Curious logic of the fan Part 4: Batting average and Bowling average

While the cricket fan generally responds to analytical arguments with ‘numbers do not mean anything/everything’, we also come across some curious logic of the zealot trying rigorous logic.

While the cricket fan generally responds to analytical arguments with ‘numbers do not mean anything/everything’, we also come across some curious logic of the zealot trying rigorous logic. In this series S Chuzzlewit takes you through some of the most hilarious ones. 

We have seen so often that Indian teams fail abroad due to the inability of the bowlers to blast through batting line-ups. 

It is of scarce wonder that the team has not won much abroad Especially given that no Indian bowler has ever averaged less than 28 (Ravichandran Ashwin does average 25 now, but his career is only about halfway through. For that matter Ravindra Jadeja averages 23. But a career stretching across domestic and foreign soils is a different story). More specifically, no fast bowler averages less than 29. 

We can ignore the major historical cricketing powers like Australia, West Indies and England. Even New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Pakistan have bowlers with way better averages than the best India has ever thrown up. 

However, this fact is too prosaic for the batting-mad Indian fans. Just as every win is accompanied by making heroes of batsmen, every batting milestone is celebrated with abandon; the fan would also like to tear down the batting unit for every debacle. 

So, when India lost the series in Australia 0-2 in 2014-15, the normal witch-hunt was on. The difference was stark enough. While Virat Kohli (86.50), Murali Vijay (60.25), Ajinkya Rahane (57.00) had been splendid with the bat, the bowlers had been sent on a leather hunt. Mohammed Shami headed the averages with 35.80, Ishant Sharma coming second with 45.00, Ashwin and Umesh Yadav averaging in the late 40s. This was in stark contrast to Josh Hazlewood (29.33), Ryan Harris (33.40), Nathan Lyon (34.82) and Mitchell Johnson (35.46). The Australian bowlers, to a great extent, had done what they were supposed to do. 

But, some Indian fans came up with a great bit of logic that put the blame squarely on the batters as well as the bowlers. 

“The difference between the overall batting average of the Australians and the Indians is the same as the difference between the overall bowling averages of the two sides. It proves that batting is as much to blame as bowling.” 

Ah, well…

(Disclaimer: This article is about the cricket fan and his arguments and not about the cricketers.)

(S Chuzzlewit is a chronicler who sees the world of cricket through a sometimes light-hearted and often brutal lens)

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