Besides the first two seasons, all the other editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) took place in this decade. It began with the 2010 edition, where Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians played their first final together but no one had an idea what an outrageous rivalry that was going to turn into. But in these 10 years, the only disappointment is that the tournament saw just four winners.

One of the most colourful leagues across the sporting world, it has had a fair share of controversies as well but that didn’t harm it’s viewership or ticketing revenue. As a matter of fact, it has only gotten bigger and better and although there’s so much gloom surrounding its aura, it somehow manages to churn out mind-boggling revenue.

Celebrating what has been a sensational decade for the tournament, let’s take a look at how well the teams have fared in these 10 editions from 2010 to 2019.

Rating IPL teams’ performance this decade (2010-2019):

8. Kings XI Punjab – 4/10

Kings XI Punjab reached the final of the 2014 edition and nearly reached playoffs in 2017, besides which their outing in the tournament has been utterly disappointing. The club, as a whole, has failed to get their auction strategies right and unfortunately, some of the signings they did, didn’t turn out to be as good as they would’ve wanted.

They had some very attractive players playing some fabulous knocks, like David Miller smashing Royal Challengers apart in 2013, Glenn Maxwell’s heroics in the 2014 edition and Chris Gayle showing what he can do in the last two seasons. They also signed Ravichandran Ashwin for a huge price, but that move didn’t work well and he eventually moved to Delhi Capitals.

Another major factor affecting their performance was the side not having a fixed home ground. They had to take turns with Mohali, Indore and Dharamshala, which meant they never had a strong base upon which they could build a fortress. Nevertheless, there is always scope for change and who knows, they might have something very significant to offer in the coming decade with Anil Kumble at the helm.

7. Delhi Capitals – 4.5/10

A lot of changes happened in the Delhi IPL squad in this decade, from a humongous number of changes happening every year in the personnel to a change in name in 2019. No side finished bottom of the table on more occasions than the Capitals and on a very consistent basis, they managed to under-perform to their abilities.

Their decade began with a last-place finish in 2011 but they came back strongly and finished on top of the group stages in 2012. However, their dream run couldn’t take them into the finals. Till date, they’re the only team to have not reached the finals even once and finished on the bottom of the table in 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2018. Things seem to be changing for them and that was clear in the 2019 edition.

Although their performance suggests they should be 8th in this rating, their smart investments on future talents have been brilliant and they now have a pool of amazing player who can do wonders for them in the next decade. For that smart decision making to invest in these young players, they get a 0.5 more than Kings XI.

6. Rajasthan Royals – 5/10

The first-ever winners of the Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals were not remotely close to what they were in the first season. Since the third edition, they finished in the top four only three times and failed to reach the finals even once. Only two teams didn’t reach the finals in this stipulated time – Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals.

The Royals even served a two-year suspension after its hierarchy was allegedly involved in illegal betting. The comeback wasn’t a very authoritative one, but they did manage to sign some big players like Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, which makes their structure look scintillating for the upcoming edition.

But talking about their performance this decade, it was below par and no wonder why Jaipur doesn’t see a full house every time. They lost the attractive status they once had, but with a current lot of superstars, they definitely have the ability to regain that.

5. Royal Challengers Bangalore – 6/10

One of the most attractive clubs in sporting history, it’s almost funny and unsettling a fact that Royal Challengers Bangalore have no titles in their trophy cabinet. They had some of the best players in white-ball history representing them like Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mitchell Starc and Chris Gayle – but still, they never could lay hands on the trophy.

Royal Challengers came close to winning the trophy first in 2011 when they reached the finals but the Chennai Super Kings overwhelmed them in a one-sided encounter. The next time they reached the final in 2016, they had the privilege to break the deadlock in front of their home fans in Bangalore but ended up losing the title to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

After a commendable performance in the 2016 edition, they finished bottom of the table twice and finished 6th in 2018. RCB failed to pose a challenge for a title and they’re long overdue to their fans in this regard. They have some exciting young names in their ranks and it’ll be interesting to see if the coming decade has something different for them.

4. Sunrisers Hyderabad – 8/10

Making their debut in 2013, the Sunrisers Hyderabad made a statement of intent straightaway and they knew how they were going to build their brand. Courtesy some of their outstanding bowlers, Sunrisers reached the playoffs in their first-ever season but their real story started once they signed Bhuvneshwar Kumar and David Warner in 2014.

Sunrisers finished 6th in 2014 and 2015 editions, but they managed to come back strongly to win the title in 2016 courtesy some inspiring individual performances from Mustafizur Rahman, David Warner and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Since then, they managed to reach the playoffs every edition in 2017, 2018 and 2019, reaching the final once in 2018.

Tom Moody, Muttiah Muralitharan and VVS Laxman have worked tremendously in building a smart and hardworking team. Their hard work reflects clearly on the performances from the team and they also connected brilliantly with their fans, who turn up in very huge numbers every game to support the club.

3. Kolkata Knight Riders – 8.5/10

2010 wasn’t the best of seasons for the KKR, but their fate was about to change in the coming seasons. They signed up Gautam Gambhir and Yusuf Pathan in 2011, to go with the signing of Sunil Narine in 2012 which changed the course of what was to come in the tournament. Kolkata became a force to reckon with and the Eden Gardens became an impregnable fortress.

Kolkata won their first title against all the odds under the stewardship of Gautam Gambhir in 2012, defeating Chennai Super Kings on their home turf. 2013 wasn’t a great one for them and 2014 started on a slow note, winning just two of their five games in UAE. After coming to India, they stitched the greatest winning-streak in IPL history to eventually win the title.

They managed to reach the playoff stages in 2016, 2017 and 2018 editions after that and despite having a strong squad in 2019, they failed to achieve anything significant. The new era has new challenges waiting for the club and it’ll be interesting to see what they end up doing.

2. Mumbai Indians – 9.5/10

Mumbai Indians’ decade started with a heartbreaking defeat in the final to Chennai Super Kings in 2010, which kickstarted one of the greatest rivalries in sporting history. Mumbai Indians, after that final, played three more finals against Chennai Super Kings in 2013, 2015 and 2019 and won all three of them, gaining a clear edge over their arch-rivals.

Nevertheless, Mumbai Indians aren’t the best side in IPL and they fall second by the barest of margins. Despite winning the title four times in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019, their performances in the other editions weren’t satisfactory. Although they look like a side to beat every alternate season, they can switch themselves off sometimes, which hampers the consistency factor.

Nevertheless, Mumbai Indians under Rohit Sharma have achieved way more than what they would’ve anticipated at the beginning of this decade. Besides the four IPL titles they lifted, they also emerged victorious in the Champions League twice in 2011 and 2013. Clearly, their domination looks all set to continue in the next decade as well.

1. Chennai Super Kings – 9.75/10

Without a shadow of a debate, Chennai Super Kings are the finest IPL team or even the best T20 team across all the leagues if judged by consistency. They won their first title in this decade and failed to reach the finals only once in their 8 seasons of existence. They too served a two-year suspension, which kept them out of the league in 2016 and 2017.

MS Dhoni always believes in having a strong core and doesn’t like changing it frequently. That ideology of his was perhaps one of the biggest reasons behind the success of Chennai Super Kings, who always kept their core intact no matter how many auctions tried to destroy it. The current lot of CSK has a lot of players above the age of 30, but Dhoni’s leadership seems to be inspirational enough for them.

This was a near-perfect decade for the Super Kings, winning the trophy thrice in 2010, 2011 and 2018 and also reaching the final in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019. They never remained out of the top four in all the seasons of their existence, becoming the only team to ever do so.