The Indian Premier League (IPL), which is the best T20 franchise tournament in cricket, was once the most celebrated tournament and has seen a drop in its valuation for the second successive year. In 2025, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) earned the title under the leadership of Rajat Patidar against the Punjab Kings in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

A report by the D&P Advisory on October 15, 2025, states that IPL’s ecosystem value has dropped by nearly 11%, declining to $8.8 billion (INR 76100 crore) in 2025 from $9.9 billion (INR 82700 crore) in 2024 and INR 92500 crore in IPL 2023, which was its peak. This could be due to the nationwide ban on real money gaming and the consolidation of media rights.

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The 2025 Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act banned the money-game advertising and sponsorship, which resulted in a loss of nearly INR 1500 to INR 2000 crore in annual ad and sponsorship revenue from the ecosystem of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

IPL 2025’s valuation declines by 11% for second successive year due to ban on real money gaming

The fantasy and gaming platforms have contributed significantly to the revenue for the broadcasters and league partners. Their absence has made a huge gap, which has affected the front t-shirt sponsorships and digital ad inventories. This led to lower advertisement rates and reduced brand spending.

The Women’s Premier League (WPL), just like the Indian Premier League (IPL), has also faced similar issues. Its valuation dropped by 5.6% to INR 1275 crore from INR 1350 crore, amid all the uncertainty after the exit of Dream11 and the impact it brought on the gaming bill. D&P advisory managing partner, Santosh N, however, remains hopeful of the leagues again growing in the future.

The 2025 season of the IPL collected a billion viewers, with digital audiences surpassing television for the very first time. The WPL 2025 season has seen an increase of 150% in TV ratings and 70% growth in digital viewership, along with near-full grounds and travel activity around the fixtures.

A mystery spinner from Punjab spotted during the trail of Mumbai Indians. Ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, the multi-time IPL-winning franchise has started their preparations. To acquire some fresh talents, they have initiated a trial process. During a trial session, a spinner from Punjab named Shubham Rana was spotted. The Mumbai Indians are famously known for their eye for bringing up raw talents. As they picked Rana for the trials, that means the bowler has serious potential. 

Who is Shubham Rana? 

Shubham Rana is an emerging, talented spinner who has already made his mark in the domestic cricket circuit. He is a Chinaman bowler, a rare kind of bowler in cricket. Kuldeep Yadav is a famous Chinaman spinner. Rana is known for his tight bowling, delivering lethal googly and pace variations. He has played in various age group tournaments with notable success. 

There are many videos on social media platforms, from which we can see some glimpses of Rana's bowling skills. The googly he delivers often takes sharp turns to out-perform the batters. He often likes to take risks by offering extra flights to force batters to get out of their shell. There are many instances when a batter misjudged the pace of Rana's delivery. Rajasthan Royals utilized him as the net bowler for the last couple of seasons but did not intend to bet on him during the auction. 

Chinaman spinner from Punjab Shubham Rana has been called for MI trialspic.twitter.com/Ye8D2NBusc

— Mumbai Indians FC (@MIPaltanFamily) October 14, 2025

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Rana performed brilliantly during this year’s Cooch Behar Trophy by claiming 33 wickets at 17.12 runs apiece in 11 outings. During the Vinoo Mankad Trophy 2024, the upcoming spinner, who can take wickets at crucial times of a match, took 18 wickets at an average of 11.44 and a strike rate of 16.44, with an economy rate of 4.17, in six matches.

Mumbai Indians in IPL 2025

In the IPL 2025, Mumbai Indians finished their campaign in the 4th spot of the points table. They started the season with back-to-back defeats, but they proved their mettle soon. They bounced back and qualified for the round of four. In 14 matches, the former IPL champion team got 16 points as they won 8 matches and suffered 6 defeats. 

Ravichandran Ashwin, a legendary spinner known for his sharp cricketing brain, has the potential to become an outstanding head coach in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Ashwin announced his retirement from international cricket in December last year and also stepped away from IPL on August 27, completing the 2025 season with Chennai Super Kings (CSK). For years, he has been acknowledged for his performances on the field, as well as for having a thorough understanding of the game and solid tactical reasoning, which makes him larger than many modern-day cricketers.

Ashwin has consistently displayed his analytical side through interviews and through his popular YouTube channel, where he provides fans with a unique view of sports — showing his ability to dissect strategies, assess match situations, and innovate. For any IPL franchise looking to hire Ashwin as their head coach, players will surely benefit from the opportunity to learn some of his insights and development opportunities. With this in mind, CricTracker examines three franchises that could target Ashwin, the Madras-born cricketer, as their next head coach.

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3. Kolkata Knight Riders

While Ravichandran Ashwin has never donned the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) colors, he could be a credible candidate to replace former KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit since the latter departed from the franchise post-IPL 2025. KKR, as a franchise, have always appreciated gifted spinners in their squad, and Ashwin's specialty could assist KKR with its existing spinners, while identifying and developing new talent in the long term. His strategic understanding and experience could enable spinners to perform consistently under pressure, an invaluable resource for KKR to leverage for its three-time champion team in the coming seasons.

For Ashwin, adapting to KKR would not pose significant challenges, especially given that he played alongside Varun Chakaravarthy at the Dindigul Dragons in the 2025 Tamil Nadu Premier League. KKR were IPL champions in 2024; however, there were missed opportunities during the mega-auction, which ultimately paid off. Ashwin's knowledge about players could help the franchise tactically address these weaknesses for IPL 2026 and perhaps once again help KKR challenge for the title.

2. Rajasthan Royals

Rahul Dravid was appointed as the head coach of Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2025, but the first-ever champions had a disappointing season and placed ninth overall. At the end of the season, the franchise had offered him a larger role within the team regarding restructuring for the following season. After receiving this, Dravid decided to step away from the role and subsequently relinquished the responsibilities of head coach, leaving the Royals with the task of obtaining a suitable replacement to lead the organization back to competitiveness in future IPL seasons.

Ravichandran Ashwin, who played with the Rajasthan Royals between 2022 and 2024, is certainly a prime candidate for the role. Given his experience and understanding of the team, he could provide valuable advice and support to young emerging players involved in the setup like Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kumar Kartikeya, and Riyan Parag if they remain with the team for IPL 2026 and beyond. Ashwin can provide tactical thinking, leadership qualities, and additional knowledge for the Royals to help rejuvenate and build the team around, making him an ideal outcome for the responsibility of succeeding the T20 World Cup champion coach.

1.Chennai Super Kings

When Ashwin and IPL are mentioned in the same breath, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) come to the mind immediately. Ashwin was a big part of the franchise from 2009-2015 and he was pivotal in getting the franchise to back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011. Ahead of IPL 2025, Ashwin returned to the "Men in Yellow" after being picked up for INR 9.75 crore, rekindling his association with the franchise where his IPL career blossomed. His history with the franchise would lend itself even more to a flexibility in a possible future leadership role. 

However, CSK has vanquished the last few seasons. Even though Stephen Fleming has been head coach of CSK since IPL 2, the franchise has not qualified to the playoffs the last two years and their first finishes dead last in the 2025 season. Rumors even suggest an overhaul of sorts may be based on recent seasons. If CSK parts ways with Fleming, Ashwin would be a logical candidate to engage as the head coach in new circumstances due to his solid understanding of not only the team and the management but also the culture of the CSK franchise.

The England wicket-keeper and opening batter, Phil Salt, went back home when the IPL 2025 was suspended for a week due to the Pahalgam terror attack. When the tournament restarted, he came back to India for the first qualifier game for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) and went back home to be with his wife.

Salt recalled the period of how his wife, Abi McLaven, made the decision and convinced the batter to be with the franchise in the final. The opener, who missed the IPL 2024 final for the Kolkata Knight Riders, however, wanted to be with his wife and newborn child.

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“I was in Ahmedabad two days before the final, and got a phone call from the missus to say it was definitely happening. I got on the plane as quickly as I could. Abi kicked me out the door, basically. She said, 'You have to play. ' She made the decision for me, which was very funny - and very selfless of her.” Salt was expressed during a recent interaction on ESPNcricinfo.

Phil Salt recalls story of how he got convinced to return for IPL 2025 final

Salt, during the 2025 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, smashed 403 runs in 13 innings at an average of 33.58 and a strike rate of 175.98 with the help of four half-centuries. It was a successful season when he crossed the 400-run mark.

“I missed an IPL final the year before, and that one really hurt because we [Kolkata Knight Riders] went on to win it. I was part of everything leading up to it, and then not be a part of it did sting a bit. The final was a little bit of a blur until the last over, which I remember second by second. It all happened very quick It was really, really special.” The Lancashire batter explained.

In the recent T20I, Salt has been in exceptional touch. He bashed an unbeaten 141 runs against South Africa in Manchester and continued with another 89 runs against Ireland in Dublin.