http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/comments en sports@castrolcricket.com Copyright 2010 2010-04-26T12:01:52+00:00 http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/blog/does_the_ipl_really_need_more_foreign_players/ http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/blog/does_the_ipl_really_need_more_foreign_players/#When:12:01:52Z 2010-04-26T12:01:52+00:00 http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/blog/will_the_pakistani_players_be_missed_at_the_ipl/ http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/blog/will_the_pakistani_players_be_missed_at_the_ipl/#When:10:29:12Z 2010-03-05T10:29:12+00:00 http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/blog/msd_-_will_2010_be_a_sequel_to_2009/ http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/blog/msd_-_will_2010_be_a_sequel_to_2009/#When:21:06:37Z 2010-01-14T21:06:37+00:00 http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/blog/rahul_dravid_back_from_beyond/ http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/blog/rahul_dravid_back_from_beyond/#When:11:29:34Z 2009-09-24T11:29:34+00:00 http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/blog/the_dream_team_twenty_20_-_2009/ http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/blog/the_dream_team_twenty_20_-_2009/#When:09:49:15Z In our previous article we picked the best individual performances at the World Twenty20. This time round, we identify the players who performed well consistently throughout the tournament and pick the best eleven of the tournament- the Dream Team. One caveat before we begin our selection- we are looking at players who have participated in at least four matches, long enough for them to have shown consistency over a number of matches. Here is the World Twenty20 2009 Dream Team. .p_role{color:#000;} .bb_fig_cont {display:none;} .pp_unit{border:0; } .dreamtable td{padding:10px; border:1px solid #666;} Tillakaratne Dilshan Batsman Runs: 317 Strike Rate: 144.7 Castrol Index: 81 An easy selection to begin with- Dilshan was the stand out batsman of the tournament scoring nearly 100 more runs than his closest competitor. Jacques Kallis All Rounder Runs: 238 Strike Rate: 126.6 Wickets: 3 Economy Rate: 7.1 Castrol Index:76 The South African all-rounder showed he can perform at the highest level even in the shortest form of the game finishing as the tournament’s second highest run scorer and leading South Africa’s charge to the semis. Shahid Afridi All Rounder Runs: 176 Strike Rate: 140.8 Wickets: 11 Economy Rate: 5.3 Castrol Index: 89 Another easy pick- Afridi was miserly with the ball throughout the tournament, picked up regular wickets, and came through with the bat in the big matches. Probably the best Twenty20 player in the world at the moment! AB de Villiers Wicketkeeper Runs: 186 Strike Rate: 155.0 Castrol Index: 60 AB was consistent with the bat and the tournament’s best fielder- his stock as a cricketer has risen tremendously over the past twelve months. Lendl Simmons Wicketkeeper Runs: 150 Strike Rate: 137.6 Castrol Index: 64 The young West Indian had a great run with the bat and was also handy with the ball, picking up 6 wickets including a four-for against Sri Lanka. He edged out the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Yuvraj Singh for this spot. Kumar Sangakkara Wicketkeeper Runs: 177 Strike Rate: 108.6 Castrol Index: 36 Not a great tournament with the bat by his standards. Still, he up with a gritty performance in the final, was the best keeper-batsman in the tournament and admirably led his side throughout the competition; which rightfully earns him a place in the Dream Team. Dwayne Bravo All Rounder Runs: 154 Strike Rate:145.3 Wickets:10 Economy rate:8.8 Castrol Index: 74 Stellar contributions from Bravo helped the West Indies make the final four- he delivered with bat and ball including a super all-round display against India at Lord’s. Saeed Ajmal Bowler Wickets: 12 Economy rate:5.8 Castrol Index: 59 The Pakistani off-spinner played a pivotal role for his side, keeping it tight in the middle overs and frustrating batsmen into making mistakes. Ajantha Mendis Bowler Wickets: 12 Economy rate:5.5 Castrol Index: 55 The mystery bowler ended with the highest bowling efficiency score among all players who participated in at least four matches. That means based on bowling alone, Mendis was the best of the lot and he makes it in the Dream Team. Roelof van der Merwe can consider himself unlucky to miss out on, but Ajmal and Mendis get the nod ahead of him. Barely! Umar Gul Bowler Wickets: 13 Economy rate:6.4 Castrol Index: 52 The tournament’s highest wicket taker established himself as the best death bowler in the game. It’s remarkable that he went at just six and a half runs an over considering he often bowled at the end of the innings. Wayne Parnell Bowler Wickets: 9 Economy rate:5.7 Castrol Index: 53 Parnell rounds up our Dream Team. He was the best bowler with the new ball and turned in match winning performances against the West Indies and England. 