Why Babar and Rizwan are good choice for opening - Statistical View

As there has been lot of debate about opening pair of Pakistan, I am writing this article to find answers of questions been raised. Interestingly most of the criticism is coming from Pakistan including fans and ex-cricketers while rest of the world is less concerned. So let me start with questions and their answers.

Charge No. 1: Babar is struggling due to Rizwan's strike rate

While we have seen some(not major) slump in babar's form but is it really due to Rizwan's strike rate?

Here are the strike rates of Pakistan openers (Min Qualification 10 innings):

Player	Innings	Avg	SR
Fakhar Zaman	36	22.55	136.24
Imran Nazir	24	21.73	135.13
Sharjeel Khan	18	22.55	133.11
Babar Azam	68	41.01	131.95
Muhammad Rizwan	49	60.34	130.50
Ahmad Shahzad	56	26.46	114.77
Kamran Akmal	27	21.37	114.48
Salman Butt	20	27.89	114.47

As we can see, on account of 100 balls, there is difference of mere 5.74 runs between Fakhar & Rizwan. It's almost impossible to play 100 balls out of 120. So opener plays really less balls than 100. In the end it makes difference of just 1 to 2 runs approximately. So does it makes sense to accommodate someone at the top who will score 2-3 runs more at the expense of 1/3rd of stability Rizwan provides?

Charge No. 2: Pakistan cannot make big score with these openers.

Let's see Pakistan's highest scores in T20I's and who was openers, and what was there performances:

Score	Bat 1	Bat 2	Opposition	Venue
232/6	Rizwan 63(41)	Babar 85(49)	England	Nottingham
208/3	Rizwan 87(45)	Babar 79(53)	West Indies	Karachi
205/3	Fakhar 6(6)	Babar 97*(58)	West Indies	Karachi
204/4	Fakhar 21(15)	Ahmad 14(12)	Scotland	Edinburgh
203/0	Rizwan 88*(51)	Babar 110*(66)	England	Karachi

Babar and Rizwan were not only the openers in 3 of 5 of these matches, but they both scored 50+ runs in all these matches. Babar is involved in 4th match as well, and even performed when Fakhar departed early.

Charge No. 3: Rizwan and Babar does stat padding.

Let's see are there runs beneficial for team or not?

Player	Avg in wins	SR in wins	Avg in defeats	SR in defeats
Rizwan	74.68	133.15	25.27	110.97
Babar	47.18	134.12	32.53	119.39

When Rizwan and Babar performs, there is much better chance of Pakistan's winning. About 70 & 75 percent runs of Babar & Rizwan have come in winning cause. And when they do not perform, chances of Pakistan's defeat also increases. So their performance and long stay is directly proportional to Pakistan's victory chances.

Charge No. 4: Babar's performance has gone done since taking charge of captaincy 

Let's see his stats with and without captain:

Babar Azam	Innings	Average	SR	Highest
As a Captain	56	38.90	131.15	122
Not as a Captain	33	49.61	126.59	97*

Yes his average has gone down a bit, But by no means 38 is a bad number in T20I. His strike rate has increased lately, Plus he was able to score 2 centuries being as captain as well.

Charge No. 5: Babar should leave opening and bat in middle order

How many times he have batted in the middle order?

Position #	Innings	Average	SR	Highest
1	14	38.90	134.11	90
2	54	49.61	131.31	122
3	19	49.28	123.65	86
4	1	43	113	43

While Babar has hardly bated below no.3 in his career in both domestic and International T20I's. As we know his power hitting ability is limited, and he is a proper batsman with textbook shots. So in my opinion it will be more difficult for him play in middle order with better strike rate. As the legend says "Don't fix something that's not broken"

Some records of Babar & Rizwan

• Top 5 Highest opening partnerships from Pakistan are all between Rizwan & Babar. And Pakistan has won all of these matches.
• Rizwan & Babar pair has highest no of 100+ partnerships i.e 8. Next best are India's Rohit Sharma & KL Rahul with 5 century partnerships.
• Muhammad Rizwan & Babar azam also holds the record for most runs (2327) in partnerships with average of 51.71.
• Muhammad Rizwan has won 10 Man of Match awards from Pakistan in 75 matches. Which means he won man of the match award after every 7.5 match, which is best ratio from Pakistan. And better then few of the world greats like Warner, Kohli, Gayle.
• Muhammad Rizwan & Babar Azam are only Pakistan batters other than Misbah Ul Haq to hold World No.1 T20I position.
• Babar Azam held No.1 T20I position for longest period in the world.
• Rizwan & Babar Azam feature at 4th & 6th spot for All time T20I ratings.
• Muhammad Rizwan has 2nd best average(74.68) in matches wins worldwide.

