Lies, damn lies and statistics

Are statistics really important? The craze for numbers started when people started valuing a three digit number more than the highest two digit number. Is 100 that valuable than 99? People are madly waiting for that one three-digit figure. But what no one really cares for is what that man thinks for his records. The expectation creates pressure and it disappoints everyone. Not only Sachin, many great players have become the victim of ‘nervous nineties’. In test cricket alone, there have been 87 instances where the batsman has got out on 99. There are seven instances where the batsman was not out on 99. Does this mean that the batsman was satisfied with the team’s victory when he had scored a 99? Or will he be happy when he has scored one more run and the team lost? Well, it sounds like a paradox and yes it is.

In the previous two matches of the CB series, Gambhir got out on his 90s and Dhoni finished the innings in the last over. Dhoni was praised for keeping his cool in the death overs. Does that mean that numbers are not important?

Lately, there’s been a lot of debate as to who’s the best – Ganguly or Dhoni? Sachin or Dravid? Dravid or Hussey? And needless to mention the classic Sachin vs Bradman. Frankly, the comparison is senseless and a waste of time. Bradman hardly played in ten grounds in two countries, played against the same bowling attack and in a period when under arm bowling was legal and people still used mats like the school kids do these days. Whereas Sachin has a century against ten test playing nations, played the seam of Walsh, the reverse swing of Waqar, the doosra of Saqlain, the express bowling of Akhtar, the magic of Warne, Murali and god-knows-what-malinga-bowls. So, I request you not to spend time in such useless talks as Sachin is miles ahead of Sir Don Bradman.

Being an Indian, I should not miss out the comparison between Sachin and Sehwag. Having the special double century in ODI and two triple centuries in tests doesn’t make Sehwag any better than GOD. But again the question: given the fact that he has achieved these feats with a boundary, is Sehwag better in handling the pressure of ‘nervous nineties’?

Indian players have featured 6 times in the list of players scoring more than 250 in a test innings and Sehwag features 4 times in that list, the other two being Laxman and Dravid. Does this record make Sachin ‘not a good’ test player?

You can articulate anything with statistics but one thing is always true – Cricket is a sport which is both interesting and annoying when you look through statistics spectacles.