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

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 sheerly 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 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

High scoring IPL seasons

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