India-Sri Lanka T20Is, Feb 2022

India won this series 3-0, just after winning 3-0 against the West Indies by the same margin. Thus India won two successive home T20I series with 3-0 clean sweeps.

The last series between India and SL was in July 2021, when SL won 2-1 against a depleted Indian team visiting the island. Earlier India had won 3-0 against Sri Lanka at home in Dec 2017.

Overall results in T20Is:

India continued its dominance at home, though SL has done better at home and at neutral venues.

We now look at individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (150 or more):

Dhawan leads here, while Kohli and RG Sharma are joint second.

RG Sharma is the only one with a century, and Kohli the only one with 4 50+ scores.

SS Iyer made 3 fifties in this series.

Highest innings (60 and above):

While RG Sharma has the highest score in these matches, he failed to cross 60 in this series. Ishan Kishan’s 89 was the highest in this series. Apart from SS Iyer’s consistency, there were also good innings by Nissanka and MD Shanaka this time.

There is not enough data for meaningful analysis of batting averages and strike rates.

Now for

Bowling:

Most wickets (8 and above):

No one has taken 5wi in these matches. YS Chahal is the only one with 2 4wis.

Chahal has the most wickets, closely followed by Chameera.

Best innings bowling (including all 3wi):

Ashwin and Hasaranga (PWH de Silva) have the best innings figures. The best in this series was 2-9 by B Kumar.

Again, we do not have enough data for bowling averages etc.

Next is

Fielding:

Most dismissals (5 and above):

Led by Dhoni, while HH Pandya has the most dismissals by a fielder.

Most innings dismissals (3 and above):

Dhoni leads again. No one else has taken more than 2 dismissals in an innings.

Finally,

All-round performances:

Minimum 20 runs and 2 wickets in a match:

No good performances in this series. Yuvraj’s performance in 2009 is clearly the best, while Ashwin’s would be next best.

India vs WI T20Is-Feb 2022

India won this series 3-0, like the corresponding ODI series earlier in the month.

The last T20I series between these sides was won 2-1 by India in India in Dec 2019. In Aug 2019 India had won 3-0 in a series in WI and the USA.

Here is a summary of all T20Is between these teams:

We now look at individual scores, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (100 or more):

Headed by RG Sharma and Kohli who played in the current series. N Pooran, another current player, has the most runs for WI. KA Pollard is next.

E Lewis is the only one with 2 centuries. The most 50+ scores are 6 by Kohli and 5 by RG Sharma.

Highest innings (70 or more):

Note that no one crossed 70 in this series.

Highest strike rate (Minimum 250 balls faced):

Headed by Kohli and RG Sharma.

Now for Bowling:

Most wickets (6 or more):

DJ Bravo and Sammy (4-16 listed below) are the only ones to have taken 4wi.

Best innings bowling (3wi or more):

The best from this series are 3-22 by HV Patel and 3-25 by RL Chase.

We do not have sufficient data for meaningful bowling averages etc.

Next is Fielding:

Most dismissals (5 or more):

The top 3 RG Sharma, Pollard and Kohli all played in this series.

The most dismissals by a keeper are 5 by Dhoni, Pant and Ramdin.

Most innings dismissals (3 or more):

This includes 3 by I Kishan in this series.

Finally

All-round performances;

Minimum 20 and 2wi in match:

DJ Bravo’s 66* and 4-38 in the 2009 World Cup are among the finest all-round performances in T20Is. Also note VR Iyer’s performance in this series, which is the best for India.

India-West Indies ODIs, Feb 2022(Pt 1)

India won this series 3-0. This was probably India’s best result in an ODI series against this team.

After this series, the overall records for ODIs between these teams was:

India increased its earlier lead overall and at home. India has also done better in neutral venues.

We now look at individual records, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (750 or more):

Kohli has the most centuries (9) and 50+ scores (20).

He also has by far the most runs in this series, followed by RG Sharma. The best for WI is by Haynes of long ago. Dhawan is the only other current player here.

Highest scores (115 and above):

Headed by Sehwag’s double century, though the next 2 are by RG Sharma and then one by Kohli.

While other current players such as Pollard and Dhawan are in this list, no one scored 115 or more in this series.

Highest batting averages (Min 20 innings, 30.00):

Kohli is the highest here, followed by Greenidge. Among current players there are RG Sharma, DM Bravo and Dhawan.

