For more than a decade now, Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a guiding light for all the other T20 leagues around the world. Whatever IPL does, it becomes an instant hit among the Indian cricketing fans as well as its followers around the globe. Over twelve years, IPL has given many innovative ideas to expand the extravaganza of the shortest format of cricket to the ever-expanding world of T20 leagues.

Since the inception of IPL in 2008, many cricketing nations launched their very own T20 leagues. Nowadays there are as many as seven popular leagues around the world which include Big Bash League (BBL) from Australia, Caribbean Premier League (CPL) from West Indies, Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), Mzansi Super League (MSL) from South Africa, Pakistan Super League (PSL), Super Smash from New Zealand and T20 Blast from England and Wales.

Many IPL ideas and concepts became so much popular over the years that many above mentioned leagues are trying to implement them in their competition as well.

In this article, we will take a look at those five unique concepts which the IPL introduced in the cricketing world:

1. Strategic Time-outs

When Indian Premier League (IPL) introduced mid-innings time-outs to farm new strategies for the teams, the concept was welcomed by many but at the same time criticised by some former cricketers. Ultimately, the players liked the idea and accepted this new concept with open arms for the betterment of their side in a tensed match.

This time around the Australian T20 competition, the Big Bash League (BBL) has also introduced the strategic time-outs in their lucrative tournament. This is a hugely welcome step to this unique concept where the quick-thinking skills of the coaching staff of various franchises are tested in crunch situations. These time-outs play hue roles in changing the course of the match in such a short period of break.

In IPL, there are a total of four time-outs in a match. Two each for both the side, once while batting and the other while bowling. Whereas in BBL, the format is a bit different. There are only two time-outs in a match instead of four. Only a batting side can take a single time-out in between the overs 7 to 13. This is a big welcome step to this time-out concept and we hope in near future other T20 leagues around the world will follow the footsteps of IPL and BBL.

2. Caps for leading run-scorers and wicket-takers

When Indian Premier League started in 2008, they introduced a unique concept of Orange cap and Purple cap. The leading run-scorer (at that moment) will wear an orange coloured cap while he is on the ground whereas the leading wicket-taker will don a purple coloured cap on his head. This allowed the spectators and viewers to identify the top performers with bat and ball throughout the tournament.

This concept didn’t only help the spectators but also encourage cricketers to do well and top the charts of batting and bowling to wear those prized caps on their proud heads. This was a great testament for their achievement and consistency throughout the tournament which was being considered, appreciated and being looked upon by the tournament officials.

The same concept was introduced in the Australian Big Bash tournament in recent times but with a different cap colour. Whoever is the leading wicket-taker or the leading run-scorer in the BBL at that moment, will don a golden coloured cap throughout their playing time on the ground. The concept is being hugely appreciated by the BBL audience and management.

3. Home and away jerseys

One who follows football leagues around the world must be very familiar with this concept of having different club jerseys for different matches. Many football clubs have a home jersey which they wear in all home matches while a different jersey for away matches. This helps to differentiate which one is a home side and which one is a travelling one.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) introduced this concept many years ago partially if not fully when the Karnataka franchise Royal Challengers Bangalore decided to wear two different jerseys for home and away matches. The Virat Kohli-led side wore the red and gold jersey for their home matches while black and gold jersey for their away games. Though other teams from the tournament weren’t much keen on this idea.

Now, the Big Bash League (BBL) has also come up with this same idea. But they have surely implemented this concept on a wider basis as all of their clubs are wearing a black variant combined with their home jersey’s colour while playing away games. This has surely helped viewers to identify the home and away side in a nick of time while watching the matches.

4. Player Auction

We have seen many auctions related to antique pieces or historical monuments, but when Indian Premier League announced that there will be a player auction before their inaugural season, it took everyone from the cricketing fraternity by surprise. This idea was so alien and bizarre which was never tried in any sport ever before.

But this was an intelligent way to attract big international cricketers by luring them with hefty money. Many cricketers got auctioned throughout the last dozen years or so in the IPL player auctions. This helped the tournament to achieve world record viewership courtesy the presence of many international cricketers lighting up the tournament with their superlative performances.

Soon, other cricket leagues also followed the trend by keeping player drafts for franchises to buy international and domestic cricketers through a bidding system. Right now, leagues like Caribbean Premier League and Pakistan Super League arrange player drafts which is almost similar to auctions but the only difference is there is a set maximum price to buy players instead of unlimited price caps in IPL auctions.

5. Fan parks

Five years ago in 2015, the Indian Premier League (IPL) introduced a relatively new and alien concept called ‘Fan Parks’. The meaning of this term is quite simple. IPL has 8 teams from 8 big cities of India. These 8 cities have their very own fabulous cricket stadiums where their home side plays all of their home matches in a carnival atmosphere. The people who live in these cities can come and enjoy watching their favourite cricketers play cricket in front of their eyes.

But what about others? The people who don’t have any IPL side in their state nor any cricket stadium to experience the magical atmosphere of this cricketing extravaganza. For these people to enjoy an electrifying atmosphere, the IPL governing council came up with the concept of IPL Fan Parks where the empty parks around these isolated cities get converted into giant festival-like places where big screens get installed on which the IPL matches are broadcasted. People can come and sit, drink, eat the food from the stalls and enjoy the match free of cost with their family and friends.

Now, the Pakistan Super League (PSL) has come up with a similar concept. They are also going to create fan parks around their country starting from 2020 PSL season. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is also going to build big screens around some local parks for their fans to enjoy the most popular cricketing league in their country.