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Who is the best Indian top order batsman in IPL history? IPL Analysis: Breaking down the numbers: who is the best Indian top order batsman in IPL?

The Indian Premier League has never failed to present some splendid domestic talents. Cricketers have launched and rediscovered their careers in this tournament. When it comes to the dynamics of T20 cricket, an opener is certainly one of the most vital components of the team.

David Warner and Chris Gayle have stamped their authority upon being the most formidable opening batsmen in the last twelve years of the league. However, who takes that claim amongst the Indian lot of players? It was a dilemma that was a bit too complex to work out, considering there have been a lot of them who have racked up decent performances at the top of the batting order.

Some others surpass them for having played commendably over a consistent period of time. On the other hand, there are others who have only just arrived to the arena but have taken the whole scene to cleaners with their supreme efficiency and profound skill-set whilst dealing with the new ball. How do we figure out who amongst these are the best then?

We undertook a task to break down the statistics garnered and impact carved by these individuals in different parameters over the years. In this article, the same would be presented in an extremely comprehensive way.

Note:

a) The statistics of batsmen are only taken from the innings in which they have batted in the No. 1, 2, 3 batting positions, i.e. the top-order.

This segregation was done as certain players like Rohit Sharma and Robin Uthappa have played in the middle order for a considerable number of matches. Hence, their stats from those matches couldn’t be used to beef up their top-order credentials.

b) Only individuals who have scored more than 1,500 runs whilst batting in the top three positions have been taken into consideration.

Accordingly, our calculation paints the picture that 16 Indian batsmen have notched more than 1,500 runs from the top-order in the IPL. They are: Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Virender Sehwag, KL Rahul, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Sachin Tendulkar, Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Parthiv Patel, Sanju Samson and Rahul Dravid.

Let’s analyse them on several frameworks.

Runs per innings vs Balls faced per innings:

On occasions, there are certain openers who undertake a radical approach and steadily pile up the runs from the start of the innings. However, they might also be prone to lengthening their stay on the crease without creating a substantial impact on the overall course of the game.

Suppose a batsman scores a steady 50 runs from 40 deliveries and lasts until the 15^th over. It looks great for his personal batting average, but that innings could be detrimental for his team. Contrastingly, a quick 15 runs from six deliveries shoots up a strike rate.

However, an inability to create a solid foundation for the team could hamper the batting lineup’s chances to put up a challenging total on the board. Hence, a fine balance must be struck wherein the batsmen must be scoring higher runs whilst taking up lesser balls to do so.

So, how do our concerned individuals stack up with respect to this? 

Note: The missing name in the middle is that of Manish Pandey.

This is a graph that we have come up with to portray this aspect of the game. Clearly, KL Rahul ranks way ahead of several other openers over here. In 42 innings in the top three, KL averages 42.94 and faces 26.83 deliveries in each outing.

However, Virat Kohli’s sample space is much more expansive, as the RCB skipper has played 133 innings with an average of 41.01 and 26.22 balls in each innings. The duo of KL and Virat are well ahead of the others in this battle for the title of best Indian top order batsman in IPL history.

Also read: Why have RCB struggled for success in the IPL?

Third on this list could surprisingly be Sachin Tendulkar, who had an average of 34.89 and took up 25.14 balls for the same. Suresh Raina isn’t far behind either, as he records a tad bit less than 34 runs, but does so in only 21.07 deliveries.

Virender Sehwag played a high stakes game as he had an average of 27.87, but he took only 16.96 deliveries for that. Ajinkya Rahane was steady in his approach, as he had a decent runs to show for, but 24.38 balls raked of a cautious approach of sorts.

The cluster in the middle includes the likes of Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, Sanju Samson and others; all of whom had relatively reasonable but not overtly impressive numbers in this aspect. Parthiv Patel falls short in both areas whereas Rahul Dravid struck runs at a rate of only just above 100.

BASRA: Batting Average + Strike Rate:

An interesting facet through which the credentials of a batsman in a T20 game is judged is by adding his overall batting average and the strike rate with which he notches those runs. Like the previous parameter, even here it is important to maintain a fine balance in both these areas of the game.

In some ways, batting average + strike rate is an extension of the ‘runs per innings vs balls faced per innings’. ‘BASRA’, as the term is coined, aids one to identify the most suitable batsmen in the shortest version of the game. These top-order players strike runs at a quick pace, and continue to do so for a considerable span of time in the innings.

As aforementioned, only the innings in which these batsmen batted in the top three batting slots are considered.

Virender Sehwag actually boasts of the best strike rate amongst the players being analysed here. He struck runs at a rate of 156.21, but a relatively lower average of 27.87 arguably makes the addition of these two parameters lopsided in his case. KL Rahul is rather unsurprisingly way ahead of his peers, with a BASRA of 183.98, with an average of 42.94 in 42 matches.

Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina combat each in a neck-to-neck battle here, though the former edges out just slightly to record an average of 41.01 and a strike rate of 131.70. Sanju Samson has played 58 such innings and his BASRA of 165.09 is surprisingly encouraging; not to forget, quite better than some of his senior counterparts.

