The Best & Most Successful Teams in IPL History
Over the years, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has come to be known as the toughest T20 competition. Shedding its Moneyball image to some extent, the IPL has used its financial muscle to attract the world’s best playing talent and built itself as the stiffest domestic
tournament on the face of the earth.
There is no more competitive and intense T20 league with multiple great rivalries capturing the imagination of fans. It helps that teams have pursued forming a strong bond by giving players a long run and backing them to deliver the goods consistently.
The base idea is to uphold teamwork as the most significant means to success. Each IPL team is greater than the sum of its parts, contributing immensely to their field success.
Table of Contents
IPL: An Overview
The simplicity of the format and fair nature of the tournament structure also give the IPL an edge. All teams taking part face each other twice during the league stage – once at home, once away – in a double round-robin that leads to the playoffs, where the top 4 teams clash for the coveted trophy.
The top 2 sides from the league stage play Qualifier 1 to determine the first finalist, while those finishing third and fourth lock horns in the Eliminator, the loser of which gets dropped from the race.
The winner of this Eliminator and the loser of Qualifier 1 tussle it out in Qualifier 2 to assert who will take on the winner of Qualifier 1 in the marquee IPL final.
The format has aided the narrative, the back and forth of the play, where historically we’ve had teams bouncing back from initial struggles to clinch the prestigious title or enjoying a consistent run throughout to bag the silverware. But hardly ever has it come easy for any IPL team.
That has been true of the league since its inception in 2008, a point from where it has only grown up to be the best T20 competition in the world with an unparalleled grip on the sport’s economics and on-field nitty-gritties.
The IPL’s impact on Indian cricket has been tremendous as it has not only given the BCCI the financial muscle to dictate terms with the rest of the world but also enabled the board to raise their investment in properly facilitating the sport in the country. The infracture for cricket across India has gone through the roof ever since the IPL has established itself as BCCI’s biggest cash cow.
That, along with the fact that IPL provides an opportunity for young Indian players to rub shoulders with the best cricketers – from their own country and abroad – and learn the trade from the world’s most renowned coaches, has bolstered the nation’s talent pipeline immensely.
Best Teams in IPL 2021
An analysis where we determine which team is the best team in ipl 2021, depending on their overall performance, the record on the field. The ipl 2021 best team analysis will also look deeper into the strategies that sides used and the key players they had performing for them. The ultimate aim is to answer which is the best team in ipl 2021.
| Team | Win/Loss record | Final Position |
| Chennai Super Kings | 11/5 | Winners |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 9/8 | Runners-up |
| Delhi Capitals | 10/6 | Third |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 9/6 | Fourth |
| Mumbai Indians | 7/7 | Fifth |
The ipl 2021 best team was CSK, as they had the best win/loss record in the competition and ultimately won the tournament. CSK finished second in the league stage standings with nine wins, five defeats, and an NRR of +0.455. They then roared past the playoffs, winning over table toppers Delhi Capitals (DC) in Qualifier 1 and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the final to emerge as the ipl best team 2021.
CSK banked on their experience and consistency of selection, apart from solid batting depth and multiple bowling options, put to great use by their legendary skipper MS Dhoni, as their major strategy to bag their third IPL title. They were far from being the best team in IPL 2020, though, as they finished second from bottom that year. But they came roaring back next season to win the title.
For KKR, it was a case of overcoming the odds after initial strife to finish with their best IPL result since 2014. They made the final despite winning just two of their first seven games as a shift to UAE accentuated the impact of their mystery spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy to cover for their problems in other aspects. KKR had finished fourth in the table with seven wins and just as many losses, carrying a NRR of +0.587. The IPL could have seen them emerging as the best team in 2021, but they stumbled in the final hurdle.
Delhi franchise would’ve been deeply disappointed not to have held their hands on the trophy in IPL 2021, where they rallied on their all-round strength and balance to top the league stage standings but then lost steam and suffered two consecutive losses in the playoffs. They had won 10 out of 14 league matches and had a NRR of +0.481.
Improved bowling resources backed up star power in their batting helped RCB make the playoffs after finishing third in the points table with nine wins and five losses. They had a NRR of -0.140 but more wins than KKR to bag the third spot. They ultimately slipped to fourth, however, by losing the Eliminator.
MI had the depth in all departments but a season where they massively underperformed saw the franchise finish fifth, not being able to make the playoffs. They won just as many games as KKR did in the league stage but had a worsened NRR of +0.116.
