Statistical comparison between Michael Clarke and Kevin Pietersen

Pietersen didn’t get the many chances in the latter period of his one-day career

In one-day internationals

Due to a consistent back injury, Clarke did not play as many ODIs as he would have liked to. With Pietersen’s problems with the team and a dip in form, he was dropped many times in his career, which meant that he too did not play a lot of matches in the shorter format of the game. Clarke made his debut against England in 2003 where he did not make much of a mark. Pietersen’s one-day debut came in Zimbabwe in 2004 where he scored a 77* and finished the series with an average of 104.00. These are their stats for home and away matches:

ODIs at Home

Player	Matches	Runs	Average	100s	Highest
Michael Clarke	107	3358	38.59	2	117
Kevin Pietersen	52	1201	30.79	1	110*

ODIs Away

Player	Matches	Runs	Average	100s	Highest
Michael Clarke	138	4623	50.25	6	130
Kevin Pietersen	84	3239	46.27	8	130

Overall, Clarke is the better one-day batsman by some margin, having a higher average than Pietersen in both home and away games. Of course, Clarke has played more matches than Pietersen at the ODI level, but he has proven to be the more consistent batsman. Clarke has a 24% success rate of winning matches when he scores above his average, whereas Pietersen has a 14% success rate. Clarke preferred to use quick feet and traditional batting techniques while Pietersen welcomed the modern-day innovations and experimented with reverse-sweeps and switch-hits freely.

Clarke had back problem and that hampered his career

Away from home, Pietersen has scored heavily in India and South Africa, averaging 46.66 and 84.33 respectively. Clarke only has an average of 26.16 in South Africa, but boasts an average of 54.84 in India - but, the problem is that he has played 3 lesser matches and scored almost 400 runs lesser than Pietersen. Pietersen has 1120 runs in 26 matches in India while Clarke only has 713 runs in 23 matches.

On the other hand, Pietersen has struggled to score in Australia, making only 285 runs in 9 matches without a single century, while Clarke has thrived in England, scoring 1049 runs at an average of almost 50. Similarly in West Indies and New Zealand, Pietersen has an average of 43.66 and 33 while Clarke has excelled with averages of 65.72 and 47 respectively.

The Test of the Subcontinent

Both Clarke and Pietersen are known to be good players of spin. While Clarke usually steps out of the crease to smother the spin, Pietersen waits for the ball to arrive before playing his shots. Both batsmen have also shown major weakness against spin – Pietersen against the left arm spinners and Clark against leg-spinners.

For batsmen in the subcontinent, their biggest Test is to play well in Australia and the swinging conditions of England. Similarly, for players in England and Australia, the mettle of most batsmen is proven during a series in the subcontinent and playing quality spin-bowling. Here is what the statistics say:

In Tests: Playing in the Subcontinent

Player	Matches	Runs	Average	100s	Highest
Michael Clarke	20	1294	36.97	4	151
Kevin Pietersen	22	1573	40.33	4	186

A quick look proves that Pietersen has the upper hand over Clarke in the subcontinent. He has a higher average than Clarke and has scored almost 300 more runs than him in only 2 more matches. Pietersen has also had more success against all the subcontinent oppositions – averaging more than Michael Clarke in the case of each team. Here are the averages against each subcontinent team:

Player	Bangladesh	India	Pakistan	Sri Lanka
Michael Clarke	25.50	40.50	14.25	42.80
Kevin Pietersen	83.33	43.93	22.33	44.00

While it’s evident that both players have struggled against Pakistan, Pietersen has had the upper hand over Clarke against all the teams. Pietersen has especially scored more in Sri Lanka where the pitches are known to practically crumble over time and become very difficult to play on. With an unorthodox technique like Pietersen’s, it is remarkable that he has good numbers against a country that is tough to beat at home.

Pietersen has also contributed more in matches that his team have won, scoring 729 runs in 6 matches at an average of 81.00 compared to Clarke’s 466 in 5 matches at an average of 58.25. While Clarke is at his best when his team bats first, scoring 915 runs at an average of 43.57, Pietersen prefers to bat second, scoring 1059 runs at an average of 48.13. Interestingly, both Pietersen and Clarke have failed to perform in the second innings, with averages of 27 and 30 respectively.

In ODIs: Playing in the Subcontinent

Player	Matches	Runs	Average	100s	Highest
Michael Clarke	54	1904	54.40	4	130
Kevin Pietersen	40	1638	45.50	3	130

While it would seem that Clarke has the better numbers, a closer look would give second doubts. Though Clarke has an average of almost 10 more runs than Pietersen, he has played 14 more matches than him, scoring only 266 more runs. Clarke also has 12 not outs, when compared to Pietersen’s 4. When it comes to averages in different countries, Clarke is ahead of Pietersen in all countries except the UAE. Here are their averages:

Player	In Bangladesh	In India	In UAE	In Sri Lanka
Michael Clarke	54.50	54.84	63.57	51.28
Kevin Pietersen	13.66	46.66	84.38	28.00

Clarke has an average of 50+ in all the subcontinent countries while Pietersen only has one 50+ average. While Pietersen has done well against Sri Lanka in Test matches, he fails to stand out in ODIs, with an average of only 28.00. True to his nature of being a good player of spin, Clarke has his highest average of 54.84 in India, where he made his debut in 2003. Pietersen has a dismal record in Bangladesh, scoring only 41 runs in 3 games with a paltry average of 13.66 while Clarke has 218 runs in 6 games with an average of 54.50.

Pietersen has similar records while batting first and chasing – 871 runs at 43.55 and 767 runs at 47.93 respectively. But in the case of Clarke, his average shoots up dramatically whenever Australia chases down a target. While he has scored 1091 runs at an average of 47.43 batting first, his average rises to 80.50 when batting second, with 644 runs in 23 matches.