Ambati Rayudu and Ajinkya Rahane had endured almost similar experiences, with their aggregates totaling to a tad bit more than 156. In some ways, Gautam Gambhir could be categorised in the same bracket too. Rohit Sharma has been able to shoot up his BASRA to 160.57.

However, Rahul Dravid along with Manish Pandey and Murali Vijay haven’t had fruitful results over here. Parthiv Patel lags quite behind in this list too. The similar stats are portrayed in the graph below to provide a clearer, more accurate representation of these numbers.

How important are half-centuries for top-order batsmen?

An increasing trend that could be noticed whilst analysing T20 cricket these days is the minimal importance given to certain records and feats. Apparently, every player needs to be judged on the impact that he creates and hence the benchmarks such as half-centuries and centuries are given lesser importance.

From our understanding, it could be said that these ideal set of judgements that are reserved for players would be applicable in the quintessential batting lineups where each position has players best suited for that role.

However, the dynamics of the game is such that managements aren’t always able to meet their targets in the auction table and hence specific batsmen have to take several responsibilities that might not be defined from funkier statistical measures as we see prevalent these days.

For example, someone like a KL Rahul has had a feeble middle order in KXIP for the past couple of years. This scenario requires him to stay in the middle, notching those half-centuries at a regular rate and batting deeper in the innings. The same case might be apt for someone like a Shikhar Dhawan when he played for Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier in his career.

Gautam Gambhir had a tricky Eden Gardens pitch to play on for a sizeable part of his career with KKR. Hence, he usually looked to stay around, knock the ball cautiously and steer his team to targets, thus achieving his half-centuries in this process.

Thus, traditional statistical standards aren’t as outdated as being perceived these days. Here, we look at the frequency with which our concerned batsmen scored half-centuries when they batted in the top three slots.

Suresh Raina and Gautam Gambhir’s numbers stand out here, considering the bulk of the matches that they have played and yet scored those 50s with such regularity. Not to forget, Shikhar Dhawan has batted in the top order in 151 encounters and yet bagged a half-century in every 4.19 innings, which is the third-best in this list.

Sanju Samson’s occasional bursts have hidden his lasting inconsistency and that could be seen in a relatively poor record of a 50+ score in every 5.8 innings despite having played only 58 innings in the top three spots.

Virender Sehwag’s tally is at 6.73 in 101 innings; further solidifying our previous claim that he was a swashbuckler in the start with a tendency to not occupy the crease for longer though. Virat Kohli has played 133 matches in the top-order and has acquired a half-century at a rate of one per 4.15 outings, which just magnifies the massive efficiency that the man has instilled in his gameplay. Parthiv Patel has played 130 innings, mostly whilst opening the batting, but has scored only 13 half-centuries.

Dhawan’s longevity and consistency needs to be lauded, otherwise his T20 abilities have often been a subject of conjecture.

Most importantly, KL Rahul puts forth a mystery yet again. He is far ahead in this race, just like every race that we have analyzed so far. The 27-year old scores a half-century in every three innings! But, his sample space is of 42 innings, which is quite lesser than the others like Kohli, Dhawan, Gambhir and Raina.

However, as the minimum criteria we have taken is of 1,500 runs; and KL surpasses that barrier by amassing 1,589 runs. So, should his achievements be given a lower status due to the lesser number of innings? That’s quite something to ponder upon.

Also read: KL Rahul vs Shikhar Dhawan in T20 Internationals: A mismatch

The ability to stay undisturbed on the crease…and take your side home

One of the more underrated and overlooked aspects in T20 batting is the importance of players carrying their bat right throughout the innings. Along with guiding their team to victory, of course.

The modern-day analysts have harped upon the need to go berserk or get out if one is unable to get their mojo properly in a T20 innings. But guess what? The shortest format of the game isn’t as much about blitzkrieg as one makes it out to be. There is scope to apply your brains to the game and tackle the tougher moments to lead your side to the win whilst remaining unbeaten at the crease.

It comes with a sense of authority to ensure the greater good of the team; to literally issue some command over the proceedings and deter any weaknesses later down the order through your own prowess of batting as deep into the innings as possible and crossing past the target mark.

Unfortunately we have delved so deep into invigorating numbers that the significance of conventional statistics has reduced. Here, we look at the importance of remaining unbeaten (not out) for a top-order batsman in T20s.

A question for you: What is one of the foremost factors through which the match-winning abilities or capability of a cricketer could be judged? Barring the other fringe statistical techniques, the most straightforward one is to count the number of times that a particular batsman has won the ‘Man of the Match’ award.

It equates to the notion that the performance delivered by that particular player in that match was arguably the best amongst the 22 people who participated in the game.

Now, we set out on a task to analyse the number of times the batsmen, whom we have taken into consideration, manage to stay unbeaten and win ‘Man of the Match’ too. The results were quite glaring:

1. Out of the 16 batsmen who are being analysed, they had combined won 117 ‘Man of the Matches’ whilst batting in the top three positions in the IPL.
2. These batsmen had remained not out on 50 occasions amongst these 117 encounters, which translates to the fact that the players have been unbeaten at the crease in 42.73% of times that they were the ‘MOM’.
3. Regardless of any rebuttal, this tells a fact that that a batsman is unbeaten once out of each 2.34 innings that he wins the game for his team. Such an observation should arguably not be ruled out whilst stating the importance of being ‘not out’ for a top-order batsman in the T20 game.

