In T20 cricket, it is difficult to establish a relationship between a bowler's actions and outcomes. A lot of it depends on the batter's intent, which, with the abundance of wickets, tells them to go for it regardless. The forces of nature that they are, the bowlers keep trying new things in an attempt to stay competitive.
IPL 2026, though, has rewarded bowlers who can bowl Test-match lengths for a long time. Anshul Kamboj, Kagiso Rabada and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are the three leading wicket-takers. Jofra Archer and Mohammed Siraj are not far behind. While Ehsan Malinga and Jamie Overton carry the banner for bowlers who bowl less of traditional lengths, we haven't quite had T20 specialists ruling the wicket charts.
These bowlers have done so with good old-fashioned length bowling. Especially in the powerplay, the 6-8m length has produced much better results this year: an average of 31.93 and economy of 7.91 as against 43.69 and 8.29 last year.
However, there is no uptick in the percentage of balls bowled in good lengths: 36% to 38% in the powerplay, 23% in middle overs, 12% to 11 % at the death. The ball hasn't swung or seamed more; the percentage of high-seam or high-swing balls remains similar. The grounds are the same. The balls haven't changed. The batters' response hasn't been dramatically different. Last year they defended 11% of length balls in the powerplay, this year 9%. The rate of slogging hasn't gone up, but the efficiency has: from a strike rate of 169 to 213.
There is no clear pattern or reason why Test-match style bowling has been more beneficial this year. The answer perhaps lies in the teams' planning and intent. Just look at the number of times Siraj and Rabada have bowled through the powerplay for Gujarat Titans. Rabada has never bowled more in the powerplay than this year. He has taken 13 of his 18 wickets in that phase. Chennai Super Kings have used Kamboj almost identically. Until he got injured, Khaleel Ahmed went at a strike rate of only 64 off length balls. Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood have always sought to hit good lengths. Prince Yadav and Mohsin Khan, whenever he has been fit, have looked to do the same for Lucknow Super Giants.
At the other end of the scale, there are few T20 specialist bowlers around this year. Harshal Patel used to find himself among the top wicket-takers all the time, but he has hardly played this year. There has been no Matheesha Pathirana either. Prasidh Krishna, with his hard and short lengths, has only played half the season. A similar bowler, Harshit Rana is injured. This has not been the year of the funky ball: no moon ball, back-of-the-hand slower ball, knuckle ball.
It just seems that teams this year are working on the assumption that the relationship between the quality of bowling and outcomes keeps getting lower as the innings progresses. So they have been frontloading and then hoping for some reverse or spin to come to their aid. GT started with six overs of Siraj and Rabada on a helpful surface, but then continued with it regardless of the surface. Even with the old ball, Jason Holder, again a Test-match-length bowler, has ten wickets in five matches.
One reason behind their thinking could be that spinners are getting less grip from the pitches. At such times, variation bowlers are likely to get less assistance, and perhaps the best time to make an impact is with the new ball and bowlers who have trained all their lives to do that.
It hasn't managed to stop the scoring rate from rising, though. That bowlers are largely at the mercy of the efficiency of the batters and their intent hasn't changed. And the batters are only getting better and bolder.
