IPL Trends: Evolution Of Spin Bashers, Off Cutters Becoming Outdated, And More

The Indian Premier League (IPL) has grown exponentially in its 18 years of existence. The growth is not just in fan experience and following, but there has also been a massive increase in the quality of cricket from its inception in 2008 to 2025.

The batters have seen a lot of growth, both in batsmanship and confidence. Conservative cricket is no longer a choice, as batters have come to an understanding that attacking and taking on the bowler head-on is the only way of getting over adversity and evolving as batters. Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma have been the biggest examples of taking on the bowlers from ball one in the IPL.

BATTERS ARE OWNING THE LEAGUE IN RECENT TIMES

The quality of cricket in IPL has drastically changed over the last couple of years as records show batters have been dominating bowlers and smashing runs at a quick pace. The average runs per innings has gone up by nearly 20 runs from 161 to 179. The run rate has shot up from a mediocre 8.31 between 2020-22 seasons to 9.27 in the last two seasons.

Amongst all the notable franchise T20 leagues across the world, IPL is the only league to have a run rate over nine runs per over. Pakistan’s PSL comes close second with a run rate almost touching nine at 8.97.

200 IS NOT ENOUGH TO DEFEND IN IPL ANYMORE

Scoring a 200+ total was seen as a big deal in the IPL a decade ago. In the first 15 seasons, a 200+ total was scored once every 14 innings. In the last two seasons, 200+ totals have been scored in 78 innings averaging once in every four innings. 

Scoring 200+ totals is now not just a regular instance; even chasing them has become a norm. Statistics show that in the first 15 seasons, 200+ totals were chased only 15 times, with every seventh 200+ run chase being a successful one.

In the last two seasons, 200+ totals have been chased in 14 instances, with every fourth 200+ total run chase being successful. The best example is the game between KKR and PBKS in Kolkata in IPL 2024, where Punjab managed to chase 262 runs, making it the highest run chase in T20 cricket history. 

MIDDLE OVERS NO LONGER A CONSOLIDATION PHASE

In the early seasons of the IPL, middle overs were considered as a phase where the batters would slow down the scoring rate, making sure to get through the phase without any trouble and attack in the slog overs (16-20). 

Now, the thought process has completely changed by the likes of Shivam Dube, Rajat Patidar, Suryakumar Yadav, and others who, without any hesitation, go on to take on the bowlers and smash them all across the ground in this phase.

In the last two editions, the run rate in middle overs has been 8.63, with batters striking at 144. 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPIN BASHERS

One term that the IPL has made famous over the last two years is “Spin Basher”, which means a batter who is proficient in taking on the spinners from the word go, making them the accelerators of the innings. RCB’s new captain Patidar, along with Dube, are the two batters who have been synonymous with this term as they have smoked the spinners like no other batter in the last two editions of the IPL.

Looking at the numbers, the run rate against spin has gone up by almost one run, from 7.67 to 8.48. 

Spinners largely operate in the middle overs phase, where the turning ball usually makes the batter a bit hesitant to go for the big shot, as one mistimed shot can result in a wicket. 

Due to spin bashers, this thought process has been thrown out of the batting manual as designated spin hitters come in this phase and smash fours and sixes every corner against them. Batters are striking at 136, with a boundary being scored in every seventh ball.

OFF CUTTERS NO LONGER UNPLAYABLE

Off Cutters were one of the first variations that bowlers learned in the early editions of the IPL. Dwayne Bravo was one of the first players to make the best use of them, specifically in the slog overs, taking the pace away. 

Over the years, the use of off cutters has been a part of the bowlers' variations, resulting in the batters anticipating the slower ones. This has resulted in off cutters getting smashed to the stands, making it a predictable delivery. 

In the last two seasons, off-cutters' economy has gone up from 9.26 to 10.54. Harshal Patel is one of the prime examples of a bowler whose excessive use of the off-cut resulted in him being one of the most expensive bowlers in the competition.

Along with the off cutters, the pacers now must have other ways to deceive the batters with slower ones. This has resulted in the increased use of knuckle ball, back of hand and other variations. Bowlers like Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma and Nathan Ellis have aced these variations and have been given the role of bowling such deliveries in the slog overs.

The economy rate has not been an issue, as the slog overs usually see high run rates. It is the regularity of getting wickets that is important, as these new variations bring a wicket every 12th delivery and have yielded over 100 wickets in the last two seasons of the IPL.