India v South Africa Cricket Series - Preview (Part 2)
http://www.senore.com/India-v-South-Africa-Cricket-Series-Preview-Part-1-a48234.
A trip down memory lane will help the cricket starved fans which is why it is important for us to look at some statistical comparisons.
Excluding the time South Africa were banned from the world of cricket, India has won only one Test out of the 10 they have played in South Africa.
Of the 34 Indians who have actually played in South Africa against the Proteas, only six have managed to have a higher batting average than their career average.
Leading the way of these players is the Indian cricketing legend http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Kapil-Dev-c70234 who averaged 40 in the four Tests played down under, compared to his overall career average of 31. Excluding Kapil, the other five players who have managed to have a higher batting
average in South Africa compared to their career average are, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Dinesh-c54134 Karthik who scored a century in the lone Test he played in South Africa to boost his average to 101 compared to a career average of 27, Vikram Rathore who averaged 16 compared to his career
average of 10, leaving us with 3 tail enders, Ventapathy Raju, VRV Singh and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashish-Nehra-c46293.
Those Indian batsmen who are considered as the best in the game of cricket – Dravid, Sehwag, Tendulkar have all collectively averaged almost 34 against South Africa, compared with their combined career average of above 50.
Sachin Tendulkar in his last 31 Tests has averaged 63, scoring 1400 runs at 81 this year. However his batting average against the Proteas is an unimpressive 38 compared to his average of 59 against all other teams. Statistically, his average is 79th
best of all time ever since South Africa have ventured back in the world of cricket. Which means that he stands 56 runs per innings behind the group leader, the Sri Lankan Farveez Maharoof.
Maharoof’s example might not satisfy the most hardcore of statisticians, who scored 94 runs in four innings with three not outs, however how can one know that if he went on to play 22 Test matches against South Africa he would not have still been averaged
94? Compared to the 99 top order players who have played against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/South-Africa-c757, Tendulkar’s stats place him at No 43.
Interestingly enough, the South Africans have timed their series strategically as well. If we were to exclude Sachin Tendulkar’s Tests against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747 in the month of December, his average drops down to 42.9, whereas in the rest of the eleven months of
the calendar, Tendulkar averages 58.8. If we were to believe the statistics, Tendulkar is 25% less effective in the month of December than he is in the entire year.
If we were then to exclude the period before 2002, it would mean that Tendulkar has averaged only 30 in Test matches played in the month of December. When we put Tendulkar against the Proteas in the month of December, it worsens his average to a measly 24.3,
compared to his 43.4 against them in all other months.
Given these stats, one can assume that the Proteas did their share of homework before inviting http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 for a Test series at home. India’s weak link could prove to be their bowling which is not as potent as that of South Africa. They also do not have many bowling
options as back up, if Zaheer, Ishant or Sreesanth were to get kidnapped in the streets of South Africa.
Which is why for the Test series, India must wrap wool around their bowlers and protect them.
The term commonly known as ‘marquee’ series is something that TV channels, radios and websites have commonly used to grab their 2 minutes of fame however; it is more than appropriate for this particular contest. The Ashes might have produced classics over
the years, however the two best sides of modern day are South Africa and India, therefore it is fitting if the term ‘marquee series’ is used for this thrilling clash of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Titans-c856.
Tags: