T20 - what is the norm?

IPL6 is starting next week and the question on my mind was what to expect? Will there be a glut of runs or a comeback by the bowlers with a restraining performance? To do any forecasts, the next question was about the past track record. We are lucky to have data (only the top 50 players of the edition have been considered) from five previous seasons of IPL to analyze. That is exactly what I set out to do.


The numbers seem to differing within 10% of each other - let us look at them in detail. One glaring statistic is that the best season for bowlers is IPL2 when the tournament was held in South Africa (bowlers had the best average and strike-rate while batsmen had the least average and strike-rate).

Batting

• Strike-rate - The average strike-rate over the five editions is 128 runs per 100 balls. What this means is that the average score in a IPL T20 match will be 154 as per past data. 
• Average - The average average (no, its not a typo) is 29.77. The numbers are very close the past three years - amazing stuff! If each batsman scores 30 runs, five will get score past 150

If the average score is 154, then the team that scores this total will lose 5 wickets (assuming 30 runs per wicket). Will we see the scores of 140-150 for the loss of 4-5 wickets then? Let us see.

Bowling

• Strike-rate - The bowling strike-rate is 20.33 over the five editions. This works out to six wickets in the 20 overs (which is one wicket more than what we had assumed earlier)
• Average - The bowling average is 25.42 for five years. What this means is that for six wickets, the team will concede 150 (25 runs x 6 wickets) runs.

Again, using this data, let us tinker the conclusion after the batting numbers. 

Scores of 140-160 runs for the loss of 4-6 wickets will be the norm in IPL6. Will we see this?

Indian cricket - own Argus-like review

The Argus review has been completed in Australia recently and the committee has suggested a number of moves, some of them ratified by the Board so far. If a similar review was done for Indian cricket, what would we find?

1. The true fact is that there have been quite a few bowlers blooded by India in the post-Srinath era. Not just bowlers, there have been middle-order batsmen and spinners in this list. Barring a few, none of them have gone on to be consistent in their approach. Quite a few have been injured while most of them have lost their way. Other than giving them their first chance, has the BCCI given them any directions? Not much. Have there been any opportunities these players received, other than the odd match or two as part of the senior squad? Nope. 
2. Similarly, quite a few bowlers have been given chances in the ODI squad. They have been part of the regular circus undertaken by the BCCI on tours and series at home. Once again, no one takes care of these players once they are out of the team. How many times have we heard that Failure is the stepping  stone to success. Even Laxman, Tendulkar did not make it big in their first few attempts - it was over time they have matured to the Greats they have become now.
3. What can one say about the Indian cricket schedule drawn by the BCCI? Is there any say of the players in drawing up this ridiculous schedule? Or is the BCCI just keen to milk the cow that Indian team is now. Such a schedule will only lead to injuries like the ones suffered by Zaheer, Gambhir and Sehwag.
4. The amount of money being paid by IPL franchises to the players is much more than what the BCCI plays as per their contract. This obviously shows where the players' priority lie. Can the BCCI take care of this disparity and ensure that the players are compensated well if they represent the nation. National pride aside, compensation plays a big part in the individual's interests.
5. The top-20 list of batsmen and bowlers who have done well in the domestic tournaments still shows veterans who are no longer considered for national selection. The other players have been given few chances but there is no one in the BCCI who can vouch for the greatness of these cricketers, can they? The pitches being used on the domestic circuit are either completely supporting the bowlers or the batsmen - there is no place for bounce, seam on these pitches.
6. Cricket academies where the younger players are groomed are no longer serving the purpose. Kiran More remarked that the NCA was a joke. Karsan Ghavri also added that he had not seen a youngster bowl 140kmph in the Bowling Academy ever. Even now, the MRF Pace Academy manufactures bowlers who are good in their art and have represented India for a decent period of time - latest being Varun Aaron. The first bowler from these stables was T A Sekhar who is the current coach in the same academy. Can the BCCI formalize this Academy so that more bowlers come out of this production-line to play for India?
7. Can the administration of the state cricket association be separated from the cricketing aspects? There used to be a concept of TRDO (talent scouts) earlier in the domestic circuit. Various cricketers like MS Dhoni, Irfan Pathan are examples of players who have been identified by such scouts. Can these scouts/officers be re-initiated?
8. How much of the domestic cricket is being watched by the selectors? Can one get more accountability being drawn out of the performance of first-class players? Will a player like Bhargav Bhatt (leading wicket-taker) get more chances to ply his wares? Or will he get demoralised like Mithun who after getting his chance at the senior level (and making a decent performance) is back to the root-level without knowing what he needs to further his chance once again. Communication and Feedback to the players is an important aspect that needs to be included. Rahul Dravid had no clue that he was coming back to ODI after being dropped for a long while. Similarly, Murali Karthik has no idea why he is still out of the favor with selectors.
9. Will there be a clause in the contracts of the players where performance of the individual will have a bearing on the compensation he receives. It should be a reflection of the players presence in the next year contract as well. Only then will the players get a feeling that they are being watched for their performance and compensated accordingly.
10. Will Duncan Fletcher get a say in the selection as well as the injury management of players? Hope players like Sehwag and Zaheer (even though they were not fit enough after injury) are not fast-tracked to the playing squad.

