IPL 2026 – How cricket stands to lose its charm when bowlers become mere bystanders

Images: BCCI/IPL

Why has the IPL worked for all these years? Why have fans kept flocking back to the stadiums to support the brand? What explains the continued involvement of the sponsors?

The one point non-negotiable has been the quality of cricket on offer. The sport has been at the core and that’s been a real constant for each of the 18 seasons between 2008-2025. In 2026 things have started to change. All of a sudden it is only and only about batters. Yesterday, 1000 runs were scored in 40 overs, with 265 and 228 being chased down quite comfortably. Hundreds from KL Rahul and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi went in vain. No total is safe and the bowlers have been reduced to bystanders who are there to feed balls to the batters to hit sixes and fours.

The truth is this is a violation of the sport as we know it. It doesn’t, and can’t work in the long run. Except for a small section of fans who don’t understand the sport, people can’t keep backing this unidimensional and robotic transformation of the game. It is as if they are playing with plastic balls and the game is all about who hits more sixes. While some accused me of highlighting the issue because Punjab won (not that I care whether it was Punjab or Delhi or Lucknow or Hyderabad), a significant section of fans have started to raise their voice.

It is time the BCCI takes a pause and reflects. The IPL hasn’t survived because of Lalit Modi. or the BCCI. The same point can be extended to the billionaire owners or the stars. After a Sachin came a Kohli and a Rohit and now there are players like Vaibhav, Abhishek Sharma and Priyansh Arya. The IPL survived as India’s go-to property because the core was solid. It was a genuine contest of bat and ball and nothing could take that away. And now the fundamentals are being eroded. You don’t like to see bowlers of the class of Cummins or Hazlewood or Arshdeep or Archer being hit for sixes as if it’s child’s play. You don’t want to see 18-ball 50’s become routine and anything less being considered slow. You don’t want an innings of 150 to go in vain and you don’t want bowlers to have nightmares and think why are they turning up day in and out.

I am tired of what is going on. The truth is I had switched off last night after the RR innings for I had a sense we would see a repeat of what happened in the evening. Whichever team can win games, but the real loser at the moment is the sport. And that’s what the IPL can’t afford. Behind all these big valuations and sponsors is the game and no IPL can ever violate it.

For all practical purposes, let’s get real. Think how we can empower the bowlers. Do we need to make the boundaries bigger or allow for two bouncers? Allow one extra fielder out or reduce the powerplay to 5 overs? Whatever we do, we need to save the bowlers for if we don’t, we end up not saving the game and also the IPL.

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