IS WINNING THE TOSS REALLY IMPORTANT IN IPL 2019 ???

After completing 15 matches in the IPL, we have seen a number of trends that teams are following.

Toss has been looked at as a very important attribute in winning matches. The general trend in IPL has been to win the toss and field first irrespective of the surface they are playing on. This has not been a new concept in IPL if we look at the trends over the years, but the win-loss ratio of batting first to batting second has changed.

Looking at the statistics after the first 15 games, in 2016, 11 captains elected to field first after winning the toss, and only 1 game out of the 15 was won by team batting first. In 2017, 12 captains elected to field first and only 5 games were won by teams batting first. In 2018, all 15 captains elected to field first, but only 5 teams batting first won. In this years IPL, however, 13 captains have decided to field first, but 8 games have been won by teams batting first.

It looks like the impact of winning the toss has diminished slightly so far in this year's IPL and hence, teams should also consider setting a target instead of trying to chase every game.