Whether teams preferred batting first or chasing in IPL editions held abroad (like in South Africa and the UAE) depended heavily on conditions, venues, and the impact of dew. Let’s break it down by location:
🇿🇦 IPL 2009 – South Africa
✅ Preferred: Batting First
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Why? Early season pitches were fresh, with seam and bounce. Batting got tougher under lights due to swing and movement.
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Captains often opted to set a total and let their seamers exploit evening conditions.
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Example: Deccan Chargers defended totals consistently, making good use of RP Singh and their pace attack.
📊 Fact: Teams batting first won more matches than chasing ones during the 2009 season.
🇦🇪 IPL 2014 (partial), 2020 & 2021 – UAE
✅ Preferred: Chasing (Mostly)
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Why? The dew factor played a massive role, especially in night games. Wet balls made gripping tough, helping batters chasing under lights.
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Pitches often slowed down, but dew offset that by making strokeplay easier later on.
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Example: In 2020, MI’s success while chasing at Dubai was notable.
🏟️ Venue-Specific Trends:
| Venue |
Trend |
Reason |
| Dubai |
Slight edge to chasing |
Balanced pitch, some dew |
| Abu Dhabi |
50-50 |
Longer boundaries, slower pitch |
| Sharjah |
Batting first early, chasing later |
Small ground but pitch slowed in 2nd half of season |
🔄 Captaincy Shift
Captains opted to chase more as tournaments progressed abroad—particularly in the UAE—once the impact of dew became clearer.
🎯 Summary:
| Edition |
Preferred Strategy |
| IPL 2009 (SA) |
Bat First - capitalize on pace & bounce |
| IPL 2014 (UAE) |
Chase, esp. in night games |
| IPL 2020 (UAE) |
Chase - heavy dew influence |
| IPL 2021 (UAE) |
Mixed, but chasing still favored in Sharjah & Dubai |
Want a breakdown of win percentages by toss decision in any of these editions?