2009-06-23T09:49:15+00:00 http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/blog/harsha_bhogles_take_on_finals/ http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/blog/harsha_bhogles_take_on_finals/#When:14:28:18Z sri lanka’s progress in this tournament is a great advertisement for bowlers in t20 cricket. with a slightly shaky batting line up that is over-reliant at the moment on the top 4 they have marched into the final without losing a game. but now they will come up against a side to whom their bowling isn’t a great mystery and who possess a well rounded bowling side themselves. sri lanka are riding a wave of confidence but will be a bit worried about the fact that they have been propped up by the great form of tillekaratne dilshan. sanath jayasuriya isn’t looking in great form but he is one of the finest big game players and if he plays with freedom in the final, he could give sri lanka the runs they need for their bowlers. both sides like to bat first and while the toss isn’t that important in t20 normally (it was at trent bridge where, quite frankly the wickets weren’t suitable for a tournament of this nature), on the big day you want to score runs first. it means a great deal for both sides to win this and there will be the extra, difficult to account for, factor of pressure. if sri lanka have to bat second and lose a couple of early wickets pakistan will fancy their chances. but then you just can’t tell with pakistan. afridi might fire a quick 50 or pop the first ball up in the air. that is why the return of razzak is so important for them. it allows them to bat till no 8 and absorb a few early losses. i have also noticed that shoaib malik is playing a lot of shots early on and maybe the mandate is that younus and misbah will handle a crisis if it arises and that the top three, especially akmal and afridi, will be given the licence to play the big shots. pakistan are looking the more rounded side but they have to play two opponents; sri lanka and themselves. by contrast the lankans have only to play pakistan. Harsha Bhogle 2009-06-20T14:28:18+00:00 http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/blog/to_chase_or_to_defend_oval_throws_important_question/ http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/blog/to_chase_or_to_defend_oval_throws_important_question/#When:20:52:18Z The Kennington Oval is a batting paradise but the wicket slows down considerably under the lights. A 45-run difference between the average first innings and second innings score at this venue may emerge as a key to the strategists of West Indies and Sri Lanka. Average 1st Innings score Average 2nd Innings score 1st innings wicket fall 2nd innings wicket fall Spinners Pacers 180 135 6.8 6.2 36 78 The high scoring nature of this wicket will help both Sri Lanka and West Indies. Secondly, traditionally the Oval wicket is very balanced as out of the 10 T20 Internationals played here, 5 of them are won by team batting first. So what should a captain do? Chase a target or defend a total? Let’s weigh the options. Considering the hard hitting ways of batting in both the sides, an average first innings total of 180 or more would be the ideal start that both the teams will be looking at. According to Castrol Index, Sri Lanka has won 80% of its matches batting first with a par score of 161 and a Batting Momentum (BM) of 215. What is more bothering, however, is that the average second innings score at the Oval is around 135. The 45 runs difference between the two innings, coupled with Sri Lanka’s bowling prowess may land West Indies in trouble should they decide to chase here. The three main Windies’ bowlers – Bravo, Taylor and Edwards – have given away around 9 runs per over in this tournament, which translates to around 110 runs in the 12 overs they bowl. In contrast, the Lankan trio of Mendis, Murali and Malinga concede only 75 runs in their 12 overs. This difference of 35 runs is a huge savings in a T20 International. Will Sri Lanka be better