Batting records continue to tumble, top-ranked bowlers continue to be taken apart, and even a target as big as 265 is completed with seven balls to spare. IPL 2026 is heavily tilted towards the batters, and on a day Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) made a chase of 244 look easy against Mumbai Indians (MI), their spin-bowling coach Muthiah Muralidaran said that bowlers just have to “accept” they are going to get hit and try to adapt to the game’s demands.
“It’s very difficult for a bowler because these days, because of every team, not only us [SRH], has an opening [pair] that doesn’t care about in or out, they just go after the bowling,” Muralidaran said at the press conference after the game. “When we used to playm about 40 to 50 runs was a good score with one wicket losing in six overs, now the average is 70 to 80.”
Muralidaran pointed to the fearless approach of young batters, citing uncapped 23-year-old Salil Arora‘s no-look six off Jasprit Bumrah as an example of how the mindset had shifted.
“Even a good bowler goes for a six, [even] Bumrah goes for one or two balls. Abhishek [Sharma], the way he hits, it’s unbelievable, but when a new boy Salil hits a six, it’s unbelievable – you don’t think [someone with] the calibre of Bumrah comes and a young boy will hit a six [off him] because he will think about how am I going to survive [Bumrah],” Muralidaran said. “But nowadays, no, [it’s about] how am I going to hit a six – that’s their approach. Confidence levels are gone up because people have showed this is the way to play the modern game and youngsters are following that.
“So, for bowlers, there is not much to say; they have to practise a lot and be accurate as possible. On your day, you might do well, even if you do well sometimes you are in the receiving end because of the wicket and the conditions.”
He added that while spin remained an important weapon, the way spin bowling was being taught at the grass-roots level needed to change, since the modern game was producing fewer bowlers who actually turn the ball.
“[Spinners] only try to bowl quicker, and not try to spin it [the ball],” he said. “Because they are not getting that ability from the younger age, you can’t come to [Under-19s] and try to spin the ball because their muscle memory is already there, so you can’t get that. So when you are age of 10, 11, 12, try to spin – we need to spin to beat the bat. But if you can’t spin, you see in training, how batters [face] throwdowns and hit sixers. So it looks like a throwdown bowler bowling at you, and batters are getting into the line and hitting.”
“So if you spin, so they also, their [batters’] eyes also open and they say ‘oh it’s spinning, so I’m missing it’, [and they think about] which way it’s going to spin.”
Asked how he or Shane Warne would have fared on today’s pitches, Muralidaran said, “We would have turned [the ball], but we would have not make a big dent. We would have turned [the ball], we could have got like one or two wickets, maybe they would have scored 40 runs easily, because wickets are so good and you need about three-four bowlers like that to contain [the total] to less than 200.
1:50
MI vs SRH, IPL 2026 – Heinrich Klaasen is navigating innings with youngsters, says Mitch McClenaghan
Saba Karim says the SRH batter counterattacked at the right time
“I have played about 170 T20 games, but because at that time the power [hitting] wasn’t as great as now, when we bowled, I would have got hammered only two times over 60-odd games, maybe more than 40 runs, and Shane also same. Nowadays, [conceding] 50 runs is a great deal for a spinner, 40 runs means you’ve bowled well. The game has changed, we can’t compare the eras.”
But how might the IPL strike a balance between bat and ball? Muralidaran was realistic in his assessment, pointing to the commercial and entertainment demands of the format. SRH, who have posted the top-four totals in the IPL overs the years, will also continue to play the way they have been in recent times, he said.
“I don’t think pushing the boundary [ropes], when the ball is flying over the ropes everywhere, [will change things],” he said. “I think if we give fair wickets, the spectators will say it’s become boring because the T20 followers want entertainment, so they want to see the fours and sixes. That’s why the tournament is built like that – an extra player to come and bat [impact player]. It is a big business at the moment, sponsors and everything, so you will lose the sponsors and interest of the people [if you change it].
“I think this will continue, but over a period, bowlers will try to adapt, it will take some time. Sunrisers started this [power-hitting] and now everyone is adapting, so now the bowlers will go back [from] this tournament, [and figure out] how we can contain. They will come up with something, and the batsmen will find something else – this is the way the modern cricketers are going.”
