Abdullah719
T20I Captain
- Joined
- Apr 16, 2013
- Runs
- 44,836
PakPassion.net: Why the interest in stats and is this based upon your educational background or what you do in real life?
jeetu: I am a Computer Engineer so software like Excel came easy to me. My interest in stats came from PakPassion itself. When I joined PakPassion (2010) I saw posters on PakPassion posting stats which peaked my interest. So i started playing around with Statsguru and decided to post stats which I found interesting. Pre-2010 I used to put all 4 80s all-rounders on even terms overall. I was lucky enough to saw them play from early 80s. My first stats post was comparing 80s all-rounders. It was a eye opener for me, as I realised how stunning numbers Imran Khan generated from 1980 to 1985. All four had quite different career path.
The thread itself drew good response which encouraged me to post more such threads. With time I learned how to manage stats efficiently by combining it with Excel. It allowed me to remove unwanted columns. For example statsguru shows "Balls" and "Runs" for bowlers related thread , for most part they don't add much value to thread. Average , Strike rate and Wickets are three top most criteria to judge a bowler. Removing "Balls" and "Runs" columns reduces the clutter.
Complete stats with all columns
Reduced columns
PakPassion.net: Where do you rank India win against Australia down under?
jeetu: It's pretty high on the list because India is playing in Australia from the time of Bradman, yet never managed to win a series there until now. Overall I rate India's series of 1971 in England higher than this one as it came against a strong in-form England team.
To win a series in alien conditions require both skill and luck. A team needs both to win on such tour. India should have won 1978/79 against Packer affected Australia side. I still have no clue why Kapil Dev was not a part of that squad. That Indian team lost 3-2. It was more down on skill factor. In 1986/87 tour India was dominant team but due to rain narrowly missed out on win on 2 Tests. It was a case of luck running out. On 2018 tour both worked. Australia lineup missed Warner and Smith, so luck was in India's favour. While rain cost India a win in last Test, it didn't interfere in other 2 wins.
PakPassion.net: Do you think Kohli can surpass Tendulkar? Statistically and/or otherwise ?
jeetu: Kohli should surpass Tendulkar in ODI, He is currently averaging close to 60 in ODIs. Around 15 more than Tendulkar.
However Tendulkar still holds big edge in World Cup, it's the biggest thing so far lacking with Kohli. Kohli needs a strong World Cup to amend that.
In Test its tough to match Tendulkar's longevity. Kohli needs Smith's like numbers to be near Tendulkar. It's possible but doesn't look probable.
PakPassion.net: Who do you rate as a greater Test spinner, Kumble or Ashwin?
jeetu:
Ashwin is ahead on averages which makes him a better bowler so far. Ashwin is 32 now, so he should have at least 5 years ahead of him. If he gets around 500 wickets at average less that 27 then he will be considered better bowler of the two for sure.
PakPassion.net: What do you think about the current level of Test cricket? Qualitatively is it worse than 2000s/90s or are we blinded by nostalgia and not taking into account the challenges faced by modern cricketers in terms of having to play excess cricket across 3 vastly different formats?
jeetu: We all have nostalgia from past. I started watching cricket from early 80s. In 90s I considered 80s superior era because of my childhood memories. Also India achieved more in 80s especially overseas than in 90s which added to my bias. However now I consider 90'=s to be slightly superior to 80s. From late 70s (since Paker era), cricket skill level especially batting is mostly on par. The bowling in last 10 years have been on decline. I don't blame the modern pitches for this because they are quite result oriented. Inclusion of T20s is playing big role in this case. While there are still few good young bowlers around like Rabada, cricket at present is missing very high quality spinners like Murali , Warne or express speedster like Akhtar, Lee. An era can also be judged by players it produces who can be contenders for All time XI team. But that analysis is for a future thread.[/QUOTE]
PakPassion.net: Which are the teams you will mark down as major contenders for 2019 World Cup and why? Is it the most open World Cup of this millennium?
jeetu: This is a open World Cup for sure. There are 5 teams in running as good contenders.
