CSK became the first, and thus far the only team, to defend their IPL title in 2011 when they defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore. Off to a bad start to the season, Bangalore became nearly unbeatable when they bought Chris Gayle and the Jamaican blasted his way to the final. CSK managed to get him out cheap and that gave CSK a huge leg up.

Chennai Super Kings were the most consistent team in the IPL thus far, having reached the final in the inaugural edition and the semi final in South Africa. In 2010, they finally went  all the way and won the tournament. They overcame Mumbai Indians, who were playing in the final for the first time ever. Mumbai skipper Sachin Tendulkar was declared player of the tournament but his team did make some bizarre decisions such as sending Abhishek Nayar and Harbhajan Singh to bat earlier than JP Duminy and Kieron Pollard

The IPL shifted to South Africa for the 2009 season due to the Indian government refusing to commit paramilitary forces in the wake of the General Elections. Deccan Chargers, powered by veteran captain Adam Gilchrist, the bowling performances of RP Singh and Rohit Sharma’s endeavours with the bat, were the champions this time. They had finished bottom of the table in the group stages in 2008.

The first few matches of of the 2014  edition were held in the UAE but returned to India after the end of the General elections. Kolkata Knight Riders once again won the tournament, establishing themselves as one of the strongest side in the tournament. It was one of the few years in which CSK didn’t make it to the final and it was Kings XI Punjab who were runners up.

KKR shook off the tag of being perpetual under performers in 2012. Manvinder Bisla and Jacques Kallis’ batting performance took them ahead of Chennai Super Kings in the finals. But this tournament was unique in that it was Sunil Narine, a bowler, who was named as the man of the series.

Mumbai Indians were playing their first season with Rohit Sharma leading the side. The team had initially started off with Ricky Ponting leading the side. But the former Australian captain could never put in performances to justify his selection and eventually stepped down. Rohit Sharma’s appointment saw a remarkable turnaround in Mumbai’s  form and they eventually won the tournament for the first time in their history.

It was a repeat of the 2010 final but the result was right the opposite. Mumbai Indians overcame Chennai Super Kings to win their second IPL title. Asked to bat first, Mumbai rode on Lendl Simmons and captain Rohit Sharma to put a target of 203 while MS Dhoni-led side were bundled out for 161, as MI won the final encounter by 41 runs. Mumbai had a decent tournament as they had finished second in the league standing with eight wins from 14 games.

The first edition of the IPL threw up one of the greatest underdog stories in the tournament. Amongst all the teams, the Rajasthan Royals were the ones with the least recognisable faces of that time. But captain Shane Warne rallied his youngsters behind him and managed to get the better of the star studded Chennai Super Kings side.

The ninth and the most recent edition of IPL had two new entrants, Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions replacing former champions Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals. Sunrisers Hyderabad, the side that replaced as the team representing Hyderabad after Deccan Chargers folded followed up a lacklustre first season they had in  2015 by winning the tournament altogether. The David Warner-led side side hence became the sixth franchise to win the IPL and ended the duopoly of Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders. After finishing third during the league stages, Hyderabad went on to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight runs. A captain’s knock by Warner and late cameos by Yuvraj Singh and Ben Cutting boosted their total to 208 and with discipline bowling, they managed to hold Bangalore to 200.