Credits : Getty

Bottomline : While Babar & Rizwan have struggled in opening 2 matches of World T20 Cup in Australia. But I still feel they are the best available choice for Pakistan. Pakistan do not luxury of players like Butler, Warner, Roy, or Gayle warming the bench.

Article written on 28 Oct 2022. Stats & Records might differ after this date.

Ruthless Pakistan thrashes Clueless Srilanka - Whitewash in numbers

October 23rd. 1.30 PM. Sharjah Hot & Sunny day. Captain unlucky Upul Tharanga for the 3rd consecutive time won the toss and chose to collapse, and this time collapsed occur even earlier than pessimists anticipated i.e. 5 down in 7th over of the game courtesy Pakistan's "another" new bowling sensation Usman Khan Shinwari.

Brilliant, Exceptional, Sensational, Delightful, Exquisite was Pakistan against Sri lanka in ODI series after horrific test series against the very same nation. Pakistan is riding a wave of success since champions trophy and continue to thrive in colored kits, winning 9 ODI games on trot, 3 less there own record. Pakistan has also chased there last 6 ODI's successfully, 9 being there best chasing streak.

On the other hand, I have not seen nation of awe-inspiring Sanga been so clueless and so helpless ever before. Losing 12 consecutive matches and 3 series whitewash within a year. Zimbabwe holds the record for most whitewashes(4) in year 2004 and Sri lanka is on track and have enough potential to equal Zimbabwe's record in December against India.

Dominant Pakistan wrapped up the #PAKvSL ODI series 5-0 in a match that lasted just 46.4 overs in Sharjah.

REPORT: https://t.co/CZMMLcs1MR pic.twitter.com/g42hyn4HLj

— ICC (@ICC) October 23, 2017

Good time to have a little look at no of whitewashes being done in history?

No. Of Whitewashes

 

Teams	Done(Won)	Recieved(Got)
Pakistan	19	9
Australia	15	4
South Africa	16	2
England	13	8
West Indies	13	16
Sri Lanka	12	8
New Zealand	10	14
India	11	3
Bangladesh	10	25
Zimbabwe	4	28

Pakistan is enjoying the top spot with 19 whitewashes, most by any team. Sri Lanka(2), Bangladesh(4), Zimbabwe(5) , New Zealand(3) and West Indies(5) were at receiving end.  Inzamam-ul-HAQ was captain in 4* series. Meanwhile Zimbabwe got whitewash most no. of times, been whitewashed by all the test teams. while South Africa received least number of whitewashes.

Digging in stats, lets have a look at some more interesting stories, Between span of 2005 - 2010 South Africa won 9 series by whitewash, in which Graeme Smith was captain in  8* of them. while Mighty Australians Between 2003 to 2010  won 8 series by whitewash, and Ricky Ponting was captain in 7* of them. including a whitewash to ICC World X1.


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*captained atleast 1 match in series.

Performance analysis of Pakistan players in World T20 2014 out of 10

Shoaib Malik -  3

Batting allrounder shoaib malik played all 4 matches , but it was difficuilt to know what was his role in team, he didn't bowl, didn't bat well and even didn't field well. He averages 17.33 with strike rate of just 100.

                                                                   ©AFP

Kamran Akmal  -  3

Kamran Akmal along with Shoaib malik made a come back but his performance was not that better too. He averages 12 with the bat and strike rate of 85.71. Such average and strike rate as an opener in T20 is a big failure. Addition to this not a good performance behind the stumps too.

Bilawal Bhatti  -  4

Bilawal bhatti also had a bad tournament, didn't got a chance to bat, bowled ordinary against India but leaked 30 runs against Australia really dented his career badly. 3 wickets with economy of 13.25 in 2 matches

Junaid Khan  -  4

Unfortunate player of Team Pakistan, didn't get a chance after first match, and didn't even completed his quota of four overs against india. He gave 23 runs in 3 overs.

