Why Team India should watch out for Pakistan
All these head breaking, ball biting, toe crushing, stump shattering, trust breaking, ball tampering and chucking players only have one agenda in life - to destroy the Indian team.
Analyzing Pakistan's preparation for the T20 World Cup
With the selection done and final 15 decided, what are the leaks and creaks that the team might have to counter?
Pakistan's deadlock situation
When will this wicket-keeper dilemma get resolved? Why has the management not been consistent with the team selection?
Who is the best finisher in ODI Cricket?
This time, it is upto you to decide who the best finisher in ODI cricket is amongst the best - Bevan, Dhoni, Klusener or Hussey, we are just gonna put up the numbers.
VVS Laxman - Very Very Special or Very Very Over-rated
The true question, however, is that should Laxman be considered as a batting great of his generation? Here at CricketingMinds, we believe that Laxman is just an average batsman in the context of other great players, and we have the numbers to prove it.
Swann vs Ajmal - Who is better?
Swann's ability to flight and spin the ball sharply has been one of the key to success. On the other hand, Ajmal is a completely different bowler than Swann. He carries with him bag full of tricks - Top-spinner, flipper, 'Doosra', and now the 'Teesra'.
Saturday 29 September 2012
Monday 17 September 2012
Analyzing Pakistan's preparation for the T20 WC
For someone who follows cricket, it is obvious to them that the Pakistani team is one incredibly unexplainable phenomena – at times they exceed miraculous expectations, play like cornered tigers and snatch the unlikeliest victories and other (more often) times, they falter when no one anticipates them to. A cricket fan would know that all predictions, calculations, and projections go haywire when Pakistan takes the field of play. Add to that the unpredictability and spice that comes with T20 cricket and you know you are bound to get an intense mix which can be either being exhilarating or disastrous.
Friday 23 March 2012
Pakistan's deadlock situation
Misbah ul Haq is a captain with a bag full of tricks - so many that not only does he leave the opposition surprised but also sometimes leaves his team members and fans scratching their heads. He added another feather to his cap when he decided to field 6 bowlers against India in this recent Asia Cup at the cost of a specialist wicket keeper. That move baffled me.
Sarfraz Ahmed |
Apply some MBA? |
My objection is not against the captain trying different things but as to the frequency of these experiments.
Adam Gilchrist |
Kamran Akmal - Another drop? |
Opinion: A Potential Best Solution
A potential ideal scenario might be to let Adnan Akmal keep in Tests (since he just proved himself in the tests against England), Umar Akmal in T20s (it is with the hope that the mistakes of a makeshift keeper can be overcome in the shortest format) and Sarfraz Ahmed in ODIs. Pakistan’s next assignment might be a series against Bangladesh and that can be considered a possibility for the team to groom this young keeper and make him a permanent in the team.
Wednesday 7 March 2012
Who is the best finisher in ODI cricket?
In the 4th ODI of the recently concluded CB Series, when faced with a task of chasing 13 runs in the last over, MS Dhoni, with his nerveless batting, delivered one of the most sensational victories for India. In doing so, he re-established the fact that cricket might be a team game but the difference between victory and defeat can sometimes be the skill of one man – the finisher.
Thursday 23 February 2012
Pakistan vs England - ODI Review
England’s tour of UAE has been an excellent reminder of the lesson that dad always taught me. After a 3-0 whitewash in the test series, no cricket pundit gave England a chance in the ODIs. The odds were stacked heavily against them. England took this as an opportunity to re-assess their game and played with more resolve and determination to come out on top as the better side.
Most experts suggest that a team is the embodiment of their coach’s personality. All great men fight harder when the going gets tough and good coaches have the skill to instill in their players the confidence and willingness to win. No other team is a better example of this than England.
Ever since Mohsin Khan has taken over as Pakistan’s coach, Pakistan has tasted success. But the real test of a coach is when his soldiers are down, wounded and shattered in confidence. This is a testing time for Mohsin Khan and Misbah ul Haq. Imran Khan would probably tell you the same: A great leader is one who has the ability to stand up and fight, especially when the chips are down.
It is true that Pakistan were beaten by England in every department: batting, bowling, fielding and most importantly captaincy. But it is important to analyze every aspect of Pakistan’s defeat to learn why England did well and why Pakistan surrendered so easily.
This week Cricketing Minds has analyzed the 4-0 whitewash of the Pakistan team against England.
During the same stage of the game, English bowlers were able to pick up 8 Pakistani wickets at a cost of 169 runs only. It matters less that 4 of these wickets came in the first ODI itself and Finn was the chief destroyer, picking up 6 of these wickets. Once again that shows how superior the English fast bowlers performed compared to their counterparts when it came to utilizing the new ball.
This is the stage when Misbah employed his strike bowlers Afridi and Ajmal who were able to contain England and also pick up wickets. But Pakistan was unable to maintain the pressure in the next stage.
