No home advantage for franchises as BCCI controls IPL pitches to be high-scoring

Thursday, May 7, 2026 1:23 pm

No home advantage for franchises as BCCI controls IPL pitches to be high-scoring — Credit: AP Photo/Surjeet Yadav via Alamy

The IPL 2026 has been the most high-scoring IPL season ever in history.

Long gone are the days when a franchise had a say in their home matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) can no longer prepare dry pitches. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) can’t promise Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy turners at Eden Gardens. All this because the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) only wants high-scoring IPL games.

You may have observed that the IPL 2026 has been a haven for batters. Yes, the impact player rule has surely played a major part, but the pitches at almost all the venues have been the same. The ball will come onto the bat nicely, spinners rarely getting anything, while teams are blasting powerplay records with the bat consistently. The IPL 2026 has seen the highest batting run rate (9.68) and the best batting strike rate (155.21) ever.

In fact, in the list of the top 14 highest run-chases in IPL history, eight instances have been made this year. In 49 matches so far, teams have breached past the 200-run mark as many as 41 in total. All this, with 25 matches still remaining in the tournament.

BCCI’s intervention at IPL venues

After Delhi Capitals’ (DC) fourth loss in five attempts at their home ground, the Arun Jaitley Stadium, DC head coach Hemang Badani openly stated that no team is getting any home advantage at this IPL. He divulged that there’s a clear mandate by the BCCI to ensure there’s no benefit for local teams. They just can’t doctor pitches in order to make it tough for travelling teams.

Well, Badani wasn’t wrong, as the BCCI has openly intervened in operating the pitches. In fact, it is the Indian board that has the major say in how the pitch will behave, denying any home team an advantage of any sort. According to the Times of India, the BCCI has asked curators to give minimal help for the bowlers. No ground will have a boundary size over 77 metres, while there will be a BCCI curator present at every IPL match this season.

What is BCCI asking from IPL pitch curators?

Minimal help for bowlers recommended by the board
BCCI curator to be present with local curator at every venue to prevent interference
Central curators team will fully take over pitches for IPL playoffs and final
Boundaries to be capped at 77 metres maximum
Pitches should offer little lateral movement and no excessive spin
Uniform grass cover mandated to avoid dry pitches

If you are an entertainment lover, this is a superb news. However, this might leave a sour taste in a genuine cricket lover’s mouth. There should be an equal chance of attack for both batters and bowlers. Spinners have been truly ruled out of the picture, with the BCCI especially seeking no dry surfaces in the tournament. Now, we understand why spinners (168) have far fewer wickets than pacers (385) so far in IPL 2026.

“There are few teams who have stronger spin-bowling attack. They would prefer a little slower and sluggish pitches. Some teams have very potent seam attack and they prefer a little more help for the new-ball bowlers. But now every pitch is almost similar. It doesn’t matter if one team is travelling or not. The players expect similar conditions across all venues,” a franchise member close to the development told TOI.

“The batters go in with the expectation that pitch will play true and flat. But whenever there’s a little more purchase from the pitch for the bowlers, they struggle to adapt,” said another franchise source.