Sohaib Maqsood  -  4

Sohaib Maqsood also failed to impress except his small cameo against India when he scored 22 off 11 balls. His avg in the tournament was 15 with strike rate of 109.75

Muhammad Hafeez  -  5

Terribly out of form in batting is skipper Muhammad Hafeez. He didn't looked in good touch with batting in any match. He averages 13.75 with strike rate of 72.36. Although his bowling was quite economical as always. He took 1 wicket and maintained an economy 6.30, best in Pakistan attack. His captaincy was also ordinary in the tournament, Panicked in the start against Australia but then came back very well in the end.

Umar Gul  -  5

Umar Gul didn't fulfilled even half of the expectations. He managed to took 6 wickets but leaked runs with economy of 9.11, He just bowled two good overs against Australia when team needed him in pressure situation and he delivered it.

Ahmad Shehzad  -  5

He was expected to be a consistent batsman but failed in 3 matches out of 4. But in one match where he fired, He made a record of making first century by a Pakistani in T20I and also the youngest in world to score it. despite failing in 3 matches his average is 46.00 and strike rate is 163.25, best in the batting line up.


Umar Akmal  -  6

Umar Akmal scored with average of 32 and strike rate of 140.65. He completely failed in two matches, but against India he played better and against aussie played match winning innings of 94.


Sohail Tanvir  -  6

Sohail tanvir played two matches. bowled 7 overs with economy of 7.57. and scored 14 runs in one innings in which he batted.


Saeed Ajmal  -  6

Saeed Ajmal also didn't had a good tournament. Though he bagged 4 wickets but maintained economy of 7.46 which is surely not good by the standard of Saeed Ajmal. But he bowled a match winning over against Australia , So he got 6 points.

Zulfiqar Babar  -  7

Zulfiqar Babar was a surprise addition in Pakistan attack and he bowled quite well under the circumstances. He took 4 wickets with economy of 7.00 in 3 matches.


Shahid Afridi  -  8

Boom Boom was the only player from Pakistan who performed quite well. He scored 68 runs with strike rate of 161.90 and averaged 22. This is what Pakistan all needs at end finishing the innings. He hit 5 sixes among the longest in the tournament so far i.e. 98 Meter. He also bowled brilliantly , 4 wickets with economy of 6.53


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Cheers .. !

• Pakistan has qualified for semi-final in all world t20 cups.
• Yuvraj Singh holds the record for fastest t20 fifty in just 12 balls.
• Mahela Jayawerdene of Sri Lanka has scored 858 runs, most by any batsman in World T20 cup.
• B McCullum holds the record of highest score in an innings i.e. 123(58) vs Bangladesh.
• Chris Gayle has hitted 43 of Sixes in World T20, most by any.
• Most wickets in World T20 : Lasith Malinga 33.
• Joginder Sharma(India) who took the last wicket of Pakistan in World T20 final, has never played for India after that. He took 20-2 with economy of just 5.71
• Best bowling figures of World T20. BAW Mendins 6 wickets for 8 runs against Zimbabwe.
• Only daniel vettori's economy rate is less then 6 RPO. (Min. 250 balls)
• Kamran Akmal holds the record for most number of dismissals in World T20 (24).
• Chris Gayle has highest strike rate (152) in world T20.
• India After winning first edition of World T20, not even reached in semis of next 3 editions.
• So far 4 centuries has been scored in World T20. Gayle, Raina, Jayawardene and McCullum have their names on list.

World T20 2014

T20 has reshaped cricket in a dramatic way. It has obviously both benefits and drawbacks. Biggest disadvantage of T20 is traditional cricket is losing his audience and his charm. But on the other hand, it has also helped cricket in growing rigorously. T20 has lot of excitement, charm, fun and everything which now a days audience wants. It has become more popular than Test or ODI's. So just couple of days left in the start of year's biggest event in Bangladesh. 10 top sides of the planet will be in action for becoming the champion of World T20.

Lets first talk about minnows of the event. May be its wrong to call any team "Minnow" in T20, but one can say these are less rated teams in the event. Top 8 test playing nations are direct qualified to group stage of World T20, and 2 top teams from 2 qualifiers group will meet top8 in a group stage, From group A there is a tough contest between Bangladesh and Afghanistan, yes you read it right, Home nation needs to qualify to group stage and there are good chances Afghanistan taking over them into group stage. In group B  there is a contest between Zimbabwe and Ireland to qualify for group stage.Though these teams may have very less chance of winning the tournament but for sure they are capable of throwing any of the team out of tournament. well we have to wait and see how many upsets we can see in this world cup.

