The Indian Premier League began five years back and was an instant hit as it clicked with the audience the series was continued and therefore we have welcomed the fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). When IPL began five years back it had eight teams which are Kolkata Knight Riders, Hyderabad Deccan Chargers, Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Daredevils. All these IPL teams had their own celebrity ambassadors and another highlight of the whole IPL series were the feisty cheerleaders which was a very new concept in India then. Today IPL 5 teams comprise of all the prior teams with an addition of Pune Warriors. These will be the IPL 2012 teams that will battle it out with each other to win the Indian Premier League Cup.

The idea of having various team players forgetting their nationalities and playing in one team is not new but it was a refreshing change in the field of cricket. Cricket fans obviously appreciated the series but IPL enchanted more audience and fans of Bollywood actors too joined the league just to watch their favorite actors cheer for their teams. The IPL 2012 Teams have their own anthems and almost every team has a brand ambassador like Hritik Roshan for Mumbai Indians, Deepika Padukone and initially Katrina Kaif for Royal Challengers Bangalore and so on. Actors like Shilpa Shetty and Shahrukh Khan own their own teams Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders respectively. This makes the games more interesting we can watch these actors cheering for their teams while our favorite players play on the field. IPL too had its own bunch of controversies like the tax controversy faced by Rajasthan Royals and Kings Xi Punjab, the Lalit Modi controversy and the infamous controversy about Shashi Tharoor and the Kochi team. But none of these controversies affected the IPL and if they did the effect was positive.

The popularity of the Indian Premier League did not deter. The IPL teams have ample pages and websites dedicated entirely to them and the IPL 2012 teams have been main topic for discussion in every Indian cricket forum. Due to IPL the fan base for cricket too has increased considerably and women who are accused of not liking cricket too appreciate and ardently watch the IPL. The IPL 5 teams have started battling each other from the 4th of April.

Author's Bio: 

Neha Khatri is a well known author who writes articles for Hindi News Website that covers Cricket News in Hindi, IPL 2012 News in Hindi, IPL 2012 Schedule and Sports News in Hindi etc visit Jagran.com for more details.