IPL pitch report by ground: what a par score really is at each venue

There is no single par score in the IPL. Since the start of the 2023 season the average first innings total has ranged from 172.7 at Chepauk to 197.4 at Eden Gardens, a spread of almost 25 runs between two grounds in the same competition. Ask what a good score is and the honest answer depends entirely on where the match is being played, and on how recently you last checked.

What follows is derived from the ball by ball record of all 1,237 men’s IPL matches from 2008 to the end of the 2026 season, rather than from the round numbers that get repeated in preview copy. Two of the findings contradict what most pitch reports say.

What actually gets defended, by score

The most useful version of “what is par” is not an average at all. It is the score at which the side batting first starts winning more often than it loses. Across every completed IPL match with a result, excluding those decided by Duckworth-Lewis-Stern, here is how often each band of first innings total was successfully defended.

First innings total	Matches	Defended (all-time)	Matches since 2023	Defended (since 2023)
Under 140	209	18.2%	19	21.1%
140 to 159	241	28.6%	37	13.5%
160 to 179	315	46.3%	54	29.6%
180 to 199	218	60.1%	54	50.0%
200 to 219	131	71.0%	63	60.3%
220 and above	81	84.0%	55	78.2%

Read down the all-time column and the crossover sits inside the 180 to 199 band, which is defended 60.1% of the time while 160 to 179 is defended only 46.3%. On that measure par across IPL history is somewhere just under 180.

Read down the 2023 onwards column and the 180 to 199 band has fallen to exactly 50.0%, a coin flip. The score that wins half the time has moved up by roughly 15 runs in three seasons. A total that was comfortable in 2019 is now the definition of borderline.

Two hundred is not what it was

The clearest single number in the whole exercise. Split every first innings of 200 or more by era:

Period	Innings of 200+	Successfully defended	Share
2008 to 2022	94	80	85.1%
2023 to 2026	118	81	68.6%
2026 alone	37	20	54.1%

For the first fifteen seasons, posting 200 won the match about five times in six. In 2026 it was close to a coin toss. The 2026 figure rests on a single season of 37 innings, so it should not be treated as the new permanent level, but the direction across the three rows is hard to argue with.

Part of the explanation is simple supply. The IPL first innings average was 163.0 in 2008 and 171.1 as recently as 2022. It then went 183.5, 190.1, 191.9 and 196.0 across 2023 to 2026. When the league average is 196, a total of 205 is barely above par, and it gets chased like an ordinary score rather than a daunting one.

Par at each IPL ground

Grounds in use in recent seasons, ordered by first innings average since the start of 2023. The all-time column covers every IPL match at the venue; the chase column counts every match there that produced a result.

Ground	IPL matches	Par, all-time	Par, since 2023	Chase win rate
HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala	18	195.1	214.4	38.9%
ACA-VDCA Stadium, Visakhapatnam	17	169.5	208.8	52.9%
Eden Gardens, Kolkata	106	171.9	197.4	57.1%
Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Hyderabad	89	169.1	197.1	54.5%
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai	132	173.1	195.2	55.0%
Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur	68	169.3	194.5	64.7%
M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru	103	178.2	194.5	56.0%
Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi	103	173.2	193.4	53.5%
Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad	53	180.7	192.3	50.0%
Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, Mullanpur	17	186.6	186.6	52.9%
Ekana Stadium, Lucknow	28	176.6	176.6	59.3%
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai	98	165.6	172.7	46.9%

Dharamsala and Visakhapatnam sit top on small samples, nine and four qualifying innings since 2023, so treat those two rows as indicative rather than settled. Mullanpur and Ekana have only existed as IPL venues since 2024 and 2023, which is why their two par columns are identical.

Chepauk is the outlier, and it is not close

Every other established Indian ground has moved into the 192 to 198 range since 2023. MA Chidambaram Stadium is on 172.7, which is more than 20 runs below Eden Gardens and only six above its own all-time figure of 165.6. The scoring boom that lifted every other major venue essentially skipped Chennai.

It is also the only ground on the list where the side batting first still wins more often than it loses, 51 times to 45 across 98 matches. Everywhere else the chase is ahead. If a par figure of 190 is in your head from watching the rest of the season, it is about 20 runs too high for this ground.

Jaipur is the opposite case

The Sawai Mansingh Stadium has the most pronounced chasing record of any regular IPL venue, with the side batting second winning 44 of 68 matches. Its par of 194.5 since 2023 is unremarkable, but three of the fifteen biggest successful chases in IPL history have been completed there, and all three came in 2026.

Dharamsala runs the other way, with the chase winning only 7 of 18. It is the one venue on the list where a high par score and a bias towards batting first go together.

The chasing advantage is smaller than it feels

This is the finding that surprised me most, because it cuts against the way the toss is discussed. Across all 1,218 IPL matches that produced a result, the side batting second has won 666 and the side batting first 552. That is 54.7%, a real edge but a modest one.

More to the point, it has barely moved. Between 2008 and 2015 the chase won 53.5% of decided matches. Between 2016 and 2026 it won 55.5%. Scoring rose by more than 30 runs an innings across that span and the balance between the two innings hardly shifted, because both sides got better at batting at the same time.

The exception is 2026 itself, when the chase won 45 of 72 decided matches, or 62.5%. That is the highest share since 2016 and it lines up with the collapse in the 200-defended rate. Whether it is a change in conditions or one unusual season is not something a single year can settle.

A check you can run in ten seconds

Any par figure quoted for a ground should be sourced to a stated window, because at most venues the all-time and since-2023 numbers differ by 20 to 30 runs. Eden Gardens is 171.9 all-time and 197.4 since 2023. A preview that says “par here is around 170” is not wrong about history, it is just answering a question about 2014.

The second check is the sample. Multiply the number of seasons a ground has hosted by roughly seven matches a year. If the resulting count is under about 15, a par score from that venue is one good or bad week away from moving several runs, which is why Dharamsala and Visakhapatnam appear at the top of the table above and should not be read as the two highest scoring grounds in the IPL.

Frequently asked questions

What is a par score in the IPL? Since 2023, roughly 190 to 195 at most Indian venues. Totals of 180 to 199 have been defended exactly 50% of the time over that period, which makes that band the genuine tipping point.

Which IPL ground has the highest par score? Among grounds with a meaningful sample, Eden Gardens on 197.4 since 2023, just ahead of Hyderabad on 197.1 and Wankhede on 195.2.

Which IPL ground is the hardest to score at? MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, where the first innings average since 2023 is 172.7 against 192 to 198 at every other established Indian venue.

Is it better to bat or chase in the IPL? Chasing, but by less than most people assume. The side batting second has won 54.7% of all decided IPL matches, and that share has been broadly stable since 2008.

How often is 200 defended in the IPL? It was 85.1% between 2008 and 2022. Since 2023 it is 68.6%, and in the 2026 season alone it was 54.1%.

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