Not quite a bowlers’ graveyard
Bowlers exploited the slow pitches in the UAE in this IPL and it may be a sign of things to come in the T20 World Cup
KOLKATA: T20 cricket has usually been a one-way traffic of unapologetic hitting by batters but this hasn’t been your usual Indian Premier League. The average scores have gone down, middle-overs spells have become more unyielding and slog overs are no longer a bowlers’ graveyard.
In 2020, there were 13 team totals over 200 in the UAE. This time, only one out of nine 200plus totals have come in the UAE, at Abu Dhabi where Mumbai Indians hammered 235 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Compared to 734 sixes in 2020, only 670 were hit till the second qualifier this time.
Despite its short boundaries, Sharjah emerged a difficult scoring venue this season, with just five innings of 150 and above in the 10 matches hosted there. Last season, there were 16 innings of 150 and above in 12 matches. Most drastic has been the improvement in the bowling economy.
Seven bowlers with at least 20 overs last season returned an economy of under seven. That grew to 13 this time. Long story short, batters have really struggled in the IPL as the bowlers exploited slow pitches with more and more variations. With the T20 World Cup set to be held in the UAE in a week, here’s a look at a few IPL trends that may shape the World Cup as well.
More and more bowlers in this IPL have relied on experimentation. According to CricViz, almost a third (28.7%) of all balls bowled by Rajasthan Royals this tournament have been variation deliveries. Sunrisers Hyderabad, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Rashid Khan in their side, too came close, with 28.4%. There isn’t a strong correlation between using variations and team success though. Chennai Super Kings, for example, were the least experimenting side with an overall variation percentage of 17 while Kolkata Knight Riders were at 22.7%.
Among all the variations, the slower ball has witnessed a sharp spike in use this season (20.4%) compared to 2020 (13.1%) and even 2019 (19.3%). The tracks in the UAE have played a hand in this, especially Sharjah that has offered almost no pace off the pitch, prompting fast bowlers to really push their luck. Delhi Capitals fast bowler Andre Nortje, who averages well above 140 kph this season, bowled a 108 kmph slower delivery in Sharjah last week.
Yorkers, as usual, have been an extremely useful variation but the lines have changed now. Only 22% of the yorkers bowled were on stumps but 34% were in the channel outside offstump. Wide yorkers are also becoming more prevalent in the death overs, making up for 26% of all the yorkers bowled this IPL.
The 19th over specialists Teams have deployed their finest bowlers in the 19th to try and prevent the match from going to the wire. Who else but Jasprit Bumrah to lead this pack. This season he has bowled the 19th eight times. Spinning a web
Slow bowlers have been the real success story this IPL. Teams like CSK, KKR and DC have liberally used their slow-bowling options whenever required to break the rhythm. Spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Sunil Narine have reaped good spells with the off-break but variations too have had their say. The googly, especially, has been of immense help across the board. Take the case of Yuzvendra Chahal, who had an economy of 6.68 and a dot ball percentage of 45.9% in 87 googlies. Varun Chakaravarthy, however, has been particularly phenomenal, bowling 165 googlies till the Eliminator, conceding only 5.92 per over and 41.2% dots.