Talking about the favorites no doubt Asian trio (Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka) have every chance of winning the cup. They are familiar with the conditions,weather  and most importantly recently these teams have played Asia cup here. Pakistan's bowling attack and India's batting attack can be termed as the most powerful attacks of the tournament. But both of the teams lack in other department(Pakistan in batting & India in bowling). any of the team finding good balance will have better chance of winning.

                                                                  ©Unknown    

T20 champions West Indies on their day can demolish any bowling lineup, but their recent performances shows a bit doubt on their form as a team. They lost T20 series in NZ, and then at home merely able to draw series from Ireland. So they are not as much in the favorites lineup as they were in last tournament.

Ok with the favorites, but Australia, England and South Africa are also very good sides and can reach the top anywhere. England is hurt after Ashes and former world champions wants to gain some respect in cricketing world. However they need something extra to retain get this title. While Australia and South Africa are both in very good form, every one likes to see player like De villier, Steyn , Johnson, Warner in action, and they are very good match winners too, but how they respond to asian slow tracks, its a big question mark.

*Tournament is starting on March 16 .

Whitewash in numbers

Couple of days ago Pakistan pulled off a thriller in Port Elizabeth, stage set by Saeed Ajmal and Junaid khan with finishing move. As a result Pakistan became the first Asian team to defeat South Africa in South Africa courtesy young guns of Pakistan, If Pakistan somehow manages victory on saturday too, They will become the first team to whitewash South Africa in South Africa,  before that South Africa has only been white washed twice by West Indies(1992) and Sri Lanka(2004) in their homes respectively.

Pakistan has a great chance to make history on saturday by beating South Africa at Centurion, if it happens, it will be Pakistan's 18th whitewash victory(Most by any team) in history of One day Internationals, while South Africa has received least number of whitewashes(Qualification : Test Playing nations).

                                               Photo credits : Unknown



Lets have a look at no. of whitewash victories by different teams.

No. Of Whitewashes

Teams	Done(Won)	Recieved(Got)
Pakistan	17	7
Australia	13	3
South Africa	12	2
England	12	8
West Indies	12	13
Sri Lanka	10	4
New Zealand	9	13
India	7	3
Bangladesh	7	21
Zimbabwe	4	23

Pakistan is enjoying the spot with 17 whitewashes. Sri Lanka(1), Bangladesh(4), Zimbabwe(5) , New Zealand(3) and West Indies(4) were at receiving end. while Zimbabwe received whitewash most no. of times, been whitewashed by all the test teams. while South Africa received least number of whitewashes.

Digging in stats, lets have a look at some more interesting stories, Between span of 2005 - 2010 South Africa won 9 series by whitewash, in which Graeme Smith was captain* in  8 of them. while Mighty Australians Between 2003 to 2010  won 8 series by whitewash, and Ricky Ponting was captain* in 7 of them. including a whitewash to ICC World X1.


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*captained atleast 1 match in series.

England falls to spin once again despite Cook's heroics

Sliding from no. 1, England continue to struggle against spin in Asia. India got a very comfortable victory in Ahmadabad, taking 1-0 lead in the series. Match seems to be over on 4th but Cook and Prior gave some life to British hopes but all in vain on final day.

I would like to discuss player of the match first, 24 years old Cheteshwar Pujara, averages 71.25 in 6 matches he played, seems ready to fill Dravid's place in the team. He was introducing himself to International Cricket with every delightful shot he played. with 21 fours remained not out as India declares on 521 when he got his double Century(206).

England still finding the ways to how to tackle spin in Asia. They were pretty confident to face Indian spinners as there is no such mystery spinner in the squad like Saeed Ajmal. But the word "SPIN" is enough for English batters. What happened in the first innings was almost the replay of India vs England WCT20 match. England lost his 6 wickets on 80. Thanks to lower order, somehow they find some time on crease, but still they fell far behind to Indian total

"Alistair Cook innings - That's one of the finest innings I have seen by a visiting batsman on Indian soil" -  Words by Sanjay Manjeraker sums up the perfomance of Alastair Cook in second innings. India was sensing victory on third day, but It was Cook who stood rock solid and gave glimpse of hope but fails in the end. He played a marathon innings(176) comprising of 556 Minutes and 374 balls. More importantly that innings was under huge pressure in India against India. 

It will be injustice to forget Ojha's contribution with the bowl. picked 9 wickets in the match including two very important wickets of Cook and Prior on last day, If both of them stood their for few more time, result could have been different.