Can your IPL XI beat the All-Star XI?

How it works

1. Spin. Each spin draws an IPL franchise and a block of seasons (2008–12, 2013–17, 2018–22 or 2023 onwards). There are 41 possible draws, and a spin never repeats one you have had.
2. Draft. Six spins give you eleven picks: one from the first spin and two from each of the others. You fill fixed spots: two openers, three middle-order batters, one wicketkeeper, two all-rounders or spinners, and three fast bowlers.
3. Play the series. Your XI plays five matches against the All-Star XI. You see the scoreline, the story of each match, and how strong your batting, bowling and fielding were.

Who you can pick

The IPL game has 947 player cards. A player needs at least 10 matches to be in it. Each draw shows at most 25 players: the ones who played most for that side in that period, with every role covered. The cards show real career numbers only. No player rating is shown at any point, so the choice is your judgement.

• Each card is one stint: one player at one franchise in one block of seasons. It shows, and is scored on, only what he did for that team in those seasons. The same player can appear on several cards, but only once in your XI.
• At most four overseas players in an XI, as in the real IPL. Overseas players are marked with a plane ✈️.
• Franchises that changed their name count as one team: Delhi, Punjab and Bengaluru. Teams that no longer exist, such as Deccan Chargers and Kochi Tuskers Kerala, are in the game.
• The All-Star XI uses each of its players at his best stint.

What decides the result

Every player is compared with every other player in the IPL game. Batters are measured on strike rate most of all (40%), then batting average, runs per match and how often they passed fifty (20% each). Bowlers are measured on economy rate most of all (40%), then bowling average, wickets per match and balls per wicket (20% each). All-rounders are measured on both. Long careers count for more than short ones, and a brilliant short career is pulled back toward the average.

A team’s score is 40% batting, 50% bowling and 10% fielding (catches and stumpings per match). The gap between your score and the All-Star XI’s decides the series, with a small element of luck that is always the same for the same XI.

The All-Star XI

The XI you have to beat. It is the same for everyone and does not change from game to game.

1. 1Virat KohliRCB 2013–17OPN
2. 2Chris GayleRCB 2013–17OPN
3. 3Rohit SharmaMI 2013–17BAT
4. 4Suryakumar YadavMI 2023–nowBAT
5. 5Suresh RainaCSK 2008–12BAT
6. 6AB de VilliersRCB 2013–17WK
7. 7Yuzvendra ChahalRCB 2018–22SPIN
8. 8Rashid KhanSRH 2018–22SPIN
9. 9Lasith MalingaMI 2008–12PACE
10. 10Jasprit BumrahMI 2018–22PACE
11. 11Bhuvneshwar KumarSRH 2013–17PACE

Read more about IPL cricket

• The all-time IPL XI: the best eleven under real IPL rules, each player at his best franchise and seasons.
• Every franchise’s all-time XI: CSK, MI, RCB, KKR and the rest, picked from their own players.
• IPL careers, stint by stint: Kohli, Gayle, Dhoni and 60 more, franchise by franchise against the league at the time.
• What is a good strike rate in the IPL?: real benchmarks, and how the league got faster.
• What is a good economy rate?: real benchmarks, and how much the IPL’s have risen.

Other ways to play IPL

• The IPL Daily Challenge: the same six spins for everyone that day, one scored attempt, and a streak if you come back tomorrow. New spins at 00:00 UTC.
• Pick any IPL XI: no spins. Choose any eleven, send the link to a friend, and see whose XI wins the series.
• Challenge a friend from the same spins: every result has a share link that lets a friend draft from the exact draws you had.
• The IPL Trophy: draft an XI, then play four league games against franchise XIs, a playoff and the All-Star XI in the final. One slip is allowed in the league.

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