How have the venues responded to spin and pace bowling at the 2023 World Cup?

India opened its 2023 ODI World Cup campaign in Chennai against Australia on October 8. The two sides will meet again in Ahmedabad in the final on November 19. (Illustration by Suneesh K.)

Playing a World Cup in India is not easy. It is a country as vast as it is diverse. One day you may be playing in the morning at 1,457m altitude of Dharamsala, with the chilly morning breeze moving the ball around; your next match may be in a sultry, unforgiving Mumbai night where bowlers are tested on the flattest of wickets.

At this World Cup, the Indian team have had it the toughest. Unlike other sides, India played each of its nine league matches in a different city across five weeks. Not only was the travel hectic but they also had to adjust to the ever-changing conditions – soil, temperature, humidity, ground dimensions, everything.

What were the conditions at the grounds like? Let us check two basic parameters, runs per wicket (R/W) and runs per over (R/O).

Runs per over and wicket by venue: 2023 World Cup, excluding the final

Spin vs Pace bowling attack in ODI World Cup 2023

The diversity is immediately evident. Teams scored at 6.51 an over at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. Aiden Markram slammed the fastest hundred in World Cup history, off 49 balls, only for Glenn Maxwell to hit a 40-ball century later in the tournament.

At 6.56, the scoring rate at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai was more than even Delhi’s, while the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru (6.40) was not too far behind.

At the other end of the spectrum were the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow (4.90), where India bowled out England for 129. With 4.96, the Eden Gardens in Kolkata was a close second: here, the Netherlands made 229 and bowled out Bangladesh for 142; India shot out South Africa for 83; and Australia found it difficult to chase 213 against South Africa in the semifinal.

Broken down by type of bowling, the numbers make interesting reading for some venues. Both kinds of bowlers did well at Chepauk, Chennai (pace 5.29, spin 5.11), but at the Narendra Modi Stadium, spinners (4.89 an over) clearly found it easier than pacers (6.01). In fact, pacers fared even worse (7.07) in Delhi than spinners (5.59).

Predictably, Kolkata (4.75) and Lucknow (4.47) were the best venues for spinners.

Runs per over and wicket by venue and time: 2023 World Cup, excluding the final - day vs night

These numbers were not uniform over the course of the day. Bowling in daylight (day matches, first half of day-night matches) was not the same as bowling under floodlights (second half of day-night matches).

Spin vs Pace bowling attack in ODI World Cup 2023 - day vs night figures

We have seen Ahmedabad’s overall batter-friendly numbers in the first table. But as is evident from the above table, it was not as difficult while bowling first. Teams batting first were bowled out every time, but while defending a target, only Australia got all ten wickets, against England.

Chennai assisted pace after sundown (5.80 in daytime, 4.86 at night), but it was the other way round for spin (4.62 and 5.88). Spinners conceded only 4.32 an over under the lights at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. And while pace called the shots after night at the MCA Stadium in Gahunje near Pune, it made no difference to spin.

The scoring at the high-scoring Delhi or the low-scoring Lucknow or Kolkata were not affected by the time of the day. For Bengaluru or Hyderabad, things changed but not much.

The most astonishing entry on this list is Mumbai. Spinners fared better at night, albeit not by much, but it is the pacers that made a difference. Bowling under the sun, pacers conceded 7.87 an over and 54 runs for every wicket. Under the floodlights, these numbers dropped to 5.68 and a ridiculous 17.

Never was this more evident than in India’s match, where the hosts posted 357-8 before their fast bowlers shot out Sri Lanka for 55.