Jan 26, 2007

Sachin, the unsung bowler



His recent form notwithstanding, Sachin has always proven his detractors wrong with his bat more often than not. Since 2004, his bowling has picked up reasonably well too - his bowling average of ~ 27 in this period is comparable with most contemporary full-time bowlers. In the recent win against the West Indies at Cuttack too, he played an important role by picking up 2 wickets at crucial times at excellent economy rate.

I observed something rather peculiar during the course of the match. After he got his wicket, his batting average and bowling average were exactly the same, upto two decimal points - 43.87 (circled red in the pic).. Interestingly, there was a good correlation between the wickets taken and amount of runs scored by him too (circled blue).. 145 wickets and ~145 x 100 runs !!! i.e., he gets a wicket after he collects precisely a hundred runs.

I believe that he has an important role to play in the forthcoming world cup as a bowler too.. That is bcos the slow and bouncy wickets in WIndies would suit his style of assorted spin bowling.. Wanna bet?

8 comments:

Raju said...

Nag, the day after you make this comment, he scores a brisk 50+.. I agree that his scoring rate has been lowered of late, but check this recent article which is a well-written piece, with statistics to back-up.

Raju said...

Nag, I couldnt follow the score online, unfortunately.. but, it was great that he, despite having come to bat after 25 overs, could get a 100 and set the platform for the indian win.. The man of the match and the man of the series awards were the icing on the cake.. :)

Filbert said...

Good observation, Raju. I have always that he is being under-utilized and under-estimated as a bowler. Dravid uses him wisely and a lot better than Ganguly. But even Dravid could use him more. BTW, where in Madurai are you from? Which school did you go to? I am from Madurai too :)

Raju said...

Filbert, welcome to my blog.. :)

Well said.. "under-utilized and under-estimated".. I wish to see him bowl more in the forthcoming matches..

I studied in TVS Sundaram. I was staying in my aunt's home in Subramanyapuram (near Jaihindpuram and Madura college). Good to know that u r from Madurai too.. where did u study?

Filbert said...

Good to see your reply. I studied in your rival school - TVS Lakshmi :) You got lotof interesting stuff here. Will be visiting your blog regularly from now on...

Raju said...

Filbert, Oh, Lakshmi-ya? cool.. how many rivals-appa enakku.. esp. this weekend.. :) Thanks for ur kind words. Plz do keep visiting.. I will visit urs too..

Me too said...

no comments!(vera ennatha solla! How many more days have I got to endure this post?)

Raju said...

Aparna, sorry for making you all for enduring this one for (a bit too) long. I donno if you know about this reason of mine. Yes, I was busy.. and yes, I was waiting for 'that number'.. but after seeing no comments after 4th Feb, i was a lil worried that my next post, due 13th, may not be possible.. Thanks for breaking the ice.. :)