Record runs, record sixes, modest final: Explaining IPL 2026's biggest contradiction

The 2026 IPL season was batting excess at its absolute peak.

A record 27450 runs were scored across the season - the most in IPL history. Teams scored at a staggering run-rate of 9.88, another all-time high. There were 1426 sixes struck, eclipsing the previous record of 1294 set only a year earlier in 2025.

This was also the season of the 200-plus score. As many as 65 innings crossed the 200-run mark. Chasing became almost routine. Teams successfully hunted down 220-plus targets nine times this season alone; before 2026, that had happened just five times across the previous 18 editions combined.




In total, 18 scores of 200 or more were chased down this season - exactly double the number from 2025.

Going by those numbers, the final should have been a run-fest.

Instead, it was anything but.

Gujarat Titans huffed and puffed their way to 155/8. Royal Challengers Bengaluru chased it down comfortably to retain the IPL title. There was drama because of the occasion, but not because of the scoring.

And it wasn't the first time.

Cast your mind back to 2024. That season was defined by Sunrisers Hyderabad's batting revolution. Records were broken almost every week as scores once considered impossible became commonplace. Yet when the final arrived, SRH were bowled out for 113 - the lowest total in IPL final history, and Kolkata Knight Riders raced to the target in just 10.3 overs.

Or take the 2022 final in Ahmedabad. Rajasthan Royals managed only 130/9 before Gujarat Titans cruised home with seven wickets in hand.

Which raises an interesting question.

Are IPL finals generally low-scoring? Do they fail to reflect the batting trends that define the league stage?

At first glance, the answer feels obvious.

For years, the accepted wisdom has been that the pressure of a title decider suppresses scoring. Bigger nerves. Greater stakes. More cautious batting. Tired pitches at the end of a long tournament.

But is that actually true?

A TOI Data Desk analysis of all 19 IPL finals between 2008 and 2026 suggests the answer is more complicated than conventional wisdom would have us believe.

In fact, the numbers are the exact opposite of what most fans would expect.

Across all 19 IPL finals, the average final has actually produced more runs than the average match in the corresponding season.

Here's the kicker: 10 finals have scored above their season average, while nine have finished below it.

On average, IPL finals have scored 5.7 runs more than the season average and 5.1 runs more than the historical scoring average at the venue where they were played.

In other words, the popular perception doesn't really hold up when viewed across the tournament's entire history. However, our memories are selective.

The low-scoring finals tend to stick. The 2024 final. The 2022 final. The 2026 final. These matches lead us to believe that finals are cagey affairs. But at the other end of the spectrum sit IPL finals that have produced run-fests.

The 2016 final between RCB and SRH produced an aggregate of 408 runs, which saw RCB falling nine runs short of the 209-run target. The 2014 final generated 399 runs (PBKS 199/7, KKR 200/7). The 2012 decider delivered 382 (CSK 190/3, KKR 192/5).

All three were among the highest-scoring matches of their respective seasons.

So, IPL finals aren't inherently defensive contests. They simply produce a wider range of outcomes than fans tend to remember.

That said, there is one trend worth paying attention to. When the focus shifts to the modern era, the picture changes slightly.

Since 2018, IPL finals have averaged around 20 runs below the scoring pace of the season.

Now, the sample size remains tiny - just nine finals. But five of those nine finals have finished below their season average, and the four biggest underperforming finals in IPL history all belong to this period.

The biggest outlier remains the 2024 final, which finished 139 runs below the season average. It is followed by 2022, 2017 and now 2026.

That doesn't prove IPL finals are becoming low-scoring. But it does suggest that modern finals may be trending lower than the league matches around them.

Why might that be happening?

One reason could be the quality of the bowling attacks. By the time the final arrives, only the strongest and most balanced teams remain.

Preparation has also become more sophisticated. Teams enter finals armed with detailed match-up data, opposition plans, and weeks of analysis.

Then there is the pressure of the occasion itself. In a league game, a top-order collapse can be brushed aside, and there is always another match around the corner. In a final, one bad over or one poor shot can end a season's worth of hard work. That alone can make teams just a little more cautious than they normally are.

Even a slight shift towards caution early in an innings can be enough to pull scoring rates below the season norm.

And together they offer a reasonable explanation for why recent finals appear to be diverging from the batting explosion seen during league stages.

The belief that IPL finals have always been low-scoring is largely a myth. Across 19 seasons, finals have produced virtually the same scoring levels as the competition itself - if anything, marginally higher.

Yet recent years tell a different story.

From Sunrisers Hyderabad's collapse for 113 in 2024 to Gujarat Titans' 155 in the 2026 final, title deciders increasingly seem to be moving away from the run-fests that define modern IPL batting.