When Bowlers Become Invisible: The One-Sided T20 Spectacle

IPL 2026_Bowlers
IPL 2026_Bowlers (PC: BCCI/IPL)

Cricket is a game of bat and ball. And I insist on the word “ball”. The current version of the high-risk, high-reward T20 game seems to focus only on the batter. High risk for whom? High reward for whom? It is as if the bowlers are mere bystanders. If the high risk comes off, we see more 15-ball fifties. The high reward is reflected in 220-plus scores. Where are the bowlers in all of this? It is a highlights package being played out on most days, with bowlers completely taken out of the equation.

In some games, as many as 100 runs have been scored in the first six overs. It is plainly ridiculous. Punjab Kings (PBKS), for example, had the likes of Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen in their ranks – two of the better T20 bowlers in the world. Similarly, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) too had some quality bowlers who were simply toyed with. While Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored 78 off 26 balls, Abhishek Sharma followed up with a similar score, and then Priyansh Arya matched it. Are bowlers merely punching bags, there to feed the batters and supply the entertainment? Is this format enhancing the spectacle or making it boring? Unless bowlers are empowered, it is becoming a one-sided routine, which cannot help the sport in the long run.

Why are Test matches great to watch? Simply because there is a contest between bat and ball. Bowlers are equal stakeholders. The moving ball, for example, poses a challenge to batters, and with slips waiting behind, it tests their ability and skill. The new avatar of T20 cricket is no longer doing that. Short boundaries, small grounds, and heavy bats are making it a nightmare for bowlers, who are not even support acts in the spectacle.

How does one address this? What is the way forward? Or are we simply going to allow the goalposts for a par score to move towards 250 runs in a T20 innings? While there are no simple answers, it is essential that the game remains a level playing field, with batters and bowlers as equal stakeholders. At the moment, even the best bowlers are being pummelled for 45–50 in four overs by batters who may not even survive 15 balls in Test cricket.

For a tournament of the quality of the IPL, it is crucial that the cricket remains of the very highest order. At the moment, it feels predictable. Most matches are seeing 70-run powerplays and 200-plus totals, which are then overhauled by the 18th over. It cannot be that we only make stars of batters while bowlers are reduced to a hapless support cast, there merely to feed the spectacle. How this is addressed could be a key marker in the coming years, as this high-risk, high-reward format becomes a global norm of sorts.

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