IPL 2025 Bowlers fight back as batting dominance declines

Dubai: White-ball cricket used to be a batter’s playground. Not anymore. In Indian Premier League Season 18, bowlers have flipped the script — cutting down sixes, shrinking targets, and forcing batters to rethink their game.

Sunrisers Hyderabad haven’t caught on. The team that lit up IPL 2024 with monster scores is struggling to keep up this year — stuck in the same high-risk mode that brought them glory a season ago.

Since smashing 286 for 4 in the opener — the second-highest total in IPL history — Sunrisers haven’t crossed 200. On Sunday, they managed just 152 for 8 at home. Gujarat Titans chased it down with ease, sealing a seven-wicket win and climbing to second place on the table.

Mohammed Siraj set the tone early with career-best figures of 4 for 17. Rashid Khan and Prasidh Krishna picked up two wickets each, leaving Hyderabad’s batting in tatters.

In response, Shubman Gill played the anchor with an unbeaten 61, supported by Washington Sundar’s 49 and Sherfane Rutherford’s quick 35 not out to take Gujarat over the line with 20 balls to spare.

“Bowlers are game-changers especially in this format,” Gill said after the match. “A lot of people talk about big-hitters but bowlers win you games. We wanted to play shots all along the ground, that was the chat between me and Washington Sundar.”

Gill and Sundar put together a steady 90-run stand off 56 balls, rebuilding after the early dismissals of Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler.

“He [Sundar] was padded up in the match against MI but with the Impact player rule, you have to change your plans at times,” Gill added. “The way he batted today was fantastic... there was no conversation as such, it was all about playing good cricketing shots.”

He also praised Siraj’s intensity: “The energy he brings during bowling and fielding is infectious.”

Kolkata Knight Riders mentor Dwayne Bravo offered a sharp analysis of why teams are struggling to post massive totals this season — and why bowlers are finally getting their due.

“It’s a combination of both the factors,” Bravo said, referring to bowlers getting smarter and batters failing to adjust. “For us as a bowler group, especially the kind of conversation we have and the message that I send, is that you have to be smarter. To survive now, you have to be smarter. So you have to try to outthink the batter and be brave.”

Bravo didn’t hold back in his assessment of modern-day batting approaches either.

“I think the batsmen are also not having that value on the wicket anymore,” he said. “A bit reckless because they think it’s flat pitches. A lot of teams haven’t batted longer, so the value for batsmanship is no longer there.”

That recklessness, Bravo explained, has played straight into the hands of disciplined bowling units.

“That’s why you see the scores have now started to drop a bit,” he added. “Because bowlers are getting smarter and they’re trying to use their strengths more. And batsmen just have no value on the wicket anymore. So I guess it’s a combination of both.”

For long, bowlers were cannon fodder in T20 cricket. Now, they’re bringing the contest back — and that shift is making for tighter, more strategic games. A recalibration is underway. And while some teams are still stuck in the past, others — like Gujarat — are already thriving in the new era.