Obviously, these 10 points were collected after reading the comments of ex-players, bloggers and other columnists. If one talks to other players like the Argus Review did, one can come up with an even bigger list.

Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem - Part IV

The above table shows interesting insights into the basic needs of the Indian players. The first column shows the contract money being provided by BCCI to the players concerned as per the grades. There are 3 grades defined (base price of 1 Crore, 50 Lakhs, 25 Lakhs each) by BCCI. For comparison sake, the contract values are converted to Dollar value (1 USD = 46.07 INR being used) Similarly, the IPL franchises pay these players a given price (as per the auction when they bid for the player). If one considers that a player in a year has been selected for 20 test matches, 40 ODIs and 5 T20 matches, he will be compensated accordingly by BCCI (7 lakhs per test, 4 per ODI, 2 per T20I). Adding this to the base price, one gets the compensation every player receives from BCCI. The last column shows the comparison between the IPL prices of the players (versus the contracts being given). The table above has been sorted by the comparison number calculated. This reveals very interesting facts and it is no surprise that the players on the top of the table are the ones who have been 'injured' at various teams (thereby missing test/ODI series) or not selected (because of non-performance issues). Similarly, the ones at the bottom of the table are those for whom the Indian cap matters (even considering the fact that is for purely monetary basis alone). If one sees the English contracts, as per this article, the players are paid between 420,000 to 700,000 USD in a year. This is the base price and the match fees, win bonuses and sponsorship opportunities add to this base price. Aakash Chopra in this interview talks about a further parity in the Indian first-class cricketer's salary (forget international players)

Increase the remuneration in the Ranji and Duleep Trophy. At the moment a player gets Rs 1 lakh (US$ 2200 approx) per first-class game, but in the IPL the average player gets about Rs 30 lakhs ($65,000) for 14 T20 matches. So why should he sweat earning Rs 5 lakhs ($10,900) for playing one full season of first-class cricket? That gap needs to be bridged. You need to start rewarding players in domestic cricket.

Is this not proof enough that the central contract system of the Indian team needs a revamp? If the numbers are comparable to the ones the player gets from IPL, why will the players select the franchise compared to the country?

Related articles

• Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem III (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem - Part II (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Eng-Ind series - When India had a chance (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Eng-Ind - MSD needs a break (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem - Part III

One must be talking about scheduling of Indian cricket - how the Indians have been tired of playing so many matches. Others might be thinking why such a big deal is made out of such a small issue. To get a low-down on the actual dates, I tried to map the schedule of the Indian team from the time Australia toured in September 2010. The end-date was till the time India finish their tour Down Under. Each column below represents a fortnight in the calendar.

I have entered all the matches for IPL and CLT20 though a player will not play all the matches in the tournament. The schedule for the return tour by Windies is still not clear and that has been represented approximately (3 tests and 5 ODIs). The BCCI has now accepted Anil Kumble's proposal to play a warm-up match in Australia - but when is the slot available?

This schedule will give everyone a clear insight on the amount of cricket the team is subject to. Of course, the BCCI will say that they give the players an option to rest, if required. But, is this policy actually in practice? That is the question to ask the people concerned.

Related articles

• Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem - Part II (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Eng-Ind series - When India had a chance (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Eng-Ind - MSD needs a break (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Indian cricket - Beginning of the End (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

IPL4 - Mumbai beats KKR again

Mumbai Indians, thanks to the blistering start by Blizzard and Sachin Tendulkar, managed to defeat Kolkata once again. KKR tried their best to delay the inevitable but Mumbai found their hero for each mini-crisis that came up during the batting innings. Earlier in the day, KKR suffered a mini-collapse only for their import, ten Doeschate, to get them to a decent score. On a pitch that was helpful to batsmen mostly, this score was not enough in the long run. Mumbai added to the pressure by gifting wickets away in their chase but finally managed to qualify for the next match against RCB.

IPL4 - Top 4 teams identified.

It was a long-drawn affair for this year's IPL - 70 matches were played before the top 4 teams were identified. Here below, I have tried to note the individual performances in the IPL4 - teams that had batsmen scoring fifties/hundreds & bowlers claiming 4/5 wickets in an innings. It is not so surprising to see who has the best of all:

• Batting performances has been led by CSK (Hussey, Badrinath, MS Dhoni being the stalwarts) - obviously hinting at their batting stronghold for success so far.  Chris Gayle ensured that RCB gave a good fight to CSK (in fact, he was instrumental in the win over Chennai in the last match). It is surprising to see Punjab do well, helped by the heroics of Paul Valthaty, Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh - they slipped in the middle bunch of games which cost them the final berth.
• The bowling department sees Punjab and Mumbai lead the way - Malinga for MI while Piyush Chawla and Bhargav Bhatt did the job for Punjab XI Kings. KKR and CSK have no such performance at all. 
• KKR is a surprise - they have neither the number of landmarks nor the bowling performances. They are definitely the team that relied more on team-work rather than individual brilliance. Will this help them win the final matches? Time will tell.

