"OVERRATED" Cricketers

The term OVERRATED is used most often with some international cricketers which confuses me a lot. Why are they called “overrated” ??? What exactly is the meaning of the term “overrated” ???What is the criteria for a player to be called “overrated” ???I had long chats with many cricket crazy fans, put in a lot of thoughts, lots of research through stats etc ; to get no concrete output….

My Conclusion:A player is rated on his domestic records and initial performances in International level, and if the player fails to live up to the hype created due to the ratings by the experts / former players he will be termed as “OVERRATED CRICKETER”.Here is a little statistical analysis which includes Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting (both rated as greats), Rahul Dravid, Jack Kallis (both considered as underrated) & Shahid Afridi, Rohit Sharma ( both considered as overated).We don’t need to talk abour Sachin or Ricky’s greatness, but the point here is both had the worst period of their career off late. Sachin since WC2011 is not even 1/3 of stature his actually is statistically; so was Ricky until he retired.

Here are the exact numbersSachin in tests since wc 2011 :Matches-20..Runs-1112..avg-32.70..100′s-0

Punter in tests since wc 2011 till his retirement: Matches-16..Runs-1015..Avg-37.59..100′s-2

But these greats were never called “overrated” as they had proved themselves throughout their career & justified their ratings.Dravid & Kallis are generally termed as underrated cricketers mostly because of their stats which are as strong as Ponting or Sachin.Here are their career stats :Rahul Dravid in tests : Matches-164..Runs-13288.Avg-52.31.

Rahul Dravid in ODI’s-Matches-344..Runs-10889..Avg-39.16

Jacques kallis in Tests :Matchs-162..Runs-13182..Avg-56.10

Jacques Kallis in ODI’s:Matches-321..Runs-11498..Avg-45.26

But for Dravid whenever he performed on most occassions there was someone else who was a dominant partner right from his debut where Ganguly scored a Century on debut; so his role was supportive in major part of his career. He got his due recognition every time but was overshadowed by other batsman’s heroics.Similarly for Kallis, he always contributed for his team with both bat and bowl but there was a Batsman or a Bowler who took the major share compared to Kallis on many occassions which overshadowed Kallis’s performance but like Dravid, He too got his due recognitions.

Now let’s talk about the third set of cricketers; Shahid Afridi & Rohit Sharma.

Shahid Afridi, one of the most attacking batsman in ODI history is considered Overrated just cause of his inconsistency. The only man in ODIs with 3 centuries with SR of 200+ out of 5 in total can’t be called overrated right ??? Also his bowling is a plus for any side, one of the fastest spinners in the world makes him even more difficult to play. Shahid Afridi has talent and he has proved it on many occassions, very recently against SA too.

Rohit sharma in FC: Matches-57..Runs-4683..Avg-60.03..100′s-15

Rohit sharma in ODI’s-Matches-88..Runs-2065..Avg-30.82..100′s-2

Rohit Sharma has very strong first class domestic record, better than many who made test debut in last 3 years or so. He got chances in ODIs & proved his talent in CB series in 2008, unlucky to get injured & miss the golden chance of test debut. He got his chances & did well in patches against WI but failed to make a mark later which led to the tag of being overrated.Both Afridi & Rohit are talented & got deserved appreciation & expectations for themselves but luck, form & some irresponsible approach let them downSo, for a player to get a chance at right time & converting them into a cemented place in the playing 11 is the only option to stay away from the tag “OVERRATED”.