off defending a total on this wicket then? Now let’s see the options favourable to chasing: • Gayle and other Windies’ batsmen are in great form and have proved that they are great chasers. They have to score at least 35 runs more off the Lankan Three M’s to offset any calculation • The Oval wicket offers fewer opportunities to bowlers in the second innings • 80% of the wickets at the Oval are captured by pacers – a big plus for the Windies which is packed with fast bowlers. But they have to be disciplined and should not give away extra runs. West Indies have proved earlier that they are good chasers at the Oval. Will they take the chance again at the Oval? 2009-06-18T20:52:18+00:00 http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/blog/the_curious_case_of_trent_bridge_nottingham/ http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/blog/the_curious_case_of_trent_bridge_nottingham/#When:05:41:58Z Twenty-twenty matches in Trent Bridge are a bit skewed in favour of the team batting first. Castrol Index analyses the International T20 matches played at the venue and throws the question what’s the best decision to take after winning the toss – bat first or bowl first? According to Castrol Index, 56% of the matches played on the Trent Bridge pitch have been won by teams batting first. South Africa has won all its matches played on the Trent Bridge pitch. Trent Bridge Batting Momentum Average Runs Scored Bowling Efficiency Total Wickets Batting First 251 174 238 54 Batting Second 163 131 269 60 The table above reflects an interesting fact. Teams batting first have scored more runs at the cost of more wickets than teams batting second on their way to win the matches. Batting first, teams have been able to put an average of 174 runs losing at an average of 6 wickets while teams bowling second have taken an average of 6.5 wickets while scoring only 131 runs. The analysis reflects the slowness of the wicket which deteriorates within a matter of 20 overs. South Africa would be aware of this curious nature of the pitch here as they have played twice here and won both the times. Interestingly, for South Africa, batting first or batting second matter the least. In this tournament, they have just won every match till now, batting first or second. But for Pakistan, it is for the first time they will play on this wicket in the tournament. Pakistan plays better cricket when they bat first as reflected in the table below. Pakistan’s Performance in 2009 ICC T20 Pakistan Batting Momentum Average Runs Scored Bowling Efficiency Total Wickets Batting First 207 167 338 19 Batting Second 142 123 223 22 In view of the above, what would be skipper Younis Khan’s decision of if he wins the toss? 2009-06-18T05:41:58+00:00 http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/blog/windies_hitting_hard_pakistan_hardly/ http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/blog/windies_hitting_hard_pakistan_hardly/#When:20:13:06Z West Indies is scoring most of their runs in boundaries while surprisingly Pakistan are running through the 22 yards the most during their matches in 2009 ICC T20 World Championship, according to Castrol Index. The strategy may be to have a right mix of boundaries and singles / two’s / three’s. Singles help rotating the strike making it that much difficult for the opposition bowlers to maintain a tight line and length. But Pakistan is relying too much on the running which is slowing their run rate. England, India, Sri Lanka and South Africa are balancing the boundary single mix perfectly to launch a healthy Batting Momentum. According to Castrol Index, the Windies hurricane continued through the two matches during the Group stage, when they scored 64% of their runs in boundaries and sixes. Even in the match against Sri Lanka, the West Indian hard hitting was maintained. The Lankans are also not very far behind scoring 63% in boundaries. The flurry of boundaries during the start of the innings, determined by Quickstart Batting, and during the last 5 overs of the innings, captured by Extreme Performance Batting, has helped these two teams to lock high scores in the tournament so far and attain high Batting Momentum for their respective teams. Team Total Runs % scored in 4s, 6s Quickstart Batting Extreme Performance Batting Batting Momentum West Indies 349 64 135 195 279 Sri Lanka 352 63 63 182 261 England 347 53 41 80 242 South Africa 339 58 77 79 237 Pakistan 312 46 48 32 203 India 313 54 56 99 202 New Zealand 217 59 98 24 148 Ireland 250 54 110 66 143 