celebrities, Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla. They reached the playoffs for the first time on their 4th appearance in the competition in 2011 and lost to MI in the Eliminator. A year later, KKR won their maiden IPL title by beating CSK by 5 wickets in the final. Two seasons later, in 2014, KKR earned their second IPL trophy by beating KXIP by 3 wickets in the title clash. KKR also qualified for the Champions League in the 2011, 2012 and 2014 seasons and finished runners-up in 2014, when they were beaten by 8 wickets by CSK. KKR reached the playoffs three years in a row, from 2016 to 2018. In 2016 they lost in the Eliminator to Sunrisers Hyderabad. In 2017, they lost to Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2. In 2018, they lost in Qualifier 2 to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
SRH: Sunrisers Hyderabadp>Founded in 2012, Sunrisers Hyderabad began participating in the IPL in the 2013 season. They reached the playoffs in their inaugural season, only exiting the competition after losing to Rajasthan Royals by 4 wickets in the Eliminator. They next qualified for the playoffs in 2016 when they went on to win their maiden IPL trophy by beating RCB by 8 runs in the title clash. In 2017, they managed to reach the playoffs only to lose by the D/L method to KKR in the Eliminator. In 2018, SRH reached the playoffs yet again. This time around, they entered the final where they were beaten by CSK by 8 wickets. In 2019, SRH’s IPL campaign ended abruptly when they lost in the Eliminator to Delhi Capitals.
RR: Rajasthan Royalsp>RR, who were considered the weakest team of the inaugural season in 2008, went on to capture the inaugural IPL crown, beating CSK in the final by 3 wickets. They failed to reach the semifinals in the following season in 2009 after finishing sixth on the points table. In 2010, they went one worse, ending in 7th place on the points table and failing to get past the group stage yet again. In 2011, the IPL had 10 teams, two more than were there in the league’s previous seasons. Royals finished the group stage sixth and were knocked out of the competition. In 2012, when the IPL featured 9 teams, RR exited the competition at the group stage after finishing 6th on the points table. In the 2013 season, RR went past the group stage for the first time since their title-winning exploits in the 2008 season. They lost in Qualifier 2 to the eventual champions, MI. In 2014, RR were unlucky to be knocked out after losing the 4th spot on the table based on the net run rate, after tying on points with MI. In 2015, RR again qualified for the playoffs before being knocked out, after losing to RCB by 71 runs in the Eliminator. Having served a two-year ban and eturning to the IPL in 2018, RR qualified for the playoffs and were beaten in the Eliminator by KKR. A mediocre showing in 2019 saw RR exiting at the group stage after finishing 7th on the table.
DC: Delhi Capitals
Previously known as Delhi Daredevils, Delhi Capitals got their new name in December 2018. In the inaugural 2008 season, DC reached the semifinal where they lost to the eventual champions, RR. In 2009, they made it to the semifinals for a second year running only to lose to eventual champions Deccan Chargers. In 2010, DC missed out on a chance to go past the group stage when they finished 5th on the points table. In 2011, DC’s performance reached a nadir, when they finished last among 10 teams at the group stage. In 2012, they managed to reach the playoffs yet again only to lose to CSK by 86 runs in Qualifier 2. Then came six successive seasons from 2013 to 2018 when DC finished at the bottom of the league table or near it. In 2019, they staged a revival of sorts by finishing 3rd on the league table to qualify for the playoffs where they lost to CSK by 6 wickets in Qualifier 2.
RCB: Royal Challengers Bangalore
In the inaugural 2008 season, RCB finished 7th on the league table and failed to reach the semifinals. The next season, they performed much better, being placed 3rd on the league table. In the semifinals, they beat CSK by 6 wickets to qualify for the final which they lost to Deccan Chargers by 6 runs. In 2010, RCB qualified for the semifinals by finishing the group stage 4th. In the semis, they lost to MI by 35 runs. In 2011, RCB topped the league table to qualify for the playoffs. They beat MI in Qualifier 2 by 43 runs only to lose to CSK in the final by 43 runs. RCB got knocked out at the league stage in the next three seasons. The 2015 season saw RCB bounce back by qualifying for the playoffs by finishing 3rd on the league table. Unfortunately for them, they lost to CSK by 3 wickets in Qualifier 2. In 2016, RCB finished 2nd on the league table and entered the final by beating Gujarat Lions by 4 wickets in Qualifier 1. In the final, they lost to Sunrisers by 8 runs to end up as runners-up for the 3rd time. In their last three seasons in 2017, 2018 and 2019, RCB finished at the bottom of the league table.
KXIP: Kings XI Punjab
KXIP began their IPL campaign on a positive note by finishing 2nd on the league table in 2008 to qualify for the semifinals. However, they were knocked out of the competition after they had lost to CSK by 9 wickets in the semifinals. In 2009, they failed to get past the group stage, finishing 5th on the points table. Then followed four mediocre seasons when they finished 8th on the league table in 2010, 5th in 2011 and 6th in 2012 and 2013. In 2014, KXIP made a comeback by topping the table. They qualified for the final by beating CSK in Qualifier 2 only to lose in the title clash to KKR by 3 wickets. That was the last year they qualified for the playoffs, finishing no better than 5th in the five seasons that followed.