Highest strike rates (Min 500 balls faced, 70.00):

Sehwag is closely followed by Richards, Kohli and RG Sharma.

Among current players, the next best strike rates are by Dhawan, JO Holder and DM Bravo.

To be continued-see this: https://abn397.wordpress.com/2022/02/14/india-west-indies-odis-jan-2022pt-2/

Review of ODIs between India and South Africa-2

Hope you have seen the first part:

Review of ODIs between India and South Africa-1

Continuing with individual performances:

Fielding:

Most dismissals (8 or more):

Boucher has the most dismissals (42), just ahead of Dhoni (41).

However Dhoni has the most stumpings (11).

The most catches by a keeper are by Boucher (40) followed by Dhoni (30).

The most catches by a fielder is by Kohli (23) followed by GC Smith (19). Also note de Villers who had 8 catches as keeper, 1 stumping and 8 catches as fielder.

Most dismissals in an innings (3 or more):

Boucher is the only one with 5 dismissals. Several others have 4, including GC Smith and T Bavuma as fielders. Bavuma’s 4 catches came in the 3rd match of this series.

Highest dismissal rate (Minimum 20 innings, 0.50):

Headed by Boucher again, followed by DJ Richardson. Kohli has the highest rate as a fielder, ahead of the “hybrid” de Villiers.

All-round performances:

Overall (see criteria in table):

Cronje is the only one with claims to be an allrounder here.

Match performance (Minimum 30 runs and 3 wickets):

Among these, Kallis’s performance at Durban in 2006 is clearly the best, followed by another by him at Jaipur in 2010.

Review of ODIs between India and South Africa-1

India lost the 2021-22 series 3-0, in stark contrast to the previous series in 2017-18 when India had WON 5-1 against South Africa in the last series there in 2017-18.

At the end of the 2021-22 series in SA, the complete results were:

We can see that SA has done much better at home, while India has done better at home as well as in neutral venues.

We now look at individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (500 or more):

Most centuries: 6 by de Villiers and de Kock

Most 50+ scores: 14 by Dravid (no century), followed by 13 from Kallis, Kirsten and Tendulkar.

In the above table, Tendulkar is the only one to score 2000 runs, followed by Kallis who is the only other one to score over 1500 runs.

The most by current players are by Kohli (1400+), de Kock (1000+) and Dhawan (900+) RG Sharma is further down.

Highest innings (110 or more):

The highest scores are 200* by Tendulkar and 160* by Kohli. The highest by an SA player is 135 by de Kock.

Current players with the highest scores include Kohli, RG Sharma, Dhawan and de Kock.

The highest scores in the 2022 series were by vd Dussen (129*), de Kock (124) and Bavuma (110)

Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Kirsten and Kallis have the highest averages, a little ahead of Kohli. Dhawan and RG Sharma are next among current players, with DA Miller near the bottom.

Batting strike rates (Minimum 500 balls faced, all instances):

de Villers tops this list, with Sehwag some distance behind. Dhawan has the highest strike rate among current players, followed by de Kock, Rahane (!), Kohli and RG Sharma.

Now for

Bowling:

Most wickets (15 or more):

The most 4wi are by YS Chahal and LL Tsotsobe (3 each).

No one has taken 5wi more than once.

Pollock (48) and Donald (46) have taken the most wickets, while the best for India is by Kumble (46).

YS Chahal (22), Bumrah, Rabada and B Kumar are the highest wicket-takers among current players.

Best innings bowling (including all 4wi or more):

SB Joshi’s 5-6 was the high point of his short career. The best by current players are by YS Chahal (2018, 2018 and 2019), I Sharma, Rabada and Ngidi. But no one took more than 3wi in the 2022 series.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 1000 balls bowled, all instances):

Headed by Donald and Pollock, with V Prasad the best for India.

No current players here.

While the best bowling averages are by Donald and Pollock, the best economy rates are by Kumble and Pollock and the best strike rates are again by Donald and Pollock.

To be continued.

Review of Tests between India and South Africa-1

The series in 2021-22 resulted in a 2-1 win for South Africa, after India won the first Test. India has failed to win a Test series in SA, although they have won at least one series in all other countries. The best India has done there is an 1-1 draw in 2010-11. The 2021-22 series followed the pattern of 2006-07 where India won the first Test but lost the next two.

