Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden, freshly appointed as batting coach of the Gujarat Titans for the upcoming IPL season, says a team score of 300 in T20 cricket is inevitable — and could come as soon as the next few weeks.
Hayden made the prediction on the Australian podcast All Over Bar the Cricket alongside James Brayshaw and Greg Blewett, in the wake of a 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup that rewrote the batting record books. India alone posted three scores above 250 across the tournament, including 255 in Sunday’s final against New Zealand — the highest total ever in a T20 World Cup decider.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir, speaking on Star Sports after lifting the trophy, had talked about the new target in T20s. “This is the start, not the end,” Gambhir said. “We still have a lot more to achieve. We still haven’t touched 300. Hopefully one day we will, and we want to be even more ruthless.”
“I think with the IPL starting in a couple of weeks, the writing’s on the wall,” Hayden said. “It’s definitely going to happen in the next couple of IPLs that we’ll see a score of over 300.”
Describing his new role with Gujarat, Hayden called the appointment “a nice little shift of gears” after spending every IPL season since the competition’s inception in the commentary box.
Player of the Tournament Sanju Samson — whose 89 in the final was the highest individual score ever in a T20 World Cup decider — was singled out as the kind of player who could lead the charge. “If Samson scores at 180 from the get-go,” Hayden said, “you’re on somewhere around the money.”