1. England is odds out favorites. They have a great team especially in England. They are currently top ranked ODI team in the world. They do have tendency to choke during crunch matches at home. They were winning 2013 Champions trophy with ease but panicked against India in last half to lose by 5 runs. In 2017 Champions Trophy they were demolished by Hasan Ali and Azhar Ali.
2. Australia is defending champions, given their history to raise their game during World Cup, they are high on list. The biggest question mark is on their batting. Smith and Warner have had a long break. If they are not the same players as before, then Australian batting order will be on shaky grounds.
3. India is another top contender. It has a very strong top 3 in batting and the bowling tends to raise the bar in World cups. But unsettled middle order is India's biggest weakness. Also heavy loss in 2017 Champions Trophy must be playing on their mind.
4. New Zealand has good record in 2018 with many players in good form. They were the finalist of 2015 WC. English conditions suits their strengths.
5. Pakistan. I answered this in another question.
PakPassion.net: Why do you think Indian batsmen have become so vulnerable against spin in the last 8 years or so despite playing a majority of home matches on turners and having ace spinners in the squad to train against?
jeetu: Indian domestic pitches have improved a lot during last few years. The number of dust-bowls are reducing. Also top Indian batsmen play a lot of T20s/ODIs. They don't have the patience to grind it out against spinners. India's (probably World's) best current player against spinner is Pujara. Here is a interesting stats of Pujara that no one realised. He has only played 5 ODIs in 8 year old career. 0 T20 Internationals. Pujara is not forced to alter his game by going hard against spinners because he only plays in long format. Ace spinners is squad means top players is playing them in nets but not actual match situation.
PakPassion.net: What was the most amazing/inspiring performance from a Pakistan batsman vs India have you seen ?
jeetu: Topmost has to Javed's Miandad epic knock at Sharjah where he hit Chetan Sharma for a last bowl six. It was a masterclass inning on how to play with tailenders on the other end.
For Rests I'll say Kamran Akmal's 113 after coming out to bat at 6/39.
For T20s I'll go with Misbah's twin performance at first T20 World Cup. He nearly pulled off 2 wins from impossible looking situation.
All 3 had one thing in common, never giving up until last ball is bowled.
PakPassion.net: What are your views about Indian team minus Virat Kohli ?
jeetu: Without Kohli India is still a decent Test batting lineup but not a good one. Kohli is best all=round player in the team with the ability to excel anywhere. Only other player for now in Indian side is Pujara but he lacks the ability to raise the tempo when required. India is far more vulnerable in ODIs without Kohli than Tests.
PakPassion.net: Is this Indian team the best cricket team in history?
jeetu: Second best for now. 2009-11 team was slightly better , that team managed to lift World Cup. Current Indian team has superior bowling lineup but 2011 batting side had much better. I rate current side above early 70s side (third best overall).
PakPassion.net: Remove Kohli from the Indian cricket team and add Sachin. Do you think they still would’ve won the Test series in Australia? Would Sachin instead of Kohli make this team much better than it is now?
jeetu: Kohli average in Australia on current tour is 40.28. Barring his last series Tendulkar averaged higher than that on every Australian tour.
So 'll reckon India would have still won the series if Tendulkar had replaced Kohli. Overall Sachin would make current team slightly better because Tendulkar adds more value to team as 5th/6th bowler. Purely on batting talent they are pretty much a even match. They have nearly same Test average as of now (difference 0.02)
PakPassion.net: What do you think of ABdV's retirement?
jeetu: A big loss to cricket. He could have played couple more years. He is still not 35. He averaged 53.16 in 2018. So it was not the case of batsman unable to play well due to age. He is quite possibly the best unorthodox batsman in history. His absence will hurt South Africa's World Cup chances.
PakPassion.net: Who would you rate as the greatest spinner of all time and why?
jeetu: That's a tough one as there are only 2 contenders. They both figure in my all-time Test team. For better of the two, I'll say Warne by a whisker because he played in less spin friendly conditions as compared to Muralitharan. Even the experts are on the fence who is better of the two.