Most Successful Teams in IPL History
After discussing which is the most successful team in ipl 2021 and which team has won most matches in ipl 2021, we get down to enlisting the most successful team in the ipl, the best teams from a collective set of ipl seasons depending on the historic number of titles won and their overall win/loss record.
| Team | Matches Played | Win/Loss record | Titles won |
| Mumbai Indians | 232 | 131/100 | 5 |
| Chennai Super Kings | 210 | 121/87 | 4 |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 213 | 108/101 | 2 |
| Sunrisers Hyderabad | 175 | 75/77 | 1 |
| Gujarat Titans | 16 | 12/4 | 1 |
Mumbai Indians is the best ipl team after winning five titles in ipl 2013, 2015, ipl 2017, ipl 2019 and ipl 2020. They have been the most well-invested and run franchise in the IPL’s history, covering most bases while establishing a full-fledged scouting team and rounded support staff. Their robustness has told on the field, wherein they have managed to overcome the drought of the initial years to become a winning juggernaut over the past decade.
Even when the world was confined to their homes by Covid-19, MI proved that is no hurdle to their prowess as they came out triumphant in ipl 2020 and confirmed which is the best team in the ipl.
For CSK, Dhoni’s excellent captaincy skills, ability to maximise their talent pool, and wealth of experience have propelled them to four ipl trophies in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021. They were the best team in ipl 2018 and ipl 2021, even better than their peak years and victories in 2010 and 2011, especially as Dhoni’s army showcased their bouncebackability on each occasion. The triumph in ipl 2018 came after a controversial two-year axing from the league and the one in ipl 2021 after a disastrous first-ever league stage exit in ipl 2020.
KKR have largely underachieved as a side in ipl history. They couldn’t make the playoffs until IPL 2011 and haven’t won the trophy in previous nine seasons. But two trophies recorded in alternate seasons back in IPL 2012 and IPL 2014 put them third in the list of most successful ipl franchises. Only MI and CSK have won more trophies than KKR, who have fashion themselves in various moulds over the years: from a bowling-heavy side to a bat-dominated one, one with multiple utility players to specialists, reacting to the demands of the challenge at hands each time.
At fourth in the list is the perennially vulnerable but somehow successful dark horses of the IPL – the Sunrisers Hyderabad – who surprised one and all by emerging as the best team in ipl 2016 and making successive appearances in the playoffs in ipl 2017, 2018, ipl 2019 and ipl 2020.
The fifth best team in ipl history is now new entrants Gujarat Titans, who recorded an incredible title-winning campaign in their very first season, emerging as the best team in ipl 2022. Rallying behind the resurgent Hardik Pandya as their skipper, the Titans topped the league stage points table with ten wins and then successfully navigated through the playoffs stage.
Most Costly Teams in IPL 2021
We will now discuss and find out the most costly team in ipl 2021, the position determined by the expenditure made from the total purse available to each IPL franchise at the suction room. Each ipl side had INR 85 crore to compile their respective squads for the season and the teams that spent the most or were left with the least purse are enlisted below.
| Team | Money Spent | Purse Remaining |
| Royal Challengers Bangalore | 84.65 crores | 0.35 crores |
| Delhi Capitals | 82.85 crores | 2.15 crores |
| Chennai Super Kings | 82.45 crores | 2.55 crores |
| Kolkata Knight Riders | 81.80 crores | 3.20 crores |
| Mumbai Indians | 81.35 crores | 3.65 crores |
RCB became the most costly team in ipl 2021 after spending a whopping INR 84.65 crores from their purse. They made a very expensive retention in the form of their former skipper and batting linchpin Virat Kohli, keeping him in their squad at INR 17 crores. Other of RCB’s retentions was South African great AB de Villiers. They also made eye-catching bids at the auction table to rope in Australian maverick Glenn Maxwell for 14.25 crores and New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson for 15 crores. A tight budget remaining after such expensive picks meant RCB nearly conceded their entire purse by the close of the ipl 2021 auction.
Following RCB were the Capitals, who went as close as INR 82.35 crores to collect their entire squad. Notably, the individual earning the biggest portion of DC’s bank was their premier wicketkeeper-batter and their would-be skipper Rishabh Pant, who played in IPL 2021 with a salary of INR 15 crores.
The rest of the Capitals’ retained and purchased lot featured a number of mid-expensive buys such as Shreyas Iyer (7 crores), Shimron Hetmyer (7.75 crores), Axar Patel (5 crores), Tom Curran (5.25 crores), R Ashwin (7.60 crores), Marcus Stoinis (4.80 crores), Ajinkya Rahane (5.25 crores) and Shikhar Dhawan (5.20 crores) among others.
Third in the list are CSK with an expenditure amount of 82.45 crores, a sum they arrived at after making some notable retentions in the form of their great skipper Dhoni and his able deputy Suresh Raina. The two CSK stalwarts had contracts worth INR 15 and 11 crores, respectively.
