The Indian Street Premier League is a cricket tournament that is played in the T10 format. All matches of the tournament are played with a tennis ball. The inaugural edition of the tournament is played between six teams.
Ahead of the tournament, an auction is held which has a pool of 350 players. A total of 96 players are bought by franchise team owners and members. The six squads feature players that are mainly known for their performances in street cricket. A squad has 16 players. In the playing XI, it is mandatory for a team to have at least one player from the North, South, East, West, and Central zone, and one U-19 player. Each team can have two substitutes. However, an injured player can be replaced only by a player from the same zone from which the injured player belongs.
The six participating teams are Srinagar ke Veer, Majhi Mumbai, Falcon Riders Hyderabad, Chennai Singams, Bangalore Strikers, and Tigers of Kolkata. All teams are owned by celebrities of the Indian film industry.
A total of 18 matches will be played. Matches will be played in a single round-robin format followed by the knockout stages. The knockout stages consist of semifinals and final. The winner of the competition gets INR 1 crore, whereas the runner-up gets INR 50 lakh.
The rules of the tournament are slightly different from professional cricket. Instead of coin toss, a tip-toe decides the coin toss. The captains of both teams stand facing each other at a distance. They then walk step-by-step alternatively such that the heel of the foot in front touches the toe of the other leg. The captain who lands his or her foot on the other captain’s foot first wins the toss.
In terms of field restrictions, the first two overs of the innings are mandatory powerplay. During this, the fielding side can have only two fielders outside the inner circle. The batting side can then opt for a one over powerplay between the third and ninth over. During this over, no more than three fielders can be outside the inner circle.
Another highlight of the tournament is a 50-50 over. Before the innings, the fielding side captain nominates five bowlers to bowl a 50-50 over. However, it is the batters on the crease who decide which bowler should bowl this over. The batting side then states the number of runs they will hit in that over. This number should be minimum sixteen. If the batting side hits these runs, then 150% of the runs that they scored in that over shall be added to the team’s final total. If they fail to hit the number of runs that they said, then 50% of the runs that they hit in that over will be reduced from their final total.
Instead of a six, the batting side gets nine runs for hitting a shot that directly lands in the spectator stands. Furthermore, one over of the innings, except the 50-50 over must be bowled with a tape ball.
The Indian Street Premier League’s first edition will be held in 2024.