The above graph is an attempt to look at the players who are most prone to carry their bat and trigger a victory for their side simultaneously. It paints a curious picture, and one that must be popular but without much numerical evidence by now. The duo of Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane have been ‘not out’ the most number of times when they have been the ‘MOM’.

It is well-known that Kohli believes in not dropping his guards until he reaches the destination. Rahane often has a more conservative approach but still has a sensible, composed demeanor and would often steer his team to the target very responsibly.

Also read: Have Rajasthan Royals underperformed or exceeded expectations over the years?

Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina have been unbeaten on six occasions when they have been conferred with the ‘Player of the Match’. It is interesting to note that three of the aforementioned five players have been captains of their sides for a considerable period of time.

Whereas, Raina and Rahane have donned the role of being the most important batsmen in their teams, and hence they look to be undeterred if they have gotten set in that innings.

Most importantly, Shikhar Dhawan has been unbeaten on five out of the six instances, which is an astounding 83.33% of times that he has won the game for his team. Top Indian batsmen have cultivated an incredible sense of duty and hold themselves liable for the fortunes of the team.

Hence, remaining ‘not out’ is important for them whilst being in a situation to win the game, irrespective of the beliefs spread across by many analysts. Sachin Tendulkar did so four out of eight times, which represents startling consistency too. KL Rahul has managed to remain ‘not out’ only once in four occasions though, but with a greater number of matches to come, he can surpass others on this parameter.

The likes of Manish Pandey, Sanju Samson, Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu and Rahul Dravid haven’t really been impressive over here.

However, it is not something unremarkable, but rather an indication of a different approach towards the game; just that the route undertaken by the other lot of players has been more efficient. We have put the same data through another graph to allow the reader to a better comparative analysis.

Note: The missing name here is that of Sanju Samson.

Best Indian Top Order Batsman in IPL History – Verdict:

One of the interesting facets that we derived from this analysis was that Rohit Sharma has been lagging behind on different frameworks when his numbers from the top-order are taken. His rather indifferent form in the last few IPL seasons, coupled with more proficient statistics whilst batting in the number four position, makes for an interesting case that would be looked into later on.

Secondly, Suresh Raina has been hailed as the ‘Mr IPL’ by many, and rightfully so. However, his overall contributions have reduced in the previous couple of campaigns or so and that is reflected in the overall study.

Thirdly, Sachin Tendulkar had some fantastic statistics in the IPL considered he only played until 2013 and the demands and the dynamics of the T20 game were different then. From the older lot of players, his numbers stand apart and are quite remarkable. In some ways, it is also a bit unfair that we are putting statistics from almost a decade next to each other in comparison.

Virender Sehwag could have been ahead in this competition of sorts if only his average was a tad bit better, because an overall strike rate of 156.21 is extremely remarkable.

The ones who have been unable to catch up in almost all of the graphs are quite visible and there is relatively less to say about them.

However, the vital conclusion to draw over here is who triumphs between KL Rahul and Virat Kohli?

KL surpasses Kohli in almost every variable over here, barring the ‘not out when MOM’ criterion. His ‘BASRA’ of 183.93 is notably better than Virat’s 172.71. The Indian captain doesn’t match up to Rahul’s consistency whilst scoring half-centuries either.

It needs to be noted that the current KXIP skipper has transitioned to play in the top-order in the IPL on a consistent basis only in the past two years. Kohli, on the other hand, has been doing so majorly since the last decade or so. His sample space is also much larger than that of Rahul, as reiterated earlier too.

Virat has played 91 more innings than KL and still more or less matches him on all of these specifications. The latter has won the ‘Man of the Match’ every 10.5 innings, whereas Kohli has done so in each of his 11.08 outings.

Moreover, due to Virat’s exemplary form in the 2016 IPL campaign, almost 21.17% (i.e more than one-fifth of his runs in the top order) were scored in that single season itself. That accumulated to only 12.03% of his overall innings whilst batting the first three positions. KL has delivered fantastic perfomances in the last two years but he never had a ground-breaking series of outings like Virat did back then. His progression has been more stable, constant and hence he deserves credit for racking up those numbers sans a massive, outwardly successful campaign like Kohli’s run in 2016. 

Naturally, there is little to separate between the two of them. However, KL is widely regarded as India’s most indispensable asset in T20 internationals currently. Moreover, it is important to stay honest to the minimum criterion that was considered for this analysis, i.e. for having scored a minimum of 1500 runs in the top three batting positions.

Thus a larger sample space would be laudable to prove Virat’s credentials, but as of today, KL Rahul could certainly claim for having arguably been India’s best top-order batsman in the history of the IPL.

Written by Tarkesh Jha. Follow Tarkesh on Twitter today.

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