Home > Cricket > Diary archives
January 26, 2001




Sachin -- in Stats and Figures

Mohandas Menon

Barry Richards, the other day, came up with the startling comment that Sachin Tendulkar is good only at home. Further, the South African batting maestro said that in his opinion, the likes of Graeme Pollock and Vivian Richards were, to his mind, the best batsmen in 'away' conditions.

Do the facts support this contention? That is what we attempt to explore, in the tables given below. It needs bearing in mind that 'good', 'best' etc are all relative, and that statistics can only tell one part of the story. With that qualification, here goes:

Place Mts Ins No Runs HS Avg 100 50 0s
Sachin Tendulkar (1989 to 2000)
Home 34 55 7 3023 217 62.98 11 10 3
Away 45 70 6 3393 177 53.02 13 14 4
Total 79 125 13 6416 217 57.29 24 24 7
Viv Richards (1974 to 1991)
Home 48 67 4 3136 182* 49.78 11 14 3
Away 73 115 8 5404 291 50.50 13 31 7
Total 121 182 12 8540 291 50.24 24 45 10
Graeme Pollock (1963 to 1970)
Home 14 26 4 1513 274 68.77 4 9 1
Away 9 15 - 743 175 49.53 3 2 0
Total 23 41 4 2256 274 60.97 7 11 1
Barry Richards (1970) played only one series
Home 4 7 - 508 140 72.57 2 2 0

As is evident from the above table, Sachin Tendulkar does have a better average at home than away. However, it is also worth noting that Sachin's away average of 53.02 is not to be sneezed at -- in fact, it is better than the away averages of both Vivian Richards and Graeme Pollock. Interestingly, the figures also show that Graeme Pollock was a much better batsman at home than away -- there is a difference of 19 points between his home average and his figures in away games. Viv Richards, meanwhile, is -- albeit marginally -- a better player away than at home.

So who, then, are the best 'away' batsmen of all time? That is the question we attempt to answer in the table below:

Leading test batsmen in "away" matches:
(Listed on the basis of batting averages. Minimum qualification: 2000 runs)

Player Runs For M Inn NO Ave HS 100 50 0
DG Bradman 2674 Aus 19 30 4 102.85 334 11 3 2
KF Barrington 3459 Eng 36 58 8 69.18 172 14 14 2
WR Hammond 4245 Eng 41 72 8 66.33 336* 13 14 1
JB Hobbs 3475 Eng 34 62 4 59.91 187 10 17 3
AR Border 5431 Aus 70 120 24 56.57 200* 14 28 4
SR Waugh 4198 Aus 62 97 22 55.97 200 12 201 0
L Hutton 3041 Eng 35 61 6 55.29 205 6 18 1
ER Dexter 2307 Eng 30 48 5 53.65 205 6 12 3
SR Tendulkar 3393 Ind 45 70 6 53.02 177 13 14 4
GS Chappell 2595 Aus 32 55 6 52.96 247* 8 10 4
SM Gavaskar 5055 Ind 60 106 9 52.11 221 18 22 6
M Amarnath 3008 Ind 37 63 5 51.86 138 9 17 3
RN Harvey 3343 Aus 43 71 6 51.43 204 13 13 5
DL Amiss 2002 Eng 24 43 4 51.33 262* 7 5 5
GStA Sobers 3957 WI 49 85 7 50.73 198 12 18 6
IVA Richards 5404 WI 73 115 8 50.50 291 13 31 7

The above table lends itself to plenty of interesting analysis. But to stick to the question on hand, it is worth noticing that of the contemporary batsmen, Steve Waugh (6th place) occupies the highest position in a list headed by the incomparable Donald George Bradman, while Sachin Tendulkar leads a parade of three Indians, coming in at number 9.

A quick glance down the table also reveals an interesting fact -- Allan Border and Steve Waugh, both of Australia, occupy very high positions (5 and 6 respectively) -- and they both have, in comparison to the rest, an enormous number of unbeaten innings. Which, while not really shedding much light on the question being debated, does tell you (at least in the case of Steve Waugh) that in recent times, Australia has been in the luxurious position of being able to declare its innings on an inordinate number of occasions. Anyway, that is really neither here nor there.

The even more interesting aspect on view here -- and it in fact lends itself to another in-depth analysis, on the question of whether the art of batsmanship is dying out -- is that in the top 16 (significantly, Vivian Richards comes into the list at number 16, well behind Tendulkar), there are only two contemporary batsmen. Which does seem to support a feeling that is gaining currency, that they don't make batsmen these days like they used to.

That in turn raises the question -- who are the best batsmen, among today's lot, in "away" conditions?

Leading contemporary test batsmen in "away" matches, based on averages (qualification: 2000 runs minimum):

Player Runs For M Inn NO Ave HS 100 50 0
SR Waugh 4198 Aus 62 97 22 55.97 200 12 20 10
SR Tendulkar 3393 Ind 45 70 6 53.02 177 13 14 4
Saeed Anwar 2131 Pak 26 45 1 48.43 188* 7 11 3
Inzamam-ul-Haq 3025 Pak 42 70 7 48.02 200* 9 16 3
G Kirsten 2111 SA 30 52 4 43.98 210 6 12 4
BC Lara 3107 WI 43 77 1 40.88 277 8 15 6
Ijaz Ahmed 2086 Pak 33 55 3 40.12 211 7 9 3
ME Waugh 3182 Aus 53 88 8 39.78 153* 7 19 9
SP Fleming 2051 NZ 33 59 6 38.70 174* 1 16 3
AJ Stewart 3428 Eng 52 95 6 38.52 173 7 19 6
MA Atherton 2883 Eng 45 82 4 36.96 185* 7 15 11
MJ Slater 2134 Aus 34 61 3 36.79 152 5 8 5
M Azharuddin 2803 Ind 53 81 4 36.40 192 9 10 3
PA de Silva 2868 SL 46 82 2 35.85 267 9 8 6
Note: SR Waugh's high number of "not-outs" boosts his avg. (if his "not-outs" are reduced to six (same as Tendulkar) his average come down to 46.13!

In this table, Steve Waugh and Sachin Tendulkar are clearly ahead of their contemporaries -- and are, in fact, the only two batsmen today who have 50+ averages in 'away' conditions. In this connection, it is interesting to note that overall, as many as 16 international batsmen have 50+ averages -- which underlines the falling standards of batsmanship today.

But there is another point that, while tangential, might spark your own thinking. Is it true that a batsman is only as good as his team? Then consider this -- Steve Waugh has, for company, Mark Waugh and Michael Slater, both with respectable averages. Similarly, Saeed Anwar has Inzamam, and even Ijaz. Stewart and Atherton, similarly, form a high-performance team for England. South Africa, by the same token, have only a Kirsten in that list --but then, South Africa depends for its victories on their lineup of top-quality quicks, led by Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock.

India, however, has following the exit of Azharuddin only a Tendulkar -- just as the West Indies only have a Brian Lara.

Does that tell you something?

Design: Devyani Chandwarkar

Yesterday's Diary
The Rediff Cricket Diary -- the complete archives            E-Mail this report to a friend Print this page

  Name:  

  Email:

  Your Views
  
    

rediff.com
©1996 to 2001 rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.