For Pakistan to win ODI games, their batsmen have to put a higher price on their wickets and place an importance of occupying the crease during these middle overs. Their only decent performance during this stage of the game came in the 3 rd ODI when they scored 68 runs for the loss of only 1 wicket.
Because Pakistan had already made a mess of their batting by the end of the 35 th over, the following stages mattered less because by the start of the 36th over (mostly with the batting powerplay) Pakistan would be at least 4 wickets down already. [Breakdown of Pak’s scores at the end of 35th over: 130/10, 151/4, 157/5 and 153/4].
Conclusion
Monday 13 February 2012
Pakistan batsmen vs England bowlers - 2012 ODIs
(NOTE: England doesn’t have a Left arm Fast bowler (LF) in their ODI squad and hence there is no column for a LF in these tables)
Sunday 12 February 2012
England Batsmen vs Pakistan Bowlers - 2012 ODIs
Thursday 2 February 2012
VVS Laxman - Truly Great or Truly Average?
Team mates and coaches have stepped in on his defence, saying that just like any other great player Laxman will bounce back when it matters most. The fact that the team has failed as a whole has also helped Laxman, since there are people who suggest that the team should be blamed as a whole and not one person.
The true question, however, is that should Laxman be considered as a batting great of his generation? Here at CricketingMinds, we believe that Laxman is just an average batsman in the context of other great players, and we have the numbers to prove it.
Batsman
|
# Innings/Century
|
Tendulkar
|
6.05
|
Ponting
|
6.85
|
Kallis
|
6.2
|
Dravid
|
7.8
|
Avg for top 66 centurions
|
8.2
|
Batsman
|
#
Innings/Duck
|
Tendulkar
|
22.07
|
Ponting
|
17.1
|
Kallis
|
19.5
|
Dravid
|
35.5
|
Avg for top 66 centurions
|
20.1
|
Laxman
|
15.9
|
Only once during his 17 year career has Laxman hammered over 1000 runs in a calendar year (2008). To prove the point of Laxman’s lack of consistency, in 2007 and 2009 Laxman couldn’t even score 500 Test runs.
(b) Average (Home, Away and Overall): Year-by-Year
Note that we have saved Laxman from some embarrassment by excluding his performance in the 3 Tests he has played so far in 2012.
Indian Batsmen %'s in Last 6 Series
|
||
Laxman
|
Dravid
|
Sachin
|
12.24
|
16.09
|
14.22
|
NOTE: These stats take into account all the innings played which resulted in India being all out, chased a score successfully in the 3rd or 4th innings or the case where the batsman was dismissed. There was a case or two where India just played out 30 overs to secure a draw.
% of Team Total
|
Laxman
|
Dravid
|
Sachin
|
>30%
|
4
|
6
|
3
|
20-30%
|
3
|
5
|
6
|
10-20%
|
6
|
9
|
5
|
<10%
|
20
|
15
|
14
|
Note that Sachin played less games than Dravid or Laxman and hence he has scored less than 10% runs of the team 14/28 times, Dravid 15/35 times, and Laxman 20/33 times.
Indian players in 4th innings
|
|||||
Laxman
|
Sachin
|
Dravid
|
Ganguly
|
Sehwag
|
|
Overall
|
40.76
|
38.75
|
40.78
|
37.56
|
30.28
|
Wins
|
100.5
|
72.55
|
56.77
|
70.75
|
40.44
|
Wins + draws
|
83.87
|
53.1
|
67.68
|
85.83
|
38
|
Losses
|
21.61
|
23.4
|
21.22
|
20.52
|
16.55
|
For all the 50+ scores of Laxman, a match winning innings is one in which:
India has won and either:
(i) Laxman has scored more than 25% of the teams runs in 1st, 2nd or 3rd innings, or
(ii) scored a 50+ 4th innings total in a successful run chase.
For all the 50+ scores of Laxman, a match saving innings is one in which:
India has drawn and either:
(ii) In 1st or 2nd innings or 3rd innings: Laxman has scored a 100 which is more than 25% of the team’s total OR
(iii) In 1st or 2nd innings: Laxman has scored a 50 which is more than 40% of the team’s total OR
(iv) In 3rd innings: Laxman has batted during a crisis (Note: There should be an attempted 4th innings chase by the opposition) OR
(v) In 3rd innings: Laxman has scored a 50 which is more than 30% of the team’s total (Note: There should be an attempted 4th innings chase by the opposition) OR
(vi) In 4th innings: Laxman has scored 50 or more which is more than 30% of the team’s total in order to save India from a loss.
This translates to show that when Laxman goes out to bat, the probability of him scoring a match saving 50+ score is 0.042 (4.2%)
Criteria
|
Judgement
|
Min. 20 Test Centuries
|
Fail
|
Test Century vs All Test Playing
Nations
|
Fail
|
High Rate of Scoring 100s
|
Fail
|
Low Rate of Scoring 0s
|
Fail
|
Away Average > 40
|
Pass
|
Overall Average > 50
|
Fail
|
Consistency
|
Poor
|