Australia 328 63 49 23 222 Pakistan on the contrary has scored 54% of their runs through singles, twos and three’s. It should be a cause of concern for skipper Younis Khan as his team needs to get more boundaries in the Super 8s to put the opposition under pressure. England, though having a healthy Batting Momentum, needs to score more runs through boundaries during Quickstart period which may relieve the pressure on the middle order to increase the rate. India’s opening pair has done a good job so far, but against comparatively weaker opposition, they have managed to get only 56 Quickstart Batting points probably because they were able to hit lesser boundaries during these periods. The notable exclusion from the Super 8s will be Australia, who true to their style, scored heavily through boundaries.   2009-06-11T20:13:06+00:00 http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/castrol/blog/what_went_wrong_for_australia/ http://www.castrolcricket.com/ee/index.php/blog/what_went_wrong_for_australia/#When:20:27:28Z Losing back-to-back matches and bowing out of a World Championship early in the first round is not something that Australian cricket is used to. Was it lack of match practice that led to their elimination? Since 2005, when Australia played its first T20 International, it has played 19 matches, including the two in the current Championship and lost only seven of them. Prior to the World Championship, Australia won the warm-up games too. So, the notion that Australian cricket is not tuned to T20 cricket can therefore be safely ruled out. Australia in T20 Internationals Played Won 19 12 Now let’s dig deeper into the reasons for Australia’s early departure. The following table demonstrates the trends from the matches played at the two venues where Australia played their matches. Venue Average First Innings Score Wickets taken by Team batting second wins Wicket in 2nd innings Wickets by Australia in 2009 ICC T20 Kennington Oval 180 90% by fast bowlers 5 out of 8 4.9 3 Trent Bridge 150 33% by Spinners 5 out of 6 5.5 4 Australia’s scores barely touched the averages at both the venues, which was obviously not enough to upstage the opponent. Also skipper Ricky Ponting chose to bat first at The Oval where the records clearly favoured the team batting second. But in both the matches, it was their bowlers that disappointed Australia with lackadaisical performances, since most of the fast bowlers were awfully short of match practice. Their bowlers took lesser number of wickets against the average second innings wicket fall at these venues. Australian Bowling Efficiency at 2009 ICC T20 Team Bowling Efficiency West Indies 55 Sri Lanka 95 Talking of match practice, large number of players from most of the Test playing nations played in IPL 2009. What better match practice can one expect! Sri Lanka had four of them playing regularly in the IPL who contributing heavily to their team’s victory over Australia. West Indies had Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo, amongst the members of the current ICC T20 squad who played the IPL. The sheer number of matches that they played in the IPL helped them to be on top of their form in the ICC T20 as demonstrated by the table below. It gives a head-to-head comparison on how the players have carried their forms from IPL to the ICC T20 Championship. Team Player CI in IPL 2009 CI in ICC T20 2009 West Indies Chris Gayle 35 158 Dwayne Bravo 50 57 Andre Fletcher DNP 93 Sri Lanka Tillakratne Dilshan 43 93 Kumar Sangakkara 22 71 Lasith Malinga 45 70 Ajantha Mendis 13 115 In contrast, Australia played only 3 who are currently part of the team, as shown in the table below. The others were Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden – both retired. Team Player CI in IPL 2009 CI in ICC T20 against WI CI in ICC T20 against SL Australia David Warner 39 75 0 Brett Lee 35 10 26 Andrew Symonds 66 DNP DNP David Hussey 33 51 42 *DNP = Did Not Play One of the most successful Australian in the IPL was Andrew Symonds. But then, he was not part of the ICC T20 team. That’s another story! But amongst these 3 players, namely David Warner, David Hussey were the top performers. Warner top scored against Windies to attain a Castrol Index of 75. David Hussey performed well in both the matches while Lee bowled much better in the second match. Match practice really helps! Australia just didn’t give too much importance to the T20 formats. Or was it that Australia was too busy preparing for The Ashes series. 2009-06-09T20:27:28+00:00