The 6th batsman puzzle: A statistical comparison

Batsmen Batsmen everywhere, not a Batsman to stay!

Since Ganguly’s retirement, India have struggled to find a permanent number 6 batsman for quite a long time now. It is worth mentioning that Ganguly retired in November 2008 and since then, it has been a game of musical chairs between Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, both of whom have failed to impress. On researching, I found some puzzling statistics related to this. Although statistics are not exact measure of quality, but numbers don’t lie too.

The following image shows overall record of Yuvraj and Raina in Test matches – a dismal story of averages. Raina’s average shows how many chances he has botched up.

On foreign tours, amazingly, Raina’s average picks up a little. Yuvraj’s average however plummets down below 30. Both of them again show unimpressive figures.

At home, Yuvraj is impressive with a stable average of 42. Raina, surprisingly for most, averages just a meagre 20 at home. Think again before calling him a good-for-home batsman!

Only VVS Laxman and Virat Kohli have looked good at number 6 since Ganguly’s retirement. The former has retired and the latter now bats at number 5.

The ignored men: Look how prolific Rahane, Badrinath and others have been. Technically sound batsmen have been waiting in the wings for too long but the selectors have turned a blind eye towards them. It’s time they get their due! Badrinath has already crossed 32 years of age. Others still have to advantage of age though.

Now this shows India’s dismal story. I searched for the record of number 6 position batsmen in last 10 years. All Test playing nations have one stable batsman there. India’s illogical selection policy has kept this spot open even now.

All in all, it’s time the selectors stop fiddling with same old options that aren’t clicking. The ones waiting in the wings have to be tested. That is how the Ranji performers will be rewarded and not just IPL stars. Justice awaits. Where are the selectors to bring it to fruition?

*The statistics are updated till before the India-England Test series in November 2012.