IPL 6: How big of an advantage is 'Home Advantage?'

MS Dhoni’s CSK have been the team to beat in this year’s IPL. (IANS Photos)

Home and away advantage is a concept associated with football and American sports leagues like NHL, NBA and MLB. This concept could well be applied in cricket if a team is touring another country. For example a team like India or Sri Lanka on a tour of Australia. In such a case the Aussies are bound to have an advantage, “home advantage”, due to their fans, the prevailing conditions and bouncy wickets favourable to their pace attack. The same could be the case of Indians enjoying home advantage on the spin friendly pitches, when say, a team like South Africa or New Zealand visits the sub-continent.

But to think that IPL franchises collectively are enjoying playing on their home grounds and struggling away from home is quite baffling. Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore have won all their home matches. Sunrisers Hyderabad had won every single home match till they faced the only team which is doing better away from home, Chennai Super Kings.

In seasons prior to the on-going one, there have been isolated instances where a team had gone on a prolonged run of winning matches on home turf. It was about being the better side on the day irrespective of the conditions, the ground or even the country (as IPL-2 was staged in South Africa). But this season, ‘making the home ground a fortress’ has perhaps been the major talking point, apart from Chris Gayle of course!

Don’t get me wrong I like Mumbai Indians staying unbeaten at the Wankhede while not necessarily being happy about the other teams home form. But what amazes me is why such a trend is in circulation. One team winning matches on its home turf is understandable but three (and till a couple of days ago four) teams being unbeaten on their home ground, beats me! And almost all the teams in question have played more than five home matches.

Is this just a coincidence? Or have the teams deliberately made teams based on their home conditions? Even then not considering the four foreign players, the rest seven players playing on the day would be Indians, so how does it actually matter they are playing at home or away? It is India after-all and thus ‘home’ for them. What I can’t really come to terms with is: have individual grounds in India become so different from one another to have the home advantage and away disadvantage concept in place?

If that is the case wouldn’t it have an effect on the home advantage that the Indian national team would have against foreign national teams? I mean if there are considerable differences in the ground and the pitches then won’t India have to change their national team combination for these grounds?

The current form at home enabling these teams to be at the right end of the table will come back to haunt them if they qualify for the playoffs and the final. These eliminator matches are scheduled to take place in Delhi and Kolkata. And that means these teams so reliable on their home advantage would have to play the business end of the tournament away from home. What it indicates based on home and away form is that Chennai would be in the driving seat to become three-time champions as they have already won five away games!