IPL 2018: 3 Reasons why this season will be the grandest season in the tournament's history

The Indian Premier League is one of the most competitive and popular T20 Leagues in the world. Right from its inception in 2008, the league has enjoyed massive fan following and has also proven to be economically beneficial for the BCCI.

Almost all the top players in the world play in the IPL and for the two months that IPL goes on, it is almost a festive time for the whole country altogether. Such is the influence of IPL in the Indian markets that we hardly see any massive or big budget Bollywood film release when the IPL is going on.

Although every season of the IPL has been a runaway hit, some seasons are remembered more often than others. There are many factors that work in making an IPL Season successful, here we take a look at 3 such reasons which could make the 11th edition of IPL the grandest edition till now.

1) New Broadcaster

Star Sports will telecast the IPL for next 5 years

The success of sporting tournaments like IPL depends hugely on the fans. Fans fill the stadiums and make the sport popular, but all the fans cannot go to the stadium to watch the matches owing to different reasons.

It is the broadcasting that makes a difference because a majority of the fans watch the games on television or their laptops and mobile phones.

After the successful completion of 10 years, Sony's contract came to an end and BCCI invited bids for the broadcast and media rights. Media and entertainment company Star India demonstrated a big appetite and business acumen for an Indian cricket property by acquiring the IPL’s global broadcasting and digital rights for a consolidated sum of ₹16, 347.5 crore ($ 2.55 billion) for a period of five years, starting from the 11th edition of IPL 2018.

Star Sports will broadcast the IPL on 10 channels in 6 languages and viewers will also be able to stream it live on Hotstar, which will take IPL's popularity to further new heights. It's also noteworthy that the amount of money IPL has received by selling broadcasting and media rights is astonishing and it will further increase the profitability of the Indian Premier League.

2) Return of former Champions

CSK and RR are returning to IPL after 2 years

Former Champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals(RR) were suspended from the IPL by a Supreme Court-appointed committee when their top officials Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra were found involved in a betting scam. IPL fans missed these teams in the previous two editions of the IPL, but now they have made a comeback after a long hiatus of two years.

The fans were eagerly waiting to see their teams play in the IPL once again and this year it finally seems to be happening. Both the teams have made a strong comeback by putting together a formidable team at the Auction and look set to repeat their title runs.

Former Indian Captain MS Dhoni will also be donning the captaincy role once again and that further adds to the excitement. What's more important is that with the comeback of these two teams, IPL now has all the eight city based franchise with which it started off in 2008.

This season almost looks like a new start for the IPL, and it will be interesting to see how far this mega sporting event goes.

3) Mega Auction and Mid Season Transfer

The Mega Auction has made the tournament more interesting

Auctions play a very crucial role in the IPL. Teams are put on paper and combinations are made in the Auction. The Mega Auction has provided a much needed freshness to the teams.

The thought of Hrabhajan Singh playing for CSK or Gautam Gambhir playing for Delhi Daredevils is now a reality. The auction changes the dynamics of the tournament and gives every team a chance to build from scratch.

After the 2018 auction, all the teams look much more balanced and this season is expected to be a competitive one. Over the years the IPL has set a benchmark for T20 cricket and is also credited for a lot of mid-game innovations like the strategic time-out.

This year, the IPL may introduce a mid season transfer window like football. Only uncapped players and players who have played 2 or less matches from the first 7 matches played by their teams will be eligible to make a switch.

This new concept will have a massive impact on the tournament and it will be interesting to see how the teams adapt to it, thus making the IPL more interesting and competitive.