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Former India batter and coach Rahul Dravid feels that the T20 format is loaded in favour of batters and bowlers need to work on their skills. He feels that T20 cricket has also impacted Tests as more results are produced. The man who played for RCB and RR plus was a mentor for RR as well in the IPL is of the opinion that bowlers must catch up and can in some time. Dravid also wants pitches to be used that give something to the bowlers as their margin of error is so small.

To make Dravid’s case, the likes of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma have been going great guns in the IPL and 100 runs being scored in the first six overs is a common occurrence. Even if a team makes over 250, it is not a safe score as batters are going for their shots. Shreyas Iyer’s PBKS did just that vs DC in IPL 2026 when they chased down a target of 265.

Rahul Dravid’s Reality Check

“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. 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 said while speaking to PTI.

“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 of time. That may change in two or three years. I mean, if you look at Test cricket today, nearly every Test match produces a result. So, I think bowlers are probably holding the sway in some of the Test matches that we are seeing. You know, two-day matches, three-day matches. So, bowlers have started holding the 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 added.

© X/IPL

“They may need a little bit of support, and I think the way is probably to have a little more challenging wickets to ensure that there is something in it for the bowlers, whether it is the tracks that turn or whether it is a little bit more pace and bounce that gives the bowlers a little bit more of a chance.. Because I don't think we can increase the size of the boundaries and already there is no space to go and increase the size of the boundaries,” he went on to say.

In IPL 2026, there have been four scores over 250 which shows that teams are getting more ambitious with their scoring. Not to mention four scores between 240 and 250. Overall, a team has surpassed 230 nine times. Expect more of that to happen by the time this season ends and further validate Dravid’s claim.