IPL 2026: Rahul Dravid on why bowlers are struggling to keep up with modern T20 batting

Former India head coach Rahul Dravid believes bowlers have some “catching up to do” as T20 cricket becomes increasingly batter-friendly.

In IPL 2026, teams have already chased 220-plus totals eight times in the first 48 matches.

Punjab Kings pulled off a record chase of 265 against Delhi Capitals, winning by six wickets.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Indians failed to defend 243 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Mumbai, with SRH chasing it down with six wickets and eight balls to spare.

Rahul Dravid on bowlers in T20 cricket

“In a sense, to see the quality of batting that has happened over the last two or three years, I think the bowlers in that format of the game will slowly have to do some catching up,” Rahul Dravid told PTI.

Rahul Dravid, who was recently announced as the owner of the Dublin franchise in the European T20 Premier League, also acknowledged how batting has evolved in the shorter format of the game.

The former Rajasthan Royals head coach said batters are now capable of playing attacking shots all around the ground, unlike earlier years.

“I think batsmanship and the ability to hit sixes and to access different parts of the ground have certainly improved leaps and bounds.

“Bowlers will have to keep working on their skills and keep developing. I am sure some of them will be able to still stand out and hold their own,” he added.

“I think if you look at it in terms of balance, probably a lot more batsmen are able to cope with the requirements of the modern T20 game than, say, some of the bowlers have been able to at this point in time. That may change in two or three years,” opined the former Karnataka batter.

In Tests, however, the situation is different with the bowlers having a big say in proceedings. “I mean, if you look at Test cricket today, nearly every Test match produces a result. So, I think bowlers are probably holding sway in some of the Test matches that we are seeing.

“You know, two-day matches, three-day matches. So, bowlers have started holding sway in Test cricket.

“So, it will be interesting to see over the next couple of years if bowlers are able to pull this back a little bit in T20s,” he elaborated.

When asked about whether two bouncers in an over would be a good solution, Dravid hoped that the shortest format wouldn't become too one-sided.

“I mean, I think anything that might make it a little bit more, give the bowlers a little bit more of a chance. But I still think that in the next couple of years, we may see bowlers bounce back a little and start getting a bit more swing.

“There is always this balance, and there are times when the bat holds the sway as we are seeing at the moment in white ball cricket, and maybe in red ball cricket, we are seeing the ball hold the sway a little bit," he stated.