Arvind Iyengar

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Blog Posts by Arvind Iyengar

  • The best ODI batsmen of all time

    By Arvind Iyengar | Yahoo! Cricket Columns – Fri 4 Nov, 2011 3:19 PM IST

    I was engaged in a couple of conversations this week on who
    are the best ODI batsmen of all time.

     

    Everyone talks about Sachin Tendulkar (but then again it's
    hard to have any cricket conversation about all-time anything without
    mentioning Tendulkar). My Aussie friend was convinced Ricky Ponting would crack
    the top three, while Brian Lara also got some votes. I decided to use some
    numbers to settle the debate.

     

    There are a few basic stats that we can look at for determining
    the best - the Castrol batting
    momentum    is a measure of overall performance in an innings that combines runs scored and
    strike rate. Applying the same criteria over the course of a career (average
    and strike rate) gives us an adjusted batting momentum. In addition, I have
    thrown in few other factors:

     

    -  Strike rates have been adjusted for the era in
    which a batsman played in. For instance, 
    Viv Richards' strike-rate of 90.2 in the 1980s stood out a lot more in
    that time and has been appropriately increased

    Read More »

  • World’s Best All-rounder: Shane Watson

    By Arvind Iyengar | Yahoo! Cricket Columns – Mon 5 Sep, 2011 2:37 PM IST

    Australia pulled off an important win against Sri Lanka at Galle in the first Test of the Warne-Muralitharan
    series. A lot of guys played a part in the win - Hussey with his man-of-match
    worthy 95 in the first innings, Lyon picked up 5-34 on debut, Clarke got an
    attacking 60 in the second innings and Harris had a fifer in the final innings
    to seal the victory. Another man with a major contribution was Shane Watson.

     

    Five crucial wickets in the game which included breaking Sri Lanka's 4th
    wicket partnership in the first innings by dismissing the first innings highest
    scorers Samaraweera and Paranavitana which led to Sri Lanka losing their last 7
    wickets for 18 runs. In the second innings, he got the big wickets of
    Sangakkara and Matthews, the final nail in the coffin, to give Australia a
    decisive victory. And on a low scoring pitch, he got a handy 22 runs on testing
    day one conditions. His performances should come as no surprise though; Watto's
    been Australia's
    most consistent

    Read More »

  • The Greatest Wicketkeeper Batsmen of All Time

    By Arvind Iyengar | Yahoo! Cricket Columns – Mon 22 Aug, 2011 4:36 PM IST

    Matt Prior has
    been a major difference maker in the India-England Test series so far. He's
    also the best wicketkeeper batsman in the world right now - that shouldn't be a
    debate based on current form. But how does he compare against the greatest of
    all time?

    A first look at
    the stats suggests he's up there amongst the top three of all time. Note - these
    numbers are based on averages of batsmen when they've played as wicketkeepers
    only, not when they've played as specialist batsmen.

     

    Rank

    Player

    Mat

    Runs

    Avg

    100s

    RPI

    1

    A Flower (Zim)

    55

    4404

    53.7

    12

    44.04

    2

    AC Gilchrist (Aus)

    96

    5570

    47.6

    17

    40.66

    3

    MJ Prior (Eng)

    45

    2526

    45.1

    6

    37.15

    4

    LEG Ames (Eng)

    44

    2387

    43.4

    8

    35.63

    5

    KC Sangakkara (SL)

    48

    3117

    40.48

    7

    38.48

    6

    BJ Haddin (Aus)

    32

    1905

    39.68

    3

    35.28

    7

    MS Dhoni (India)

    59

    3071

    37.45

    4

    33.75

    8

    AJ Stewart (Eng)

    82

    4540

    34.92

    6

    31.31

    9

    BB McCullum (NZ)

    51
    Read More »

  • Dark Horses at the World Cup

    By Arvind Iyengar | Yahoo! Cricket Columns – Tue 1 Mar, 2011 3:41 PM IST

    Ireland really tested Bangladesh in
    their group match at the Shere Bangla National Stadium. Their strong performance
    should not come as that much of a surprise if you've been following the
    Predictor.

    The predictor is based on 100 simulations of the
    entire World Cup, and it includes a total of 4900 simulated matches! If you
    look at the various outcomes in these simulations, you get a sense of which
    sides are best positioned to go far in the tournament. Across the 100
    simulations, India made the final 40 times indicating a 40% probability of the
    Men in Blue playing at Wankhede on April 2nd (you can see how keeping a base of
    100 simulations makes these probability calculations easier!). Of the less
    heralded teams in the tournament, i.e. the teams seeded between 10 and 14, Ireland is the
    only team that has a greater than 1% chance of making the finals (albeit still a
    small one). They have a 4% chance of lasting till the end as indicated in the
    table below.

     

     

    That coupled with the

    Read More »

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