PakPassion.net: Which is the one player (current or former) who you would happily buy a ticket to watch play in the ground?
jeetu: Bradman for sure. Especially in the borderline series. There are many clips of Bradman on YouTube but they are small snippets. There is no long footage of him to analyse how he build up inning and what made him impossible to get out.
PakPassion.net: How do you rate Pakistan's chances in the World Cup?
jeetu: Pakistan is the underdog team of the World Cup. Their fast bowling is as good as any if not better. Erratic batting is their biggest weakness. They do perform well in England. The success of last Champions Trophy makes them a dangerous opponents. If Pakistan makes it to the knockout stages, they might pull off a World Cup win.
jeetu: I am a Computer Engineer so software like Excel came easy to me. My interest in stats came from PakPassion itself. When I joined PakPassion (2010) I saw posters on PakPassion posting stats which peaked my interest. So i started playing around with Statsguru and decided to post stats which I found interesting. Pre-2010 I used to put all 4 80s all-rounders on even terms overall. I was lucky enough to saw them play from early 80s. My first stats post was comparing 80s all-rounders. It was a eye opener for me, as I realised how stunning numbers Imran Khan generated from 1980 to 1985. All four had quite different career path.
The thread itself drew good response which encouraged me to post more such threads. With time I learned how to manage stats efficiently by combining it with Excel. It allowed me to remove unwanted columns. For example statsguru shows "Balls" and "Runs" for bowlers related thread , for most part they don't add much value to thread. Average , Strike rate and Wickets are three top most criteria to judge a bowler. Removing "Balls" and "Runs" columns reduces the clutter.
Complete stats with all columns
| Player | Span | Mat | Inns | Balls | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Ave | Econ | SR | 5 | 10 |
| Muralitharan | 1992-2010 | 133 | 230 | 44039 | 18180 | 800 | 9/51 | 16/220 | 22.72 | 2.47 | 55 | 67 | 22 |
| Warne | 1992-2007 | 145 | 273 | 40705 | 17995 | 708 | 8/71 | 12/128 | 25.41 | 2.65 | 57.4 | 37 | 10 |
Reduced columns
| Player | Mat | Wkts | Ave | Econ | SR | 5W | 10W |
| Muralitharan | 133 | 800 | 22.72 | 2.47 | 55 | 67 | 22 |
| Warne | 145 | 708 | 25.41 | 2.65 | 57.4 | 37 | 10 |
PakPassion.net: Where do you rank India win against Australia down under?
jeetu: It's pretty high on the list because India is playing in Australia from the time of Bradman, yet never managed to win a series there until now. Overall I rate India's series of 1971 in England higher than this one as it came against a strong in-form England team.
To win a series in alien conditions require both skill and luck. A team needs both to win on such tour. India should have won 1978/79 against Packer affected Australia side. I still have no clue why Kapil Dev was not a part of that squad. That Indian team lost 3-2. It was more down on skill factor. In 1986/87 tour India was dominant team but due to rain narrowly missed out on win on 2 Tests. It was a case of luck running out. On 2018 tour both worked. Australia lineup missed Warner and Smith, so luck was in India's favour. While rain cost India a win in last Test, it didn't interfere in other 2 wins.
PakPassion.net: Do you think Kohli can surpass Tendulkar? Statistically and/or otherwise ?
jeetu: Kohli should surpass Tendulkar in ODI, He is currently averaging close to 60 in ODIs. Around 15 more than Tendulkar.
| Player | Span | Mat | Runs | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 |
| Kohli | 2008-2019 | 217 | 10235 | 59.5 | 92.84 | 38 | 48 |
| Sachin | 1989-2012 | 463 | 18426 | 44.83 | 86.23 | 49 | 96 |
However Tendulkar still holds big edge in World Cup, it's the biggest thing so far lacking with Kohli. Kohli needs a strong World Cup to amend that.
