IPL 2026: Of young Vaibhav’s fury and a slight dip in interest

Two weeks into IPL 2026, one cannot help but wonder whether there has been a slight dip in audience engagement overall. There has been no dearth of runs as bowlers are taken to the cleaners, and a number of close finishes with Delhi Capitals notching up the first one-run win of the season, but the question of whether the showpiece has ceased to be a talking point is valid.

It’s too early to draw any long-term conclusion, but the attendance at Kolkata Knight Riders’ last home game against Lucknow Super Giants was at odds with the reputation of Eden Gardens. Yes, the uncertainty over the weather in the wake of the squall one witnessed in the previous game could have been a reason, but it still perhaps does not explain a turnout that occupied barely 50 per cent of the capacity.

Looking at the bigger picture, one must admit that the raging war in West Asia — and its domino effect on petrol and LPG prices, not to mention the havoc it has wreaked on the financial markets — could well be distracting the fans. While the BCCI has mercifully not been drawn into any kind of firefighting like last year for Operation Sindoor, the uncertain outlook about the global economy may have cast its impact in terms of fans revelling in the two-month extravaganza.

Talking about on-field action, it’s a no-brainer that 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been the flavour of the league so far. He looks comfortable with the orange cap with an aggregate of 200 runs from four matches — at a whopping strike-rate of 266.66 — but what’s scarier is the disdain with which the precocious talent treated first Jasprit Bumrah and then Josh Hazlewood in Guwahati. It’s anybody’s guess as to what’s in store for the Sunrisers Hyderabad attack when Vaibhav’s Rajasthan Royals take them on in an away game this evening.

Royals are at the top of the table with an all-win record from four matches, a lot of it can be attributed to the awesome pair of Vaibhav and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top of the order. So destructive has been the impact of the boy from Bihar that he is making look Yashasvi’s strike rate of 163.39 in piling up 183 runs is looking like a goods train.

‘’I was trying to play the ball not the bowler,’’ remarked Vaibhav after he attacked Bumrah for sixes in Guwahati. It’s a philosophy that one first heard from Virender Sehwag back at the start of the millennium in the pre-IPL days, but a job easier said than done as he has been playing cricketing shots all around the wicket. Another redeeming feature of the wonderkid’s approach to the game is that he looks overcome with remorse whenever he is dismissed, whatever the score.

Replying to broadcasters about such a reaction every time, the teenager in the boy comes out: ‘’Sir, if I stay at the wicket, then another 10-20 runs can be made. I regret that if I am out by playing a loose shot, then the team is going minus.’’  

If the Royals had dominated so far, holders Royal Challengers Bengaluru has also developed a wellrounded game to stay in third position with six points from four games. Punjab Kings, last year’s runners-up, are also carrying on with seven points from four matches – losing their only point courtesy a rain-spoilt match against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden.

Finally, one has to end with a word of statutory caution at the way the 20 matches have panned out till date. The flurry of 200-plus totals, with RCB rustling up the first 250-plus of this season, is clearly signalling the death knell of the bowlers. Kyle Jamieson, the tall Kiwi pacer who is part of the Delhi Capitals team, had no qualms about admitting the other day that none of the sides had been able to crack the powerplay code as matches are ‘being won or lost’ in powerplays.

This is precisely why efforts like a CSK’s Jamie Overton (4/18) or Prasiddh Krishna of GT (4/28) need to be applauded all the more.