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.
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.