Here is an overall summary of Tests between these two countries:

SA leads India 17-15 overall. Both sides appear to have strong home advantages.

We now look at individual performances, starting with

Batting:

Most runs (500 or more):

Led by Tendulkar and Kallis.

These two have the most centuries (7)

Amla, Kallis and Tendulkar have the most 50+ scores (12).

From the above table, the best by current players is 1236 by Kohli, followed by Rahane, Pujara and Elgar with 800+. RG Sharma is further down.

Highest innings (125 or more):

The highest by current players are 254* by Kohli, followed by double centuries by MA Agarwal and RG Sharma. But no one crossed 125 in this series.

Highest batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Kallis has the highest average, followed by Kohli at some distance. Other current players here are Rahane, Elgar and Pujara.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced, all instances):

Sehwag and Azharuddin lead here. Among current players there are RG Sharma (in 3rd place), Kohli and Rahane. Also note Dravid at the bottom of this list.

Bowling performances:

Most wickets (12 or more):

Led Kumble, followed by Steyn and Srinath at a distance. Ashwin (56) has the most by a current player, followed by Shami, Rabada and Jadeja. Also note M Jansen with 19 in his debut series.

The most 5-fors are 5 by Steyn and Ashwin. No one has taken more than one 10-for.

Best innings bowling (includes all 6wi and more):

The best performance was an 8-for by Klusener on his debut.

Current players here include SN Thakur, Ashwin and Ngidi.

Thakur’s 7-61 in this series is the best for India against SA, surpassing the earlier record of 7-66 by Ashwin (Nagpur, 2015) and 7-120 by Harbhajan (Cape Town, 2011) which was India’s best in SA.

Best match performances (includes all 8wm and more):

Led by Ashwin and Donald with 12-fors, and 10-fors by Steyn, Pollock and V Prasad.

Current players here include Ashwin, Jadeja and Ngidi.

Best bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls bowled, all instances):

Headed by Donald and Jadeja (!) Current players here include Jadeja, Shami, Ashwin and Rabada.

The best economy rates are by Pollock and Jadeja.

The best strike rates are by Steyn and Shami.

To be continued.

Review of India-New Zealand Tests-1

India won the 2-Test series 1-0. The summary of all Tests between these teams is

Both sides have considerable home advantage.

The neutral Test at Southampton in 2021 is India’s only neutral Test.

The second Test has a host of records, including the lowest total against India (62) and India’s highest innings margin (372 runs). Both these records were earlier held by South Africa in their series in 2015. These previous records were 79 at Nagpur and 337 runs at Delhi.

For low totals see https://abn397.wordpress.com/2021/12/04/lowest-test-scores-against-and-in-india/

Here we concentrate on individual records, starting with Batting:

Dravid has the most centuries (6). He and Tendulkar have 12 scores of 50+

Most runs (750 and above):

Dravid and Tendulkar head this list. R Taylor has the most runs (890) among current players, with Williamson, Pujara and Kohli bunched together after that.

Highest innings (175 and above):

The highest score in recent years is Kohli’s 211 in 2016.

Highest averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Note that Dravid’s average is much higher that that of the second-placed Dowling.

Kohli and Pujara have the highest averages among current players.

Highest strike rates (Minimum 1000 balls faced, all instances):

Taylor and Kohli have the highest SRs among current players.

Now for individual Bowling records:

Most wickets (25 and above):

R Ashwin with 66 wickets moved just ahead of Sir Richard Hadlee with 65. Next highest among current players is TG Southee (52).

Ashwin has the most 5-fors (6) and 10-fors (3).

Best innings bowling (including all 7wi and above):

AY Patel now has the record, moving ahead of Venkataraghavan’s 8-for in 1965.

Best match bowling (including all 10wm and above):

AY Patel again, who moved ahead of R Ashwin’s 13-140 in 2016.

Bowling averages (Minimum 2000 balls bowled, all instances):

R Ashwin has the best average with 15.43. The next among current players is TG Southee with 24.69.

The best economy rates are 1.52 by RG Nadkarni (who else?) and 1.68 by BS Bedi.

The best strike rates are 35.7 by R Ashwin followed by 46.9 by TG Southee.

For more about recent bowling records see https://abn397.wordpress.com/2021/12/06/more-bowling-records-from-the-mumbai-test/

To be continued.

