Indian Premier League - General Discussion

I think, for various reasons, I've stumbled upon the idea of skipping the first month of the IPL. Hopefully, that will mean I enjoy the last month. I'm usually bored of it when they start playing each other a second time.

It’s too long to be honest in it’s current form.

It doesn’t help that every year there’s a couple of teams at least for some reason that isn’t at the races for that season, whether that is due to them playing catchup after a poor mega auction or injury to a key component of the lineup. Sometimes it’s multiple players going on a bad run of form. Once you’re down a few games, it becomes increasingly difficult to get to a number four spot, doubly so when it isn’t as valuable as in a traditional format where you could still make the final with one good semi-final (not that I’m condoning it since finishing top two should get you an extra benefit). Given how the IPL isn’t taken as seriously from a competitive perspective either by many players, it’s not a coincidence that morale drops and the bottom teams just go through the motions after a point.

This is where I feel the IPL could benefit from adding an extra knockout place like BBL did briefly. It would add more incentives for even the bottom teams to keep faith in their campaigns being resurrected after a couple of wins and it would bring it back to 50% of the standings contributing to a knockout place. I doubt bottom teams would care about the extra game when the race to fifth is slightly easier.

The impact sub rule has also inadvertently caused totals to go up (I haven’t done the math yet but it wouldn’t surprise me either way) it feels like. Teams are using it to extend their batting depth more often than not, resulting in a 12v12. The extra bouncer rule was supposed to help bowlers but it’s also caused an inadvertent change that’s currently plaguing test cricket where bowlers just keep bowling short balls at you since the current limit for wide balls is quite beneficial to bowlers than batters and umpires tend to stay on the side of the bowler more than the batter. Some players pick up on it and just go ham, resulting in a flurry of boundaries or struggle to deal with it since playing bouncers properly is not easy in the first place, especially with modern helmets and coaching techniques.

I’m not sure how I would change the impact sub rule but in its current form it’s really boring since it is the same or similar set of players being subbed out or in. Maybe teams need to start using it more creatively… or maybe you’re only allowed to sub someone out if they’ve already bowled at least three overs by the end of the tenth over or lost their wicket/is currently batting? It could encourage more creative bowler role usage for bowlers while for batters aggressive batting is a reward for powerplay specialists with the risk of it falling apart if you lose too many wickets upfront? You could still have an anchor walk in to steady the innings or retire out an accumulator who has a tendency to get worse as they bat through the middle overs.
 
It’s too long to be honest in it’s current form.

It doesn’t help that every year there’s a couple of teams at least for some reason that isn’t at the races for that season, whether that is due to them playing catchup after a poor mega auction or injury to a key component of the lineup. Sometimes it’s multiple players going on a bad run of form. Once you’re down a few games, it becomes increasingly difficult to get to a number four spot, doubly so when it isn’t as valuable as in a traditional format where you could still make the final with one good semi-final (not that I’m condoning it since finishing top two should get you an extra benefit). Given how the IPL isn’t taken as seriously from a competitive perspective either by many players, it’s not a coincidence that morale drops and the bottom teams just go through the motions after a point.

This is where I feel the IPL could benefit from adding an extra knockout place like BBL did briefly. It would add more incentives for even the bottom teams to keep faith in their campaigns being resurrected after a couple of wins and it would bring it back to 50% of the standings contributing to a knockout place. I doubt bottom teams would care about the extra game when the race to fifth is slightly easier.

The impact sub rule has also inadvertently caused totals to go up (I haven’t done the math yet but it wouldn’t surprise me either way) it feels like. Teams are using it to extend their batting depth more often than not, resulting in a 12v12. The extra bouncer rule was supposed to help bowlers but it’s also caused an inadvertent change that’s currently plaguing test cricket where bowlers just keep bowling short balls at you since the current limit for wide balls is quite beneficial to bowlers than batters and umpires tend to stay on the side of the bowler more than the batter. Some players pick up on it and just go ham, resulting in a flurry of boundaries or struggle to deal with it since playing bouncers properly is not easy in the first place, especially with modern helmets and coaching techniques.

