IPL Expansion Derives Wealth; Worsens Playing Quality

Cricket viewing is a psychological adventure. As tangible and authentic every frame of the sporting action is, it’s what the trace of the image evokes beneath our ears that stays with us more than the image. Our brain processes an on-field glimpse and develops conscious and subconscious thoughts into our memory bank. 

Influenced by the sparkle provided to cricket action by commentators professionally obligated to excite and entice fans at every moment, these feelings seep deep into our conscience to form our thoughts, beliefs and reactions. Often very strongly. To a point where we don’t question and revisit them at all.

In a bat-dominant sport like T20, usually what happens at one end of the spectrum derives most of our narrative. With good reason, it’s not the pearl sent past the outside edge or the pinpoint accurate spells we take away, it is the game-transforming six blazed off an attempted yorker with 10 required off 2 to bag the trophy that becomes our lasting memory of an IPL final. 

Even as our cricket insight and knowledge is at an all-time high with due gratitude towards data and analysis, maybe we remain emotionally wired to treat bowling and the quality of the ball in play as an afterthought, for it’s the batters’ world and their boundary-hitting fills bumps on the seats with most, if not all, T20s played in conditions designed for the bat to dominate the ball. 

That essentially bolsters the importance of bowling quality. The bowlers initiate play, and their fortunes over a sustained period of time not only determine the end result but are also reflective of the quality of the challenge they’ve managed to put forward to their counterparts. With this crux of the argument, it can be said with conviction, the quality of play in the IPL has worsened since its expansion from 8 to 10 teams. 

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Each IPL bowling attack is shallower in depth to the times when its talent spread was limited to eight teams. Prior to the tournament’s expansion ahead of the 2022 season, even though teams still had gaps to cover in their bowling arsenal, they didn’t stand as exposed against explosive batting, which is now feasting on weakened resources and uplifting average scores per 20 overs. 

The players that previously weren’t good enough to make the first attack are now part of one of five or six choices to make up the quota and that has led to an overall surge in totals. Each of the traditional eight IPL sides bar one has been more expensive in the past two seasons than they were in the two seasons before. The table below being vindictive of the same, only Rajasthan Royals (RR), since the influx of R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Trent Boult in their attack, have a positive ER in the post-expansion era. 

Now these numbers could be influenced by the dry and slow nature of the tracks in UAE, which hosted most of the IPL matches over two seasons at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, in contrast to the clay-based tracks that skid through in India. But the adverse impact of the tournament’s finance-driven expansion is visible even when economy rates for IPL 2023 are put next to the economy rates during IPL 2019, the previous full-blown home and away season. Still, only the Royals are better off for the tournament’s talent spread and the weakening of their seven oppositions. 

The advent of the ‘Impact Player’ has only worsened the situation for IPL attacks. The biggest impact of tactical substitution has been psychological, in that it has infused greater freedom into each resource under the knowledge that there is greater cover available in extended batting units. The No.7-8 is no longer a utility allrounder but a specialist, who can walk in and smash the bowling. It aids luxury for the top six to operate at higher-end strike-rates without feeling wary of missing out as a team. 

The economy rates for all bowling sides part of the IPL 2022 confined to the Maharashtra bubble on tracks that gradually slowed down with wear and tear was better than the ones they enjoyed in IPL 2023 spread over twelve different venues on pitches that retained their freshness and overall flatter realms. The ‘Impact Player’ accentuated the effects of conditions on offer and exposed the drowning quality of the attacks in play. 

These facts tend to drive us to a defensive mode as a viewer, for we are constantly trying to reaffirm our beliefs formed by watching these games and the feelings their high-octane nature tends to evoke. Any stat or fact that tries to dispel this perception is taken for an offence. It would be difficult as a viewer to reason and judge the league to this front especially when games last a distance, with commentators, too, selling us an idea on competitiveness and blurring our judgement on quality. 

Both words are pertinent. The IPL is competitive because it has always had equally brittle units with multiple obvious issues to iron out or paper over through a season. Given that it rightfully compels teams to field playing XIs in combination of limited presence or quota of overseas and Indian players, it remains a near-impossible task to collect a perfect IPL side. The 7:4 with an equal purse and the dynamic auction process is a prerequisite to balance of competitiveness on the field, ultimately visible in the close nature of the points table. Usually, it’s one win that separates the fourth qualifier from the fifth or sixth-placed side that misses out. 

But the quality of the play is different and perhaps, tougher to put the league to the test as a viewer with emotional investment and team biases. There are fans for whom the IPL is the be-all and end-all of our sport, the two months of the sporting festival they look forward to. It’s that much difficult for this fan to first grasp and then accept that the quality of his favourite league has been sold down the drain by the BCCI for easier financial gains. 

The best means to assert quality is to filter depth to each bowling attack. The star presence within a bowling unit tends to belie our judgement, but the runs over large sample sizes aren’t scored against the best bowlers of a team, they are made versus its weaker cogs. The latter often makes it easier to score off the former without losing command, for those runs enable a sense of breathing space and control at the crease for batting units. 

Jasprit Bumrah still managed to swim over this scenario back in IPL 2022 but even his genius couldn’t help MI avoid a disastrous tenth-place finish. That underlined the impact depth and quality makes for a bowling attack. Teams could’ve either looked to play out the ace speedster or use the confidence and control gained by facing the non-Bumrah end to tame the mighty beast in the death-overs phase. Why, Pat Cummins could smash him on a rare off day. There was simply no pressure sustained at the other end. 

MI were even worse off this season with nearly 10 an over conceded in the absence of Bumrah. They were fortunate to find batting heroes towards the tale end in a flat-pitch tournament. But of the other four sides to concede above 9 an over, none made it to the playoffs. Lucknow’s home struggles with the bat meant they failed to make it past the league stage despite finishing with the best ER. The next best team with 8.59 an over conceded came within one good ball short of retaining its trophy. The third-best at 8.60 lifted it in the end. 

This sustained dip in quality over two seasons shall make the IPL wary of further expansion before allowing teams a number of more years into resettling their attacks. The onset of the pandemic and the introduction of two new teams dented this process but towards the tale end of the first of the decade of the tournament, teams were beginning to find more of an equilibrium with the ball. 

The stretch of talent spread upto 10 teams when most of the domestic set-ups are still reeling from multifold pandemic affects and are unable to provide ready talents, however, has left the IPL on an uneven footing and held it backwards with no immediate solution. 

Over time, the existing ten attacks may attain greater edge by solidifying their resources and enabling growth of their weaker suits with consistent game time, cushion and role clarity while domestic cricket all over the globe gradually recovers on its feet. But the fact remains the IPL is worse off right now for its expansion in playing quality. No financial affluence and psychological manipulation can hide it.