The Fair Play Award has been in the Indian Premier League (IPL) since the inaugural season of the tournament in 2008. Three-time IPL winners Chennai Super Kings were the inaugural winners of the award. CSK also holds the record for winning the Fair Play Award the maximum number of times (6). Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad are second in the list by winning the award two times each.

Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals, and now-defunct Gujarat Lions have won it once. On the other hand, the likes of Kolkata Knight Riders, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals are yet to win this award. And while the award is being given right from 2008, it would not be wrong to state that there are still several fans who do not know about the process that decides the winner of the Fair Play Award.

How is the Fair Play Award winner adjudged?

The Fair Play Award has a specific system in place to decide how fair the game was played and the winner is decided accordingly. The winning team receives the award at the end of the season for getting maximum points. The winner is decided based on the points the umpires give to the teams. After each match, the two on-field umpires and the third umpire rate the performance of both the teams.

A team can be awarded a total of 10 points per match. Out of those 10 points, 4 are given on how the team adhered to the ‘Spirit of the game’ in the opinion of the umpires. The other three criteria are based on respect towards the opposition, the laws of cricket, and the umpires. A team can get a maximum of two points in each of these three criteria.

The teams are then given ‘Good’, ‘Average’ and ‘Bad’ ratings depending on the points they get. If a team gets two points in the criterion, its performance is considered as ‘Good’, while getting one or zero points indicates that its performance was ‘Average’ or ‘Bad’ respectively. Meanwhile, IPL 2021 is scheduled to start on April 9. Defending champions Mumbai Indians will lock horns against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening game of the tournament.