I’m not sure how I would change the impact sub rule but in its current form it’s really boring since it is the same or similar set of players being subbed out or in. Maybe teams need to start using it more creatively… or maybe you’re only allowed to sub someone out if they’ve already bowled at least three overs by the end of the tenth over or lost their wicket/is currently batting? It could encourage more creative bowler role usage for bowlers while for batters aggressive batting is a reward for powerplay specialists with the risk of it falling apart if you lose too many wickets upfront? You could still have an anchor walk in to steady the innings or retire out an accumulator who has a tendency to get worse as they bat through the middle overs.
Yeah, I loathe the impact sub rule which has contributed to my dislike. I said last season IPL is basically 12 v 12 now. The implementation makes even less sense when they can name an XI after the toss.

I think most of these tournaments suffer from the boards/organisers wanting to cash in with as many games as possible - which means a league - but also knowing that knock outs are exciting. Same problem we've had with the last two World Cups. It's where I actually think The Hundred works quite well, top team goes to the final and 2 and 3 play off. I'm sure if they'd double the number of matches if they could though.

I actually think the Blast and the SMAT have the best of both worlds. A decent group stage and then knockouts. Although the BCCI doesn't give the SMAT a push it could benefit from and the ECB has been doing everything it can to kill the Blast. I believe with the first match on 30 May and final on September 14 (two months after the group stages end).
 
Yeah, I loathe the impact sub rule which has contributed to my dislike. I said last season IPL is basically 12 v 12 now. The implementation makes even less sense when they can name an XI after the toss.

I think most of these tournaments suffer from the boards/organisers wanting to cash in with as many games as possible - which means a league - but also knowing that knock outs are exciting. Same problem we've had with the last two World Cups. It's where I actually think The Hundred works quite well, top team goes to the final and 2 and 3 play off. I'm sure if they'd double the number of matches if they could though.

I actually think the Blast and the SMAT have the best of both worlds. A decent group stage and then knockouts. Although the BCCI doesn't give the SMAT a push it could benefit from and the ECB has been doing everything it can to kill the Blast. I believe with the first match on 30 May and final on September 14 (two months after the group stages end).

The real problem comes with them wanting to have only one game on at a time so that everyone can tune in and not miss out along with trying to limit the number of double game days. The SMAT doesn’t do this and I’m sure the Blast doesn’t either. The SMAT does have it’s issues too as well as the impact sub.

In the long run if they want to turn it into their own NBA with more and more teams they may have to start weaning off the audience from having to constantly follow every single game and team. It’s perfectly fine for each region to mainly follow their own team and have only a passing knowledge of the rest but I’m not sure if cricket as a whole is ready for it since a large part of it is almost closeted like an old friend’s group or a cult. :lol
 
The real problem comes with them wanting to have only one game on at a time so that everyone can tune in and not miss out along with trying to limit the number of double game days. The SMAT doesn’t do this and I’m sure the Blast doesn’t either. The SMAT does have it’s issues too as well as the impact sub.

In the long run if they want to turn it into their own NBA with more and more teams they may have to start weaning off the audience from having to constantly follow every single game and team. It’s perfectly fine for each region to mainly follow their own team and have only a passing knowledge of the rest but I’m not sure if cricket as a whole is ready for it since a large part of it is almost closeted like an old friend’s group or a cult. :lol
Yeah, the single game days are a killer for tolerating the tournament. I assume broadcasters make the most from one game a day and that's why we have it this way.
 
Yeah, the single game days are a killer for tolerating the tournament. I assume broadcasters make the most from one game a day and that's why we have it this way.

I don’t think it’s sustainable either, there’s plenty of good stadiums in India that can be filled out and there’s plenty of good domestic talent sitting on the benches of most sides. You could also expand the league and change the overseas limit to five per side without compromising on it still being an Indian league. In the long run, they’ll inevitably have to switch to double headers nearly every day or have concurrently running games to keep up.
 

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