SRH’s spin coach says even he and Warne would have gone for plenty on today’s pitches — and that the format is built for entertainment, not fair contests
On a night Sunrisers Hyderabad chased down 243 with eight balls to spare, their spin bowling coach Muttiah Muralitharan had a simple message for bowlers struggling in IPL 2026: accept it, and adapt.
“It’s very difficult for a bowler because these days every team has an opening pair that doesn’t care about in or out, they just go after the bowling,” Muralitharan said at the post-match press conference. “When we used to play, about 40 to 50 runs was a good score with one wicket losing in six overs, now the average is 70 to 80.”
The shift, he said, was as much about mindset as skill. He pointed to uncapped 23-year-old Salil Arora’s no-look six off Jasprit Bumrah as the clearest example. “Even a good bowler goes for a six, even Bumrah goes for one or two balls. When a new boy Salil hits a six, it’s unbelievable — you don’t think someone with the calibre of Bumrah comes and a young boy will hit a six because he will think about how am I going to survive Bumrah. But nowadays, no — how am I going to hit a six, that’s their approach.