| Player | Span | Mat | Runs | Ave | SR | 100 | 50 |
| Kohli | 2011-2015 | 17 | 587 | 41.92 | 81.86 | 2 | 1 |
| Sachin | 1992-2011 | 45 | 2278 | 56.95 | 88.98 | 6 | 15 |
In Test its tough to match Tendulkar's longevity. Kohli needs Smith's like numbers to be near Tendulkar. It's possible but doesn't look probable.
| Player | Span | Mat | Runs | Ave | 100 | 50 |
| Kohli | 2011-2019 | 77 | 6613 | 53.76 | 25 | 20 |
| Sachin | 1989-2013 | 200 | 15921 | 53.78 | 51 | 68 |
PakPassion.net: Who do you rate as a greater Test spinner, Kumble or Ashwin?
jeetu:
| Ashwin | Span | Mat | Wkts | Ave | SR | 5W | 10W |
| overall | 2011-2018 | 65 | 342 | 25.43 | 53.7 | 26 | 7 |
| Home | 2011-2018 | 38 | 234 | 22.68 | 49.2 | 20 | 6 |
| Away | 2011-2018 | 27 | 108 | 31.39 | 63.4 | 6 | 1 |
| Kumble | Span | Mat | Wkts | Ave | SR | 5 | 10 |
| overall | 1990-2008 | 132 | 619 | 29.65 | 65.9 | 35 | 8 |
| Home | 1993-2008 | 63 | 350 | 24.88 | 59.4 | 25 | 7 |
| Away | 1990-2008 | 69 | 269 | 35.85 | 74.5 | 10 | 1 |
Ashwin is ahead on averages which makes him a better bowler so far. Ashwin is 32 now, so he should have at least 5 years ahead of him. If he gets around 500 wickets at average less that 27 then he will be considered better bowler of the two for sure.
PakPassion.net: What do you think about the current level of Test cricket? Qualitatively is it worse than 2000s/90s or are we blinded by nostalgia and not taking into account the challenges faced by modern cricketers in terms of having to play excess cricket across 3 vastly different formats?
jeetu: We all have nostalgia from past. I started watching cricket from early 80s. In 90s I considered 80s superior era because of my childhood memories. Also India achieved more in 80s especially overseas than in 90s which added to my bias. However now I consider 90'=s to be slightly superior to 80s. From late 70s (since Paker era), cricket skill level especially batting is mostly on par. The bowling in last 10 years have been on decline. I don't blame the modern pitches for this because they are quite result oriented. Inclusion of T20s is playing big role in this case. While there are still few good young bowlers around like Rabada, cricket at present is missing very high quality spinners like Murali , Warne or express speedster like Akhtar, Lee. An era can also be judged by players it produces who can be contenders for All time XI team. But that analysis is for a future thread.[/QUOTE]
PakPassion.net: Which are the teams you will mark down as major contenders for 2019 World Cup and why? Is it the most open World Cup of this millennium?
jeetu: This is a open World Cup for sure. There are 5 teams in running as good contenders.
1. England is odds out favorites. They have a great team especially in England. They are currently top ranked ODI team in the world. They do have tendency to choke during crunch matches at home. They were winning 2013 Champions trophy with ease but panicked against India in last half to lose by 5 runs. In 2017 Champions Trophy they were demolished by Hasan Ali and Azhar Ali.
2. Australia is defending champions, given their history to raise their game during World Cup, they are high on list. The biggest question mark is on their batting. Smith and Warner have had a long break. If they are not the same players as before, then Australian batting order will be on shaky grounds.
3. India is another top contender. It has a very strong top 3 in batting and the bowling tends to raise the bar in World cups. But unsettled middle order is India's biggest weakness. Also heavy loss in 2017 Champions Trophy must be playing on their mind.
4. New Zealand has good record in 2018 with many players in good form. They were the finalist of 2015 WC. English conditions suits their strengths.
