India faced a comprehensive defeat of 209 runs in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia at The Oval. Some cricket experts have pointed fingers at the Indian Premier League (IPL) as a possible cause for this loss. To analyze the impact of the IPL on the Indian team’s performance, we examined their records 15 years before and after the IPL’s introduction (from 1992 to 2008 and from 2008 to 2023, respectively) across all formats of the game.
Match-winning and Scoring Rates increased after IPL but Trophy numbers same
In terms of winning ICC events in the 15 years prior to and following the IPL, the Indian team’s success has remained consistent. Team India has won two ICC trophies each in this period before and after the league. The difference is that the Indian team has played 11 tournaments in the 15 years before the league.
At the same time, the team has also taken part in 15 ICC events since the league’s existence. India made it to the championship final four times before the league but has now made it to the ICC competition final six times.
These statistics show that the Indian team’s performance has not been harmed by the IPL. However, why is IPL receiving such harsh criticism right now? Learn more…
| Tournament | Edition | Final | Trophy |
| ICC Champions Trophy | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| ICC ODI Cricket World Cup | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| T-20 World Cup | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 11 | 4 | 2 |
| Tournament | Edition | Final | Trophy |
| ICC Champions Trophy | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| ICC ODI Cricket World Cup | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| T-20 World Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| ICC World Test Championship | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 15 | 6 | 2 |
Insufficient Preparation Time: Critics, who consider the IPL a villain, argue that the Indian players did not have ample time to prepare for the WTC final and lacked practice matches. The final of the Indian Premier League took place on May 29, and soon after, the Indian team departed for England. Indian captain Rohit Sharma expressed that they had very little time for preparation, stating that ideally, he would have preferred 20-25 days of practice before such a significant match.
Poor Shot Selection: Several players, including Rahane, Kohli, Rohit, and Gill, were dismissed due to poor shot selection. Examining the dismissals of Kohli and Rahane in the second innings reveals that both were caught attempting shots outside the sixth stump, which is uncommon in Test cricket. Experts believe that if the Indian batsmen had adequate practice before the match, they would have avoided such erroneous shots. Such shot selection issues are often attributed to the influence of T20 cricket, particularly the IPL.
Injury Replacement: In the previous IPL season, Indian wicket-keeper batsman KL Rahul sustained an injury and was subsequently ruled out of the WTC final. Rahul was a vital replacement for Rishabh Pant, who was also unavailable due to a car accident. KS Bharat was given the opportunity as Rahul’s replacement, but he struggled in the match. Rahul’s presence could have strengthened India’s batting lineup.
How legitimate is the claim of shortening time?
So far 7 times Team India has come to play any ICC tournament within 1 month of the end of the IPL. 6 out of 7 times the gap was only 4 to 13 days, whereas, during the ODI World Cup 2019, the team got 23 days for preparations.
The 6 tournaments in which India got only 4 to 13 days after IPL include the Champions Trophy of 2013 and 2017. India won the title in 2013 but lost the championship’s final match in 2017. Three T20 World Cups (in 2009, 2010, and 2021) are also among them. In none of these three, India could make it to the semifinals.
| Tournament | Days Gap | Result |
|---|---|---|
| T-20 WC 2009 | 12 Days | Out from Group-Stage |
| T-20 WC 2010 | 4 Days | Out from Group-Stage |
| ICC Champions Trophy 2013 | 10 Days | Champion |
| ICC Champions Trophy 2017 | 13 Days | Runner-Up |
| ICC ODI Cricket WC 2019 | 23 Days | Semifinal |
| T-20 WC 2021 | 8 Days | Out from Group-Stage |
| ICC WTC Final 2023 | 8 Days | Runner-Up |
What has changed in India’s game in all three formats after the arrival of IPL?
The scoring rate has increased in ODIs
Beginning on April 18, 2008, India hosted the inaugural IPL franchise cricket event. With the introduction of this format of 20-20 overs, the scoring rate of Team India increased. From 1992 to 2007, India was scoring at a run rate of 4.96 in ODIs, while from 2008 onwards the team started scoring at 5.68 runs per over.
In ODIs, the team used to win only about 49% of the matches, but after IPL, India won about 62% of the matches. The team lost only 32% of the matches after 2008. This percentage was almost 46% throughout the preceding 16 years. During this time, Team India played around 100 fewer matches, yet after the IPL, the team’s winning percentage accelerated more quickly than previously.
| Match | Won | Lost | Tie/NR | Run Rate | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 464 | 230 | 211 | 2/21 | 4.96 | 49.57% |
| Match | Won | Lost | Tie/NR | Run Rate | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 464 | 230 | 211 | 2/21 | 4.96 | 49.57% |
Started winning more matches in the Test
The majority of the team’s Test matches ended in draws, and the team’s winning rate was similarly poor. Since the IPL began, fewer games ended in draws, and India is presently winning more than 50% of the tests. Only approximately 35% of Team India’s matches from 1992 to 2007 were won, while during this time the team also played roughly 39% of draws. In contrast, only 21% of the team’s games after the IPL were drawn.
Additionally, the pacers available to Team India right now include Mohammad Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Jaspreet Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, Thangarasu Natarajan, Prasidh Krishna, and Umran Malik, all of whom are consistently bowling at a velocity of 140 kmph. As a result, Team India won Test matches against England, Australia, and South Africa and qualified to the WTC final for the second consecutive year.
| Match | Won | Lost | Draw | Run Rate | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 139 | 48 | 37 | 54 | 3.08 | 34.53% |
| Match | Won | Lost | Draw | Run Rate | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 158 | 80 | 44 | 34 | 3.36 | 50.63% |
T20 WC and IPL came together
For India, IPL and T20 WC cricket came almost at the same time, so the growth of both was similar. India won its first trophy in the T20 format in 2007 before IPL, but after IPL many talented players made a place in Team India. Hardik Pandya, the vice-captain of the limited-overs team, is one of them.
Apart from these, many talented players like Varun Chakraborty, Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, and Deepak Hooda made a place in Team India after doing well in IPL. Surya is also ranked first among T20 batsmen over the past two years.
| Match | Won | Lost | Tie/NR | Run Rate | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 6 | 1 | 1/1 | 8.42 | 66.67% |
| Match | Won | Lost | Tie/NR | Run Rate | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 190 | 121 | 62 | 3/4 | 8.53 | 63.68% |
