The India men’s cricket team’s success in white-ball cricket post the T20 World Cup 2022 has been attributed to the Indian Premier League (IPL). The fearless approach, the intent, and whatnot. Every season, you see a new high-quality hitter coming through. See, the word ‘batter’ hasn’t been used. Well, that’s on purpose.
Over the last couple of years, several former cricketers have voiced their concern regarding the diminishing batsmanship in the IPL. All the youngsters talk about hitting x number of sixes in a day. There’s a clear shift in how cricket, and especially T20s, have changed. The move could be tracked even before the ‘impact player rule’ was introduced in IPL 2023.
India’s T20 revolution
However, that has become a breaking point. Previously, the criticism of Indian batters wasn’t that they can’t hit from ball one but rather that they don’t. The intent was lacking. Well, it’s nothing but intent now. From 2021 onwards, the run rate in the IPL has gone from 8.05 to 9.88.
To understand the difference. I’ll make it easier. The average IPL score in 2021 was 161. In 2026, it was 197. That’s a whopping 36 runs. In 2021, you’d normally take 3.3 overs to score that many runs. That’s how big a difference this is. The issue is, there’s a major disparity when it comes to IPL and all forms of T20 cricket.
Leagues all over the world are churning out runs. But nothing like the IPL. The run rate across all T20 cricket in 2025 was 8.42. In the IPL, it was 9.62. Remember, this is all T20s, even matches against weaker opposition who might not even be among the top 20 teams. Yet, the IPL is handily above it.
The disparity has remained in 2026. With all of T20 cricket at 8.55 and IPL at 9.88. Everyone’s scoring faster, but you can’t compare it to the biggest cricket league in the world. Now, the question is why? Well, there are multiple reasons. Pitches are the biggest one, but ground dimensions also play a major role.
Jofra Archer indirectly calls Indian batters ‘IPL bullies’
All of these discussions have started because India lost 0-2 to Ireland and are 0-2 to England, having registered their second-lowest total in T20Is and their worst-ever run-margin defeat. Jofra Archer, who’s been playing in the IPL since 2018, came out and said that even 200 isn’t a safe total in the league. But that isn’t the case in international cricket.
“At the IPL, sometimes 200 isn’t safe. With 200 on the board on that wicket, I don’t want to say (we were) confident, but I feel like they would have taken a really special innings there to lose the game. I’m just glad everybody chipped in. Everybody that bowled got wickets today, so I’m just glad to win. It goes back to normal here. You try to bowl straight and good length, whereas over there, because they make it so easy (for batters) and the boundaries are so small, you have to be really, really particular. Whereas here, I feel like your margin for error is a little bit bigger,” Archer told reporters in Nottingham.
JOFRA ARCHER TROLLS IPL FLAT PITCHES AFTER INDIA STRUGGLES : India's batters have to adjust because cricket in England is very different from the IPL.– He explained that IPL pitches are flatter & the boundaries are smaller, making batting easier.– In England, he… pic.twitter.com/CcbijjP5fQ
— Sam (@cricsam02) July 8, 2026You might want to counter the pitch’s argument. Say that in the T20 World Cup 2026, many high scores were managed. Well, yes, but where was that tournament played? India’s been lucky to play the majority of their matches, including 2 major events, in Asia since Gautam Gambhir took over in July 2024.
Struggles away from home
After hammering South Africa in 2024, and mind you, that wasn’t that great a Proteas team, Indian batters have actually struggled outside of home. In the Asia Cup 2025, the team never worked well as a collective. It was either Shivam Dube, Abhishek Sharma, or Tilak Varma giving great performances in a tournament where 200 runs were crossed in just one match.
India went to Australia after the Asia Cup. Where, basically, everyone barring Abhishek struggled. 125, 186 and 167 were the first innings totals in the three completed matches there. And we all know what has happened in Ireland and England. It’s clear that when not given true batting surfaces, several Indian batters struggle.
It’s not exactly their fault either. The pitches are largely homogeneous in the IPL. Only one team, the Gujarat Titans, prepare pitches for bowlers. Even Yuzvendra Chahal and Rashid Khan aren’t getting bowled out because of how little help there is for spinners. Then against England, Will Jacks is causing you trouble.
Mishits that go for sixes in the IPL are finding fielders in Ireland and England due to long square boundaries. The bounce which can be found in Dharamshala, Chennai and Mumbai, isn’t the same as the surfaces in the UK. There is swing and seam. You can’t just get your front leg out and whack.
There’s no impact player to rescue you. You can’t just smoke 10 off 3 and leave the job for the guy behind you, knowing you’ll sub out on another batter who’s been dismissed. You have cases of individual cases like Tilak Varma, who’s one of the worst players of spin in the IPL, yet hasn’t improved because teams in the league aren’t using that many quality spinners.
Ishan Kishan gets stuck the moment there’s a tricky surface. He showed that in IPL 2026 and now again in Ireland and England. Axar Patel’s decline against fast bowlers is apparent, but he gets promoted to play in the powerplay against Archer and Josh Tongue.
Can’t read the conditions?
After India’s hammering at Trent Bridge, even Gautam Gambhir acknowledged failure to assess the conditions. It’s now happened in 4 games that have let the game slip. With either shoddy tactics, poor selection, or just bad play. However, it’s come down to realising what works and what doesn’t on a particular surface. England bowled short and reaped the rewards; Ireland did the same, but what’s India doing? How has Jacks outbowled by Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel? All these questions must be answered and addressed.
“You don’t become a bad team after four games, do you? There are the results: if you don’t read the conditions and you don’t play the conditions better, you will end up being on the losing side. I think that it is important to assess the conditions, no doubt about that. But it is also important (to know) how to read the game. That is equally important as well… sometimes it’s a small thing, but breeze can play a huge part as well. Sometimes one side where the dimensions are much bigger than the other side… that is important as well. So, these small-small things in a T20 game can make a huge difference,” Gambhir said after the match.
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