Indian Premier League came into existence in the 2008 just after the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007 in South Africa. The IPL was the first of its kind franchise league which was introduced in the cricket. And now it has taken over some of the biggest sporting events in history. The IPL is without doubt the biggest cricket tournament in the world.
Even bigger than the Cricket World Cup. However, it was started in the traditional format of the cricket competition. The top four teams will qualify for the semi-final, and the winners of both semi-finals will face each other in the final of the competition, which was known as the “round-robin tournament.” But ahead of the 2011 season, the IPL was played in a totally unusual format known as a “playoff.”
What is IPL Playoff: Format Explained
After the 2010 IPL season, the next edition brought a totally new change to the competition, which was known as the playoffs stage. Unlike the semi-final format, the 2011 season saw three matches before the final. It totally made the competition healthier, as the top two teams would benefit from their performance in the group stage.
The teams who end the season in the top two get to play in Qualifier 1. The team winning Qualifier 1 will get direct entry into the final of the season, while the losing team will have another chance to play in the final. However, the team ranked third and fourth played in the first knockout match, “Eliminator.” The winner of that game plays against the losing team of Qualifier 1 in another knockout game known as “Qualifier 2.”
However, the team that lost the Eliminator gets kicked out of the competition. Then the winner of Qualifier 2 will play the final match against the winner of Qualifier 1. This format was introduced to give an advantage to the top two teams that played better cricket during the group stage. It’s a kind of another lifeline to them. For your better understanding, we have listed the details below.
Qualifier 1: Top 1st vs Top 2nd
Eliminator: Top 3rd vs Top 4th
Qualifier 2: Loser of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Eliminator
Final: Winner of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Qualifier 2
Rules of an IPL Playoff
The introduction of the “Playoffs” in the tournament had mixed reviews from both former cricketers, experts, and fans. Meanwhile, the broadcasters loved it because it gave them an extra high-profile match unlike the two semi-finals. However, the rules for the playoff matches were quite simple. If a match ends in a tie, the result will be decided in a super-over.
If the super-over can’t take place due to weather or any other issue, then the winner will be decided on the basis of the group standings. However, there is not a reserve day normally in the playoff stage, but if there is a reserve day, the announcement will happen before the playoff stage starts.