IPL4 Match 60 - Valthaty fires against listless Delhi

Delhi Daredevils after the loss of their skipper, Virender Sehwag, have appeared listless on the field. Paul Valthaty made use of an attack that was hardly threatening to notch up another half-century to take his team to a convincing win.

IPL4 Match 54 - Kings Punjab create a major upset

The Mumbai Indians were probably too complacent - that could be the only reason for them to be all out in the 13th over for a score of 87. The Punjab Kings were not complaining however.

IPL4 Match 53 - Mitchelle Marsh comes to the party

Sourav Ganguly made an emotional return while Manish Pandey scored his highest this season. But, it was Mitchelle Marsh's performance in the match that made it easy for Pune Warriors to stop their losses.

IPL4 Match 51 - Easy for Pune

Yuvraj Singh was back at his home ground (not that of Pune but his own) and that was one reason he was able to snap his team's run of losses. A good team effort on the field meant that his team had an easy target to chase down which was achieved without much strain.

 

IPL4 Match 50 - Gayle strikes twice at same place

Chris Gayle repeated his histrionics in Bangalore once again to take RCB to yet another convincing victory. Scary thought for the RCB Management that what will happen when law of averages catch up with Gayle but as of now, they are enjoying. Dilshan came to the party as well today and that spelt more trouble for Kochi.

IPL4 Match 47 - Gayle force sinks Punjab

In what was the most lop-sided contest in this IPL season, Chris Gayle led the way for his team by his scorching century and followed it up with a 3-wicket haul. The ground in Bangalore is relatively smaller compared to others around the country and Gayle made it look smaller with his large hits. Punjab was shocked by the impact shown by Gayle and collapsed against the huge target when it was their turn to bat.

IPL4 Match 46 - Sehwag show all the way

Virender Sehwag had not shown his true face in the T20 format, especially in the IPL. He chose this match as the appropriate one to showcase his potential (as though there was any doubt) to the Deccan Chargers. A tough target set by Deccan was scaled down so easily that there was one full over at the end. Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma were seen off - their 8 overs costing 40 runs only - while the other bowlers were targeted mercilessly.

IPL4 Match 45 - Hodge takes Kochi past KKR

Brad Hodge's whirlwind knock at the end of the innings took Kochi to a score that they managed to defend successfully at the end. Despite a good start by Kallis and Morgan, KKR could not reach the target set by Kochi. The opening partnership was good but not at the rate that Gambhir would have liked. Raiphi Gomez's spell proved to be a difference for his team.

IPL4 Match 42 - Yusuf comes to the party

Yusuf Pathan has had a relatively quiet IPL so far - he decided that Deccan Chargers presented the right opportunity for him to flex his muscles. His knock helped KKR reach a target that was always difficult for Deccan to chase down. Kolkata are almost on the verge of qualifying for the next stage, thanks to this win.

IPL4 Match 41 - Kochi chase down Delhi's target

Delhi's paltry score of 140 was chased down easily by Kochi's batsmen. Prasanth Parameswaran was the surprise package of the match, getting rid of Sehwag and Venugopala Rao. Delhi's dependency on Warner and Sehwag is so great that after their early dismissals, there was not much hope left. Kochi's batsmen timed their chase so well that they reached the target 5 overs early.

  

IPL4 Match 40 - Tendulkar gets Mumbai back on track

Thanks to his half-century and partnership with Ambati Rayudu, Sachin Tendulkar helped Mumbai Indians put up a competitive score for Kings XI Punjab. Punjab could never get going and the worm started going higher. Because of Shaun Marsh, the Punjab team was still in the hunt but once he was dismissed, things were all over for Punjab.

IPL4 Match 38 - Taylor blasts his way past Pune

What was a different ask in the last 5 overs became easy thanks to Ross Taylor's blitz in the slog overs. Pune Warriors lost once again while Shane Warne's Rajasthan reached the top of the points table.

IPL4 Match 36 - Sehwag's blitz blanks Kochi

Sehwag proved to be the difference between the two teams - his blitzkrieg was what Kochi missed on a track that was helpful to the bowlers. The result was never in doubt from the first over - the frequent wickets making it easier for Delhi to notch up a rare win.

IPL4 Match 35 - Virat helps RCB beat Pune

Virat Kohli's knock earned him not only the Orange Cap but also his team a winning target. Pune tried their best through Ryder and Yuvraj Singh but it was too little to make any impact. The end result meant that RCB notched up their first home win in the tournament.