This Ridiculous Chase By Mumbai Indians In IPL 2014 Was An Aberration, It Is The New Normal In 2024

When Aditya Tare hit James Faulkner for six in a virtual quarter final of 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL), the world was shocked. Mumbai Indians (MI) had chased down 189 within 15 overs, a ridiculous feat. 

Cut to 2024 

On 28 April 2024, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) chased down 201 against Gujarat Titans (GT), with 4 overs still to go. Will Jacks, the lead run-getter, smacked 10 sixes and five fours. He went from 50 to 100 in six minutes, quicker than Maggie is made in real life.

If it had happened in 2020, you could be forgiven for calling it an aberration. Not in 2024. The chases in this year’s IPL sound too supernatural for someone who went into coma in 2020 with the memory of that 2014 masterpiece.

In the 42nd match of IPL 2024, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) witnessed an astounding loss when Punjab Kings (PBKS) surpassed its 261 runs with 8 balls to spare.

Just 11 matches ago, KKR had suffered a similar fate when bruised Jos Buttler announced his return to form with a stupendous 107 off 60 balls. He was helped by West Indian Rovman Powell who broke the jinx by attacking Sunil Narine.

Third-highest chase of 2024 (10th in total) was seen in the 39th match. Marcus Stoinis of Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG) upped the ante in crucial moments and diffused the traps laid by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to chase 211.

Apart from chases, high first innings scores like 287, 277, and 272 are more common this year. Even teams chasing them are not buckling down. For instance, against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) score of 287, RCB scored 262. Similarly, Mumbai scored 246 while chasing 278.

Beyond IPL 

A temptation to count these blitzkrieg in IPL as an exception exists, but statistics do not support that assumption. On 28 November 2023, Australia chased India’s 222 in the last over. On 26 March 2023, South Africa thrashed West Indies by chasing 259 inside 19 overs.

Similar chases have become common observation in league matches too.

The inflection point was the IPL 2020 match between Kings XI Punjab and RR. On 20 September 2020, Rahul Tewatia’s 5 sixes in Sheldon Cottrell changed the complexion of the game and the Royals chased down 224.

What has really changed 

To see why the 2020 match is remarkable, we need to look at the over-by-over scorecard of the match. In the last six overs, the Royals needed 92 runs — a tough task even in 10 overs, but the Royals did it. Similarly, in this year’s chase against KKR, the Royals needed 96 of the last six, with mystery spinners like Sunil Nadine and Varun Chakaravarthy lined up against them. The Royals again did it with ease. 

In the Australia vs India match we talked about above, Australians scored 89 of the last six, exactly what LSG scored against CSK in IPL 2024.

In all of these matches, the players did a 'Dhonisque finish' — taking the game to the edge then taking advantage of bowlers being under pressure.

It requires a high self-confidence, bordering arrogance, and there is no dearth of that. GT captain Shubhman Gill recently gave a plausible explanation for why we don't see a shred of stress on batsmen’s faces while they are chasing big totals.

"Fifteen runs per over means you just need two hits in the over and that was the mindset at that time. Mathematically, both batsmen need to score nine-ball 22 runs and if you think like that, okay, it's three hits in nine balls and if one of the batsmen goes berserk, you'll see the match getting over in two-three balls,” said Gill.

It's clearly methodical. Teams are prepared for the match to go down till the last over. Games finishing earlier — like that RCB game are just icing on the cake. 

“It is not just go go go. It was ebb and flow. There were some bowlers we targeted, some against whom we were cautious,” said Stoinis, after finishing the match against CSK in Dhoni fashion — 4 boundary shots in the last over.

The drivers

A multitude of factors drive this new level of insanity. Increased athleticism and smaller boundaries are two of the most technical ones.

15 runs per over require two or three boundaries and quick running between the wickets. Youngsters who grew up watching the likes of Kohli, De Villers and Dhoni running hard between the wickets have aptly imitated them and even bettered them in some cases. They easily hit two boundaries per over and score the rest of the runs through meticulous running. Old warhorses like Butler and Bairstow are also pushing themselves harder on this front.

For those who are still not too inclined on singles and doubles, smaller boundaries have come off as a saving grace. They are becoming pinch hitters with a touch of sincerity. The 50-65 metres boundary size makes it easy to hit through the line. Batsmen know that a mistimed shot can easily go for six and mostly they are right. With timed ones, 95-metre sixes are easy to hit. 

Even the colossal Klassen ticks this box. Though he has performed well on bigger grounds, his boundary-to-singles (or doubles) ratio (combining international and league matches) is way better on smaller grounds.

In IPL, impact player rule is also a big factor behind it. It has almost eliminated the compulsions for teams to choose an all-rounder in the playing XI. With the option to ask benched players to bat, the depth of batting goes down to number 8, even number 9 when teams have all-rounders like Andre Russell and Marco Jansen. The cushion sucks up pressure on top and middle-order batsmen, allowing them to express freely.

Amidst all of this, cowardice shown on the part of bowlers goes unnoticed. For better balance between bat and ball, two bouncers per over rule in this year’s IPL is there. After the initial brouhaha, it is rarely seen. 

Similarly, except for Matheesha Pathirana, yorker is not a go-to delivery for fast bowlers, not even Mitchell Starc. Wide yorkers, slower balls, slower wide yorkers, extra bounce from the same length and cross seam deliveries are all they are left with. The ultimate result is more damage.

Even spinners like Yazuvendra Chahal, Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan and R Ashwin have bowled defensive lines and lengths.

These muscular batting efforts have become the new normal and thrive on the entertainment value they provide.

Puritans don't like it, nor do bowlers.