New Delhi: Delhi Capitals coach Hemang Badani did not intend to make a sweeping statement about the Indian Premier League when he said, “We play this venue (Feroz Shah Kotla) as an away venue” after registering only their second win at home.
Yet, in one sentence, he may have captured a growing reality of the tournament – home venues no longer present the advantage or certainty they once used to.
For years, franchises built identities around their home grounds. While Chennai Super Kings mastered Chepauk’s slow turners, Mumbai Indians leaned into the bounce and pace of the Wankhede, Kolkata Knight Riders preferred surfaces that gripped and suited their spin-heavy attacks. As a result, teams were constructed for ‘home.’
Earlier, coaches and captains knew what conditions awaited them and picked their squads accordingly. Badani’s frustration this season stems from the exact opposite. “It should at least be where you know what you’re expecting,” he said after Delhi’s latest home outing against Rajasthan Royals.
“Here we didn’t know what this surface was going to do to us.”
The numbers from Delhi’s season explain why. At the Arun Jaitley Stadium this year, scores have fluctuated wildly. One game produced 264, another 210, another 193. Yet on the same ground, Delhi were bowled out for 75, while another fixture became a low-scoring scrap featuring totals of 142.
There has been no identifiable pattern to the surfaces. Badani himself laid it out bluntly: “One match we’re out on 60, another on 150, another on 260. So we don’t know how to consistently play pitch No. 4, No. 5, No. 6.”
Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane earlier has been highly vocal about wanting spin-friendly wickets for his team at their home ground, Eden Gardens.
A franchise typically recruits with home conditions in mind. A high-scoring venue demands batting depth and power-hitters, slower surfaces require spin options and batters comfortable against low pace but if the same venue behaves differently every week as was the case for the Delhi Capitals, the advantage of familiarity begins to disappear.
“We know that if pitch No. 5 is a 180 pitch, pitch No. 6 is a 200 pitch, pitch No. 4 is a 250 pitch, then you structure the side accordingly,” Badani explained. “You structure your 11 and 12 accordingly. But here, it’s just going on.”
Delhi’s record underlines the issue. The Capitals have won four of six away games this season, but struggled badly at home. Across the last two seasons, they have managed only three wins in 12 matches at the Kotla, with one of those requiring a Super Over.
“That pretty much tells you how the surface has been for us,” Badani said. “It hasn’t been conducive to our style of play.”
Delhi are not alone in seeing the old idea of home dominance weaken. The broader numbers from the last two IPL seasons reveal an increasingly inconsistent picture across venues.
Chennai Super Kings, once nearly unbeatable at Chepauk, won only one game out of five matches in 2025 and won four out of six in 2026. Rajasthan Royals have similarly struggled in Jaipur, winning none of their three matches there and only one of five this year in 2026. Lucknow Super Giants have found little comfort at the Ekana either.
Some teams have retained their edge. Mumbai Indians continue to be formidable at the Wankhede, while Gujarat Titans have enjoyed a strong record in Ahmedabad. Royal Challengers Bengaluru have improved at the Chinnaswamy. Yet the larger trend suggests that home advantage is no longer universal.
It’s essential to factor in the IPL’s evolution as well. Batting depth across franchises has reduced the intimidation factor of venues once considered difficult, tosses, dew and climate can neutralise conditions quickly. Frequent travel and data-driven preparation have also made visiting sides better equipped than before.
Pitches remain central to the conversation because they shape tactical certainty and help construct teams at the auction table. Badani’s comments were not merely complaints about curation: they were an admission that Delhi often could not prepare accurately for their own ground.
In many ways, that sums up the modern IPL pitch debate. According to the rules on paper, the BCCI does not allow franchises to dictate or influence the preparation of pitches at their home ground. But with such uncertainty, teams appear very unclear if their home ground will appear on a given day.
And when familiarity disappears, so does the edge that once made home venues feel like fortresses.
