Statistical flaws in three legendary batsmen

Statistics and numbers have a great significance in cricket, for both fans and players. Statistics reveal a lot of things about a cricket; his scoring pattern, performances in different conditions versus different bowlers and so on. The statistics also complement the greatness of a player to a large extent. Sachin, arguably the greatest cricketer of all time, was classy and consistent in the field, which can be seen in his statistics.

Nobody is perfect, that's why pencils have erasers. Even in the case of cricketers, they have several technical and statistical flaws. Today, let us have a look at the statistical flaws of some of the greatest cricketers of all times.

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AB de Villiers

AB de Villiers is one of the most innovative, classy and entertaining cricket of all times. Looking at AB de Villiers' Test statistics, one may feel that they're very less he could do wrong. Yes, he doesn't have a lot of statistical flaws except for a few.

AB de Villiers has never been a consistent performer in the fourth innings of a Test match, i.e. while chasing. AB de Villiers has batted 35 times in the fourth innings, where he has scored just 1141 runs at an average of 38.03, which is 12.63 less than his overall Test average.

Similarly, his RPI (Runs Per Innings) in the 4th innings of Test cricket is just 32.6, 13.29 less than his overall Test average. Although de Villiers received fine starts to his innings, he could make only two of his milestones count, one century and one half-century. The Proteas batsman has scored two centuries and six half-centuries in the fourth innings out of which one century and five half-centuries have come in lost matches.

However, fourth innings failure is common for a majority of the players, as only a few manage to accumulate runs while chasing in Test cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar

Finding the flaws in such a complete player is not easy at all. Hailed as the greatest batsman of all times, across all the formats, Sachin's statistics speak for him. However, Sachin had a major weakness in ODI cricket in one particular aspect.

What's a major parameter for judging an Asian cricketer in ODI cricket? Well, there are many parameters among which performance in SENA countries is a major one. SENA refers to South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia; these were the strong countries during Sachin's period as they were filled with great cricketers.

Let us look at Sachin Tendulkar's performances in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia against those particular teams.

While Sachin's overall average in ODI cricket is 44.83, which was excellent during his time, his average after filtering his performances against the above-mentioned countries at their home reads just 31.84. Now, for a player of Sachin's quality, 31.84 is just not justifiable. However, Sachin scored 4 centuries and 15 half-centuries which again shows his failure to convert the fifties into hundreds.

Sir Viv Richards

Miles ahead of his generation, Sir Viv Richards is regarded as the greatest ODI batsman of all times by a majority of cricket fans and pundits. Viv's aggression and destructiveness made him the most feared batsman for many bowlers.

Viv dominated almost every kind of bowling attack throughout his career but failed to dominate the Pakistani bowling attack of his time. The Pakistani bowling attack during that time consisted mainly of Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir and Wasim Akram, supported by the likes of Sarfraz Nawaz, Shoaib Mohammad, etc. at different time periods.

Sir Viv Richards averaged just 30.82 against the Pakistani bowling attack, approximately 16 less than his overall average. Viv scored just 1079 runs against Pakistan in 39 innings, as he was troubled a lot by Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir, Sarfraz Nawaz, and Shoaib Mohammad. Imran Khan, Abdul Qadir, Sarfraz Nawaz, and Shoaib Mohammad dismissed Viv Richards for 7, 5, 5 and 3 times respectively. However, Viv wasn't troubled by the Sultan of swing bowling.