Records of the T20 World Cup (2007-2021)-Part 1

To refresh your memory about the finals and finalists, see : https://abn397.wordpress.com/2021/10/17/finals-of-the-t20-world-cup/

The overall records for all teams:

The W/L ratio is headed by Nepal (!) who won 2 of their 3 matches.

Among those who played 10 or more matches, the highest W/L ratios are by Sri Lanka (1.80), India (1.77) and South Africa (1.69). The 2021 finalists are a little lower: Australia (1.57) and New Zealand (1.33)

Now for individual performances in Batting:.

Most runs (500 and above):

Gayle might still be there in 2022 to overtake MJ’s record aggregate. The next highest among the current players are RG Sharma (847), V Kohli (845) and DA Warner (762).

Highest innings (90 and above):

Gayle is the only one with 2 centuries.

In 2021 there was one century (Buttler) and a 90 (van der Dussen).

Raina is the only Indian player who has made a score above 90.

The most 50+ scores are 10 by Kohli (no centuries), 9 by Gayle (including 2 centuries) and 8 by RG Sharma (no centuries).

Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, all instances):

Buttler now heads this table. Next among current players are RG Sharma, Gayle and Shoaib Malik. Kohli is not here as he has played only 19 innings.

Strike rates (Minimum 250 balls faced, 125.00 and above):

Afridi leads by a large margin over the runners-up Pietersen and Buttler. Other current players here are Gayle,Warner and RG Sharma.

To be continued.

India at the T20 World Cup over the years

Note: MS Dhoni captained India in all the 33 matches from 2007 to 2016.

V Kohli captained India in all the 5 matches in 2021.

2007 in SA: India won title, winning the final over Pakistan by 5 runs

2009 in Eng: Last 8

2010 in WI: Last 8

2012 in SL: Last 8

2014 in BD: Lost in final to SL by 6 wkts

2016: in Ind: Lost in semi-final to WI by 7 wkts

2021: in UAE/OM: Last 12

The record is not great between 2009 and 2021, though there were promising signs in 2014 and 2016.

Looking at individual performances by India in these matches:

Most runs (90 and above):

Sharma is just ahead of Kohli

Also note: one century by SK Raina, 10 fifties by V Kohli, 8 fifties by RG Sharma.

Most 4s: 80 by RG Sharma, 78 by V Kohli

Most 6s: 33 by Yuvraj Singh, 31 by RG Sharma

Highest innings (50 and above):

Most wickets (8 and above):

R Ashwin leads, which makes his continuous omission surprising. IK Pathan was the MoM in the 2007 final. Strangely, he is the only bowler to be MoM in the finals up to 2016.

Best innings bowling (including all 4wi):

Ashwin leads again. Also note Shami and Jadeja with the same figures in the same innings.

Most dismissals (8 and above):

Dhoni leads, with RG Sharma taking the most catches as a fielder.

Most innings dismissals (3 and above):

Dhoni has the most catches as a keeper, while KD Karthik took 2 stumpings. Raina seems to have been more consistent here.

All-round match performance (20 runs and 2 wkts):

Three roughly equal performances.

Tailpiece: The New Zealand jinx

India has lost all 3 matches against New Zealand, in 2007, 2016 and 2021. In 2007, New Zealand was to only team to defeat the eventual champions India.

A study of converting Test fifties into hundreds-1

The ability to convert fifties into hundreds is useful in Tests, even more than converting centuries into double centuries. The “conversion rate” has not received much attention in statistical studies in the past.

If your career includes a score between 50 and 99 but no century, your conversion rate is 0%

If you have no score between 50 and 99 but one or more centuries, your conversion rate is 100%

Most Test batsmen will fall between these extremes (unless they never crossed 50).

Take Virat Kohli. He has 27 Test innings between 50 and 99. Oddly enough he also has 27 centuries.

So he has crossed 50 a total of 27+27 = 54 times, and has gone past 100 on 27 occasions. This is a conversion rate of (27/54)*100 = 50%.

One more example: Sachin Tendulkar has 68 innings between 50 and 99, besides 51 centuries.

So he crossed 50 a total of 68 + 51 = 119 times. His conversion rate is (51/119)*100 is 42.86%

Similarly, we can find Don Bradman’s conversion rate to be (29/(29+13)*100 = 69.05%

Let us now look at studies of all Test players up to Sep 30, 2021.

