The best batsmen of 2009

Arvind Iyengar reviews the best batting performances in 2009 and tells you why Tillekaratne Dilshan is the key to turn around Sri Lankan fortunes.

Scores of 300 and more are no longer safe targets in one-day internationals. Check out Harsha’s take on the same in the Run Machines article.

So far in 2009, there have been 41 instances of teams going past 300 in ODIs this year. That’s far more than 15 such instances in 1999 and 17 in 2000. Heck, it’s a fifty percent increase from last year when there were 27 instances of teams getting 300 or more. It should come as no surprise that the India-Sri Lanka series has been peppered with high scores because these two teams have largely been responsible for the run fest this year. India and Sri Lanka have gone past 300 fifteen times between them. That’s because Tillakaratne Dilshan, Virender Sehwag and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have been in great form this year. Here’s a look at the best batsmen in 2009.

First off, we only consider batsmen who’ve scored at least 500 runs this year. In terms of averages, Dhoni leads the pack with an average of over 70. Dilshan is at number two while Tendulkar is at the fourth spot.

In terms of strike-rates, Sehwag is well ahead of the pack with a staggering scoring rate of 137 runs per 100 balls.

As a holistic measure, we look at batting momentum which is a combination of the average and the strike-rate to calculate the overall batsman score. Expectedly, four of the top five positions are occupied by Indians and Sri Lankans.

Tillakaratne Dilshan has been the best batsman of 2009; he’s been in the form of his life and has established himself as a premier player in the game today. He will have to continue to deliver to help Sri Lanka in the rest of their series against India.