5. Pakistan. I answered this in another question.
PakPassion.net: Why do you think Indian batsmen have become so vulnerable against spin in the last 8 years or so despite playing a majority of home matches on turners and having ace spinners in the squad to train against?
jeetu: Indian domestic pitches have improved a lot during last few years. The number of dust-bowls are reducing. Also top Indian batsmen play a lot of T20s/ODIs. They don't have the patience to grind it out against spinners. India's (probably World's) best current player against spinner is Pujara. Here is a interesting stats of Pujara that no one realised. He has only played 5 ODIs in 8 year old career. 0 T20 Internationals. Pujara is not forced to alter his game by going hard against spinners because he only plays in long format. Ace spinners is squad means top players is playing them in nets but not actual match situation.
PakPassion.net: What was the most amazing/inspiring performance from a Pakistan batsman vs India have you seen ?
jeetu: Topmost has to Javed's Miandad epic knock at Sharjah where he hit Chetan Sharma for a last bowl six. It was a masterclass inning on how to play with tailenders on the other end.
For Rests I'll say Kamran Akmal's 113 after coming out to bat at 6/39.
For T20s I'll go with Misbah's twin performance at first T20 World Cup. He nearly pulled off 2 wins from impossible looking situation.
All 3 had one thing in common, never giving up until last ball is bowled.
PakPassion.net: What are your views about Indian team minus Virat Kohli ?
jeetu: Without Kohli India is still a decent Test batting lineup but not a good one. Kohli is best all=round player in the team with the ability to excel anywhere. Only other player for now in Indian side is Pujara but he lacks the ability to raise the tempo when required. India is far more vulnerable in ODIs without Kohli than Tests.
PakPassion.net: Is this Indian team the best cricket team in history?
jeetu: Second best for now. 2009-11 team was slightly better , that team managed to lift World Cup. Current Indian team has superior bowling lineup but 2011 batting side had much better. I rate current side above early 70s side (third best overall).
PakPassion.net: Remove Kohli from the Indian cricket team and add Sachin. Do you think they still would’ve won the Test series in Australia? Would Sachin instead of Kohli make this team much better than it is now?
jeetu: Kohli average in Australia on current tour is 40.28. Barring his last series Tendulkar averaged higher than that on every Australian tour.
| Series | Mat | Runs | Bat Av | 100 |
| 1991/92 | 5 | 368 | 46 | 2 |
| 1999/00 | 3 | 278 | 46.33 | 1 |
| 2003/04 | 4 | 383 | 76.6 | 1 |
| 2007/08 | 4 | 493 | 70.42 | 2 |
| 2011/12 | 4 | 287 | 35.87 | 0 |
So 'll reckon India would have still won the series if Tendulkar had replaced Kohli. Overall Sachin would make current team slightly better because Tendulkar adds more value to team as 5th/6th bowler. Purely on batting talent they are pretty much a even match. They have nearly same Test average as of now (difference 0.02)
PakPassion.net: What do you think of ABdV's retirement?
jeetu: A big loss to cricket. He could have played couple more years. He is still not 35. He averaged 53.16 in 2018. So it was not the case of batsman unable to play well due to age. He is quite possibly the best unorthodox batsman in history. His absence will hurt South Africa's World Cup chances.
PakPassion.net: Who would you rate as the greatest spinner of all time and why?
jeetu: That's a tough one as there are only 2 contenders. They both figure in my all-time Test team. For better of the two, I'll say Warne by a whisker because he played in less spin friendly conditions as compared to Muralitharan. Even the experts are on the fence who is better of the two.
PakPassion.net: Which is the one player (current or former) who you would happily buy a ticket to watch play in the ground?
jeetu: Bradman for sure. Especially in the borderline series. There are many clips of Bradman on YouTube but they are small snippets. There is no long footage of him to analyse how he build up inning and what made him impossible to get out.
PakPassion.net: How do you rate Pakistan's chances in the World Cup?
jeetu: Pakistan is the underdog team of the World Cup. Their fast bowling is as good as any if not better. Erratic batting is their biggest weakness. They do perform well in England. The success of last Champions Trophy makes them a dangerous opponents. If Pakistan makes it to the knockout stages, they might pull off a World Cup win.