To retain their balance and combination, CSK invested in several all-rounders, which ultimately proved to be the difference for them. With the likes of Dwayne Bravo (6.4 crores), Sam Curran (5.50 crores), Moeen Ali (7 crores), Ravindra Jadeja (7 crores) playing a handsome role in their triumph, the strategy was vindicated.
KKR became the fourth-most costly team in ipl 2021 after spending INR 81.80 crores at the auction table. They finished as the runners-up for the season and would be looking back at their call to retain mystery spin duo Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy with a grin. The two spinners, kept with sums of 12.50 crores in Narine’s case and at 4 crores for Chakravarthy, made a big difference in the second half of the league played in the UAE, where the ball turned sharply.
KKR’s most expensive pick, however, was Aussie pacer Pat Cummins, whom they picked for a sum of INR 15.50 crores. Apart from Cummins, KKR made a number of mid-expensive picks in the form of Andre Russell (8.50 crores), Eoin Morgan (5.25 crores), Dinesh Karthik (7.40 crores), Kuldeep Yadav (5.80 crores) among others.
At fifth are Mumbai Indians with an expenditure sum of 81.35 crores, which they arrived at making high-end retentions in the form of skipper Rohit Sharma (15 crores), premier all-rounder Hardik Pandya (11 crores), Jasprit Bumrah (7 crores) and making a number of notable buys at the bidding war.
Worst Teams in IPL History
The worst team in ipl cricket would be a discussion worth itself, as while the league has witnessed multiple winners, it has also seen quite a few struggles to cope with the most challenging T20 tournament. These teams can be identified among those with consistently poor performances, reflected in their below-par win/loss record. Notably, most of these are operational teams in the past and stand defunct now for various reasons.
| Team | Matches Played | Win/Loss record | Titles won |
| Pune Warriors | 46 | 12/33 | 0 |
| Deccan Chargers | 75 | 29/46 | 1 |
| Kochi Tuskers Kerala | 14 | 6/8 | 0 |
| Gujarat Lions | 30 | 13/16 | 0 |
| Punjab Kings | 218 | 98/116 | 0 |
Disbanded after just three seasons of play from 2011-13, Pune Warriors remain the worst-performing IPL side in the league’s history. An imbalanced unit with multiple flaws, which only worsened the situation through multiple captaincy shuffles and playing changes, the Warriors managed to win only 12 of their 46 games in IPL cricket, losing 33.
Despite an inspirational comeback and title victory in 2009 when the ipl had to be shifted to South Africa, Deccan Chargers could never strengthen their footing in the IPL. They remained a losing team for most of their five-season-long journey until IPL 2012 and made the playoffs only once outside their most successful season. They finished with just 29 wins from their 75 games, losing 46.
Kochi Tuskers Kerala are third on the list. Known more as the one-season competitors, who underwent a sustained tussle with BCCI on economic grounds and lost their IPL presence, the Tuskers won six of their eight games in IPL 2011. Their only season was encouraging and could’ve proved a springboard to more successful campaigns ahead. Instead, they reel at third in the list of IPL sides with the worst win/loss record.
At fourth after Gujarat Lions, who were one of the two franchises that came on board in IPL 2016 and 2017 to fill the void left vacant by the controversial suspension of both CSK and RR. The Lions had an impressive first campaign under their belt, making the playoffs of the IPL 2016. But their results nosedived soon as the Lions failed to sustain their performances and ultimately finished with only 13 wins from their 30 IPL games.
Last in the list of worst ipl performers are the Punjab Kings, who also happen to be the worst-performing active team in the history of the IPL. If there is a side with a poor body of work in the IPL it is the Kings, who have gone from Kings XI Punjab to Punjab Kings without any transformation in their fortunes. Of the 15 IPL seasons that the Punjab franchise has contested, in only two have they managed to reach past the league stage. PBKS have a poor-looking win and loss record of 98 wins and 116 losses in 218 games played.
Conclusion
The success of certain teams and the regular failures of some in the IPL only reinforce how important team building and consistency of selection and assurance to players are in determining the fortunes of a team. One common feature of all successful ipl teams, and that of the failing ones, is that they have persisted with their players through thick and thin and given them ample opportunity to fulfill their potential, thus making a positive influence and impact on their respective teams.
A side such as CSK, for example, hardly go through any change, season after season, and have won four trophies apart from making the playoffs several times. More of the same will continue to work in IPL cricket, whose strenuous nature compels teams to ease the life of their players themselves, controlling the controllables. The impact such a scenario has on Indian cricket can’t be discounted, for it gives a decent sample size of players more opportunities to play and grow rather than limiting and spreading the chances among a larger number of cricketers.
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