IPL 2025: Piyush Chawla suggests weather conditions boosted spinner performance

Former India cricketer Piyush Chawla shed light on the role of spinners in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025). The third-highest wicket-taker in IPL history, he analyzed why spin bowlers are performing better this season compared to the pacers.

Highlighting the role of spin, Chawla credited the weather conditions in India and explained how they may have benefited bowlers during night matches. As per the stats, spinners have taken 220 wickets at an average of 30.02 in 50 matches.

In contrast, during the previous season, spin bowlers had taken 154 wickets at an average of nearly 37 at a similar stage. According to the former player, bowlers enjoy bowling in dry weather, where there is no dew. This helps them maintain their variations and bowl the kinds of deliveries they intend to.

This season, the dew factor has been minimal in night games, which may have helped spinners take more wickets. Additionally, there are very few batters who use their feet to play spin, which has worked against them. 

"Any bowler wants to bowl with the dry ball. And you can't really predict where it's going to be [dewy or otherwise] and where it's not going to be. If you see the weather also this year, generally, I'm coming from Delhi, and in February, you don't have your fans on, but this year, your fans were on in February. That means it's getting hotter and Delhi is already touching almost 45 degrees (Celsius)," said Chawla on ESPNcricinfo's Time Out show.

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Even though the most wicket-takers list is dominated by the pacers, spinners have had a huge impact in the middle overs, restricting the batters from scoring runs. This is one of the main reasons why most teams have gone with two or three spinners in the playing XI this season.