R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, and Umran Malik. Manpreet Singh Goni and Ashok Dinda in the inaugural season in 2008. A few more over the years. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a competition which provided a stage for several bowlers who went on to play for India. Of course, they played other domestic tournaments, but the IPL was the platform which showed that they were fit for the international level.
For some reason, this has not happened in 2023. Quite a few new and unknown, uncapped fast bowlers and spinners, have played for different teams. We can’t say with conviction that even one of them is an India prospect. Suyash Sharma, the Kolkata Knight Riders spinner, might have made a mark, but it’s too early to say whether he can thrive at the highest level.
The scenario is slightly different when it comes to batters. Tilak Varma of Mumbai Indians, Dhruv Jurel of Rajasthan Royals and Rinku Singh of Kolkata Knight Riders have all established themselves as players their teams can rely on. Some of them had played in the IPL earlier, but this year, they have all enhanced their credentials.
This is something which cannot be said about the rookie Indian bowlers. Akash Singh of Chennai Super Kings, Yash Dayal of Gujarat Titans, Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora of Kolkata Knight Riders, Yash Thakur of Lucknow Super Giants, and Harpreet Brar of Punjab Kings are some of the examples. This is not an exhaustive list, and there are more. The point is, most of them have not made an impact.
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There are a few reasons. Most of the pitches prepared for IPL games are designed to favour batters. Fans want high-scoring games and almost ideologically, the IPL as a tournament is meant for that. Yes, you do see low-scoring games or the ball turning in Chennai or Kolkata, but that is largely because of team strategy or climatic conditions which make pitches drier and conducive to spin. The principle, in general, is to deliver tall scores. That’s why there are so many successful 200-plus chases.
This makes it difficult for bowlers, especially newcomers, to make a mark. Most of them are inexperienced and to succeed on run-loaded belters is not easy, against some of the world’s best batters. Imagine a greenhorn’s plight against an MS Dhoni, Faf du Plessis, Glenn Maxwell, Andre Russell or Virat Kohli. Having said that, quite a few Indian bowlers had come up from a similar environment in the past. That has not happened this season, to a large extent.
Does it indicate that India’s bowling prospects for the future do not look that bright? Probably not, because this format and the IPL as a competition is not the best place to pass a judgement on that. To become established as a candidate to play for India, there are other platforms. Mukesh Kumar is a standby for the World Test Championship final despite having an average IPL with Delhi Capitals. And that has happened because of his performances for India A and in the Ranji Trophy. So there will be other opportunities.
But it can still be said that India’s bowling stocks are not looking as rich as they were a few years ago. One can say that Malik is one for the future. Mohsin Khan, the left-arm quick who has made a comeback after a long injury layoff, is another name, but there are not many more. It’s even worse when it comes to spinners, barring exceptions like Uttar Pradesh’s Saurabh Kumar, who is not part of the IPL. The reserves are not that great. This edition of the IPL has merely highlighted this fact.