To bat or to bowl first? The question has perplexed captains for decades, though sending the opposition in on winning the toss is fast catching up in franchise cricket.

Vic Richardson, the former Australia captain who played in all five Test matches of the Bodyline tour of Douglas Jardine's England team in 1932-33, had been open about his ideology about the toss.

"If you win the toss, then nine times you bat first, and on the tenth occasion you ponder the decision but still bat," Richardson, grandfather to the Chappell brothers, said of an era of uncovered pitches. The advent of T20 cricket, however, has changed the dynamics of the game.

Such accepted practices have been pushed to the backburner as captains now prefer chasing targets.

Gone are the days when an infuriated Darren Lehmann had grabbed his South Australia captain David Hookes by the collar when he sent the opposition in to bat at the Adelaide Oval during a Sheffield Shield game and screamed, "I drove to the ground today fresh and prepared to bat."

A quick look will suggest that there has been an alarming rise in the trend to bat second on winning the toss in IPL 2025. Only four teams decided to bat on winning the toss till Saturday's double header.

Not that the decision to field has always fetched success, but most teams are willing to buck the trend. Consider the first 27 matches in this edition and teams have won 12 of the 23 games when they chose to field.

Since IPL 2023, Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants have achieved the most success rate - 61.54 and 60 per cent, respectively - by deciding to chase. That is mainly because of the presence of explosive hitters down the order.

None of the two has won the trophy, but the Titans finished at the top of the table after the league phase in 2023. Last season, the Super Giants and the Titans finished in seventh and eighth spots, respectively.

Chennai Super Kings, the 2023 champions, have had a success rate of 50 per cent when they adopted this strategy. Defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders have decided to chase in only nine matches since 2023, with 44 per cent wins.

Mumbai Indians have been the pioneers, embracing field-first tactics in 22 matches with a winning percentage of only 36, implying that it has not always fetched the desired results.

No wonder their fortunes have taken a nosedive in the last few years.

Overall, the numbers are almost evenly placed since IPL 2023 - of the 128 matches where the team winning the toss has fielded, 59 have been won through that decision, a success percentage of 45.

Records suggest that batting first at venues like the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai may prove to be trustworthy since the slow nature of the wicket allows the spinners to come into play in the later stages of the match. But most teams have preferred to stay away from accepted practices.

The Rajasthan Royals have often failed to live up to the pressure in IPL 2025 when chasing targets following the loss of early wickets. Even CSK have struggled with maintaining the run-rate in a chase.

Wouldn't it be beneficial to set targets in the circumstances? Or does the dew factor play in the captain's mind when choosing to field first?

The dew during the second innings of a contest makes the batting second team's task easier since the bowlers struggle to grip the ball and find movement. A new rule in this edition allows for two balls to be used during the second innings of day-night matches to mitigate the impact of dew. The second ball is available to the bowling team after the 10th over, provided the on-field umpires deem the conditions warrant a change.

But has it really helped to restore the balance between bat and ball in the IPL, where it is already heavily loaded in favour of the batters because of the Impact Player rule? The general consensus among the players and support staff has been that it has made things easier for the team batting second since they can bring in an extra batter.

Teams having great finishers in their line-up also prefer to chase since it suits their strengths. KKR have preferred to chase in their matches since they have explosive batters like Andre Russell and Rinku Singh. However, the think-tank seems to have discounted the fact that they need to send them a little earlier in the batting order to derive the maximum benefits.

Is this propensity to chase targets been galvanised by the support staff? Or does having a fair idea of the target make it easier for the side batting second? Unless a team has good finishers down the order, choosing to field may prove to be counter-productive. A team needs to have a solid middle and late order for the captain to decide on chasing targets.

A blunder at the toss can come back to haunt the captain.