There are 56 players who have a 100% conversion rate, who have no score between 50-99 plus one or more centuries. The first few are:

RS Bopara is the only one with 3 centuries without any score between 50 and 99.

The next 5 have made 2 centuries, including Wasti who made both his centuries in the same Test.

And then there are 50 others who crossed 50 only once but went on to make a century, ranging from A Lyth to Yasir Shah. KK Nair has a triple century, while D Lloyd and B Kuruppu have doubles. There are a surprisingly high number of players who scored a century on debut and failed to cross 50 afterwards.

For a short time, Fawad Alam had made 4 centuries without a fifty. The record is by GA Headley of long ago, who made 6 centuries before making a fifty.

After crossing the 56 who have a 100% conversion rate with the help of one century, we get:

(This has a cutoff of 55%)

Fawad Alam leads with 5/6 or 83.33%, followed by JF Reid (of the 1980s) and Azhar Mahmood with 75%.

Current players here are Fawad Alam, Najmul Hussain Shanto, Abid Ali and SC Williams (Zimbabwe).

From India there is only S Dhawan and VG Kambli.

If you take those who have scored 10 or more centuries, only Bradman (69.05%) and Headley (66.67) have crossed 55%. The next few are Walcott (51.72), Azharuddin (51.16) and MJ Clarke (50.91)

Here is a complete list of those who scored 10 or more centuries at a conversion rate of 45% or more:

The only current players in this elite group are Kohli and SPD Smith (and M Hafeez from the recent past).

India is represented by Azharuddin, Kohli, Shastri (!) and Umrigar.

(Note that Hayden’s century and other scores in the ICC XI v Aus Test in 2005 have not been counted).

Let us look more closely at current players with 10+ centuries and conversion rates 35+

V Kohli 50.00

SPD Smith 46.55

DA Warner 44.44

Mominul Haque 44.00

D Elgar 43.33

KS Williamson 42.11

CA Pujara 36.73

LD Chandimal 35.48

TWM Latham 35.48

Azhar Ali 35.29

R Taylor 35.19

Note the absence of JE Root (31.51), BA Stokes (29.41), AM Rahane (33.33) and F du Plessis (32.26)

Certainly this last list has some surprises which contradict common perceptions about the heavy scorers of today.

In Part 2, we will look at the other end of the scale-those with the lowest conversion rates.

Batting averages in the first and second innings of Tests-September 2021

Hope you have seen this one:

Batting averages across innings-September 2021

In the first innings alone, we have:

The cutoff here is 55.

Bradman is still at #1, with over 100. Next are current player SPD Smith and another Australian in AL Hassett.

Ross Taylor, David Warner and F du Plessis are other current players here, though not in the top 10.

Among Indian players, Tendulkar is 9th here. Others are Sehwag, Dravid and Sidhu.

The Test record of 400* by Lara was in the first innings, besides the earlier records of 364 by Hutton and 334 by Bradman.

In the second innings, we have:

The cutoff here is still 55.

Bradman yet again leads, followed by current player KS Williamson and Mohammad Yousuf.

Other current players in the top ten are JE Root (4) and V Kohli (5).

Going further down, the other current players here are SPD Smith (besides AB de Villiers and AN Cook if you stretch a little).

From India, there is Kohli followed by Sehwag, Dravid, Gavaskar and Tendulkar.

The highest score here is 374 by M Jayawardene, while the old Test records of 365* by Sobers and 336* by Hammond are also here.

Current players seem to have done a little better here than in the first innings.

Will take up the third and fourth innings next. The results are somewhat different.

Batting averages across innings-September 2021

No Test matches for a while, so we can do some overall reviews.

Batting averages (Minimum 20 innings, 50.00):

Mr 99.94 is well known, but No 2 has already been forgotten. No 3 is fast closing in on No 2’s 61.87. The only other current player in the top 10 is No 6 with 60.80.

The highest for India is by VG Kambli (!) at 54.20. Something similar to the case of AC Voges.

From India, there are also Tendulkar, Dravid, Gavaskar and Kohli.

Among current players, there are SPD Smith, M Labuschagne, KS Williamson, V Kohli and JE Root (who just manages 50+).

In following posts we will look at batting averages across innings.