Tendulkar's diminishing returns, and McGrath the batsman
Perhaps numbers never do reveal the full story, but they tell a large part of it
Is Sachin Tendulkar a lesser batsman than he was a few years back? It's the question which has dominated the sports pages of Indian newspapers for a while now, and elicits passionate opinions after his every failure. And there have been an unusually high number of low scores from his bat of late - in his last 26 innings, 15 have been sub-10 scores. The spark of genius still comes through occasionally - less than a month back, he crafted a superb 55 against the Australians at Mumbai that went a long way in winning India the Test - but unlike in the past, the consistency has gone down a few notches. In the first half of his career, he was seldom dismissed for single-digit scores; over the last 20 months, it's become commonplace.
Sachin Tendulkar in ... | Innings | Single-digit scores | Percentage |
... his first 103 Tests | 165 | 38 | 23.03 |
... his last 15 Tests | 26 | 15 | 57.69 |
Tendulkar's wagon-wheel | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
Thirdman | 9.27 | 13.07 | 9.51 |
Point & cover | 33.12 | 25.49 | 22.98 |
Mid-off | 5.89 | 7.19 | 4.60 |
Total off side | 48.28 | 45.75 | 37.08 |
Mid-on | 6.47 | 10.46 | 9.83 |
Midwicket & sq. leg | 35.35 | 33.99 | 38.67 |
Fine leg | 9.91 | 9.80 | 14.42 |
Total on side | 51.72 | 54.25 | 62.92 |
Anil Kumble began his Test career only nine months after Tendulkar, and 14 years later, is probably bowling better than he ever has - in Test matches at least. When he dismissed Makhaya Ntini in the second innings at Kolkata, Kumble joined Kapil Dev as India's highest wicket-taker in Tests. Kumble's 434 wickets came in just 90 matches, 41 fewer than it took Kapil to reach that landmark, but the striking aspect of his career has been his contribution to Indian victories - there's been no-one who has been a bigger matchwinner. The table below shows just wide the gulf is - Kumble has 199 wickets in Indian wins, 101 more than BS Chandrasekhar, who is in second place, and more than Chandra and Bishan Bedi put together. It's also interesting to note what his spin partner Harbhajan Singh has achieved in such a short period of time - he is already in second place among India's most successful bowlers in home wins, with an amazing 83 wickets from 11 victorious matches.
Matches won | Wkts in matches won | Matches won at home |
Wkts in home wins | |
Kumble | 28 | 199 | 23 | 165 |
Chandrasekhar | 14 | 98 | 9 | 56 |
Bedi | 17 | 97 | 9 | 65 |
Harbhajan | 15 | 94 | 11 | 83 |
Kapil | 24 | 90 | 20 | 74 |
Prasanna | 15 | 81 | 8 | 39 |
Srinath | 17 | 68 | 13 | 52 |
Glenn McGrath is well on his way to becoming an allrounder. His 61 against New Zealand at the Gabba catapulted his batting average from 6.53 to 7.27 - a phenomenal jump of 0.74 in just one innings. It also increased the difference between his aggregate runs and wickets to 75: there was once the fond hope that he might end up with more Test wickets than runs - before that innings, the difference was only 23 - but that looks almost impossible now. McGrath is still some way from becoming the best No. 11, though. Among those with at least 25 Tests, he is only tenth in the list. Bill Johnston, a left-arm bowler who played for Australia in the 1940s and `50s, leading the way with an average of 14.
Best No. 11 batsmen (at least 25 Tests) |
Tests | Runs | Ave |
Johnston | 30 | 159 | 14.45 |
Statham | 44 | 348 | 13.91 |
Donald | 25 | 204 | 13.59 |
Muralitharan | 62 | 526 | 13.15 |
Willis | 60 | 452 | 12.91 |