Indian Premier League (IPL)

[indiansportsfan]

Pandya again showed why it was a big mistake for MI to make him the captain, when they already had Rohit and SKY. He is not good enough right now to make an IPL XI let alone the national team. Now I don't think MI can salvage this season. Their best move may be to make SKY as the captain and "rest" Pandya, if they don't want to go back to Rohit.

[prasen9]

Kumar, I will never cheer a home team player's dismissal to see anyone bat. I will also never cheer an opposing player if KKR is playing them even though I love them.

ISF, Hardik was by the numbers the best player in this year's IPL at least one match back among pace-bowling allrounders, i.e., allrounders who can bowl reasonably regularly and complete 4 overs especially in a world without an impact sub. I totally hate the new Hardik that tries to build an innings instead of trying to hit the cover of every ball (say after 5 balls). He is useless in such a role and should be pushed back to #7 or so to be most effective. Anyway, he may be out of form too. But, it is totally apalling that we do not have any other pace-bowling allrounder with really no player who is an athlete, i.e., naturally a pace bowler and naturally gifted batter. Or if they are they are not being played. I am not talking of Dighe or Venky Iyer who just come in and roll their arms - can give you an over here and there but often are hit and cannot be relied on to take wickets if given 4 overs. We really need a fit and in form Pandya. Or someone who emerges to do that job well.

[indiansportsfan]

To make the team, you need to either have a high batting strike rate, or be economical/wicket-taking with the bowling. In the current form, or even in the previous season, he could do neither, so I don't think he deserves a spot in the national team. In the current form, he doesn't even deserve a spot in the MI starting XI. He has already been responsible for a few of their losses.

Also the only reason he finds a spot in this year's allrounder list is that he is over-bowling himself as he is the captain. Another captain would not give him so many overs. His stats are abysmal.

[Atithee]

Hardik is a distraction to the team—I guarantee you even if he’s chosen, he’ll pull out after a game or two with an injury. He should not be chosen for the world cup team already saddled with old school lot. Watch Chahal leak runs and hardly take any wickets too should he be chosen. We need to stay away from these two.

[prasen9]

I am perfectly fine with staying away from these two. My point was that Hardik is still the best pace-bowling allrounder. He is just very bad now. But the other all-rounders who bowl pace are all worse than him (sorry if I missed anyone). So, drop him. We will go without pace-bowling allrounders and have a long tail. Nobody in the national setup really cares about building depth in this area.

[Kumar]

Kumar, I will never cheer a home team player's dismissal to see anyone bat. I will also never cheer an opposing player if KKR is playing them even though I love them.

We are all called fanatics for a reason. Probably this is a most logical thing (fans and logic should be oxymoron) for someone who wants entertainment. At the end, we want to walk out feeling happy. Lot of times even if ur team loses, but your favorite player does well we go home happy. Does it make them traitors? The whole concept of team in this highly ME first world is archaic. If u give player two choices, individual success or team success but not both, what do u think he will chose?

[prasen9]

I don't think they are traitors. It depends upon whether you are talking about individual events or aggregate.

If the choice is: you will fail but your team will win and it is the WC final, almost all except the total psychopath will choose the team winning.

However, if the choice is on the aggregate and not on an event basis: you will fail the next five years but your team will win. Or vice-versa. Most players will choose themselves. For otherwise, they will be really out of a job and not last five years.

I can't think of a foreign player whom I enjoyed watching bat or ball. Maybe Shane Warne because of the sheer artistry. Among Indians, I enjoy the sheer audacity of Sehwag. Even then, when Sehwag was playing against KKR say, I would want him out first ball.

Maybe for me happiness comes from winning. I love the artistry of a Kohli cover drive, and Rohit's sublime shots. But, again, against KKR, I root for a first ball zero. Actually, even if say KKR had 300 on the board in a T20 and the other team was 4 down after 10 overs for paltry runs, and say for some reason Kohli or Rohit or whoever comes in. I want them to be out first ball.

Now, as a third party observer, I would possibly admire Dhoni's 3 6's in a row. But, again, nothing is ever third party except for a bilateral series maybe between NZ and Aus, say. In this case, I was rooting for MI because CSK is closer to KKR on the table than MI. So, from the KKR perspective, Dhoni's 6s are bad.

[prasen9]

Interesting Samson is ahead in the WK derby. With Ishan, KL, and DK back to back at #36, #37, and #41 wrt impact/game. Pant at #61. Jitesh #123. Jurel #145. The impact/game is skewed towards people who bat a bit up the order because they get more chances to bat.

[karr]

I will try to study Espn's impact calculations and understand better how its computed. Of particular interest would be how they seek to normalize various factors, both within games and potentially outside. I am assuming batting impact automatically normalizes for stuff like grounds, as the impact would have been relative to other players within the game. That should in theory make it more trustworthy than compared to say Strike Rate (SR) which wouldn't normalize the effect of a small ground. So DK may get an advantage in SR since he bats more often at Bangalore.

Player Inns NO Runs HS Ave SR
KD Karthik 6 3 226 83 75.33 205.45
Ishan Kishan 6 - 184 69 30.66 178.64
RR Pant 6 - 194 55 32.33 157.72
SV Samson 6 2 264 82* 66 155.29
KL Rahul 6 - 204 58 34 138.77


PLAYER Inns Runs Impact Runs BI/inn Batting Impact
Sanju Samson 6 264 272.8 47 282.2
Dinesh Karthik 6 226 238.4 40.4 242.5
Ishan Kishan 6 184 203.5 37.7 226.6
KL Rahul 6 204 220.6 36.3 218
Rishabh Pant 6 194 191.7 28.5 171.5

[prasen9]

Wrt total impact, I think ESPN also includes catches and stumpings. I used total impact to account for their fielding a bit but maybe in T20s we don't care that much about the keeping?

I hate the Bengaluru ground. They need to figure out how to make the field a tad bigger without causing injury hazards for fielders.

[Kumar]

Ishan kishen has changed his approach this IPL. Still at this time, Sanju has been our best WKB.

Rohit , Kohli, Sky and Jadeja among top 7 batsman

Who will take the remaining three spots?
Gill, Sanju, Rinku, Pandya and Dube are probably the favorites due to past track record and Indian team refusal to go with newcomers. Jaiswal may have lost his chance unless he can turn around.

Parag and Abhishek looking in from outside. The fact that Abhishek is bowling may give him the edge.

[Kumar]

We need to open a new thread and define parameters that will define impact.

I would not consider yesterday DK innings to be highly impactful. There was very little pressure and he had nothing to loose.

[prasen9]

Jadeja T20 batsman?

[Kumar]

Jadeja T20 batsman?

I am not talking about my choice .. more of players whoare locks to make the team. Jadeja will be the top 7 batsman in the team.

What a game? Disappointing that none of indian players staked their claim .. looking at Sanju, Jaiswal, Parag, Jurel..

[prasen9]

I would rather use the term "player" than top 7 batsman, although I suppose since he bats he is in the top 7 batsmen as Bumrah is in the top 11 batsmen.