The case of KL Rahul in Tests

It's unfair to talk about someone when they are not doing well. Therefore the intention of this blog is not rant on KL Rahul or his performances of late but to lend some statistical evidence as to why ordinary cricket fans like me are pining for a change at the top of India's batting order. I will also urge my readers to look up Jarrod Kimber's video which presents a very interesting take on KL Rahul's performances.

In order to help my analysis, I visited Cricinfo to garner some vital stats about Rahul's career. I looked at his overall numbers and came up with a scatter plot of his batting performances in tests.

Rahul's test career average from 2014-2023

Scatter Plot of KL Rahul's test performances from 2014-2023

When I analyzed Rahul's entire test career, 64% of his innings yielded less than 30 runs. 86% of these innings produced 20 runs or less.

Rahul's test scores' breakdown

When I confined my examination to his 3rd and 4th innings' scores, the occurrence of a low score increased to more than 70% and his average in these innings dropped to 23. If I remove his 4th innings rearguard of 149 from The Oval in 2018 as an outlier, then his average peters out to 19 with only three 50+ scores in the penultimate and final innings of test matches.

Rahul's 3rd and 4th innings' scores' breakdown

I also looked at the median score from his 81 test innings and that came out to be only 16 which means that 50% of his test scores have come for 16 runs or less. This is exactly the reason why Rahul doesn't inspire confidence in the Indian cricket fan who has consistently been let down in big match conditions in the past few years.

There's no denying the fact that the team management sees tremendous potential in Rahul but there's also no way around these simple stats I presented above. These numbers don't augur well for someone who has been groomed for sometime as this nation's talisman. It's time that India won an ICC trophy, we need someone whom we can solidly rely upon rather than rely on talent who look the part. Maybe, Rahul can still turn all of this around and win one for the home team. Until that happens, a change of guard at the top looks to be the natural step forward.

What are your thoughts? Whom do you think should take over from Rahul? Leave a comment!

Until Next Time,

Your Cricket Fan,

Chaitanya J.J.

Comments

Goran Ivanisevic: A hero for all seasons (Part 2)

The turn of the millennium signaled the business end of school for me. With the retirement of most of my favorites I no longer found the time to follow and watch tennis. But all of that was about to change with the comeback of a hero whom no one gave a chance. 2001 Wimbledon I had just finished school when the 2001 Wimbledon Championships rolled in. I had plenty of time on hand but had no interest in the championships as Pete Sampras the defending champion was in ominous form and with all due respect to Sampras I had no interest seeing him lift the trophy once again. Two days into Wimbledon I was extremely surprised and thrilled to know that Ivanisevic was playing in the championships on a wild card . By that point Ivanisevic had almost retired with a recurring shoulder injury. If a slump in form and fitness wasn't enough his father's heart problem and sister's cancer diagnosis pushed him to the edge. Ranked 125 in the world , his final attempt at glory was a ...

KBR National Park

In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the fifth largest city in India - Hyderabad lies KBR (Kasu Brahmananda Reddy) National Park . It's difficult to imagine a natural habitat in the center of a concrete jungle but that's exactly what KBR park is - an oasis in middle of an urban desert . One of Hyderabad's prized tourist attractions which in my opinion doesn't get the attention it deserves. The Entrance <Courtesy: Andhra Aroma > I don't remember when I first noticed the park but it soon became a sight which I couldn't miss during the course of my everyday commute to work. I always wondered what lay beyond the entrance but never found the time to check it out for myself until last year. But let me back up a bit, there's a back story to my first visit to the park. In my ' Count Your Blessings ' post, I talked about how a walk around my office building started a positive change in my life. That incident made ' walking ' ...

Zamarrud Theatre Hyderabad

More than two decades ago a 5 year old boy (yours truly) found himself in Abids which was certainly then the microcosm of Hyderabad. Abids in the 80s <Courtesy: OkaTeluguAbbayi > The occasion was a family outing to Zamarrud Cinema. And we are stepping out for not just any movie my friends, my parents decided that nothing less than the Raj Kapoor blockbuster Chori Chori was good enough for us. To be honest I wasn't exactly enthused about watching a black and white film of a bygone era even though the movie had all the credentials of a classic. But that was before I saw Zamarrud, the theatre where the movie was being played. Nested in the heart of Abids, Zamarrud was the perfect amalgamation of Hyderabad's old world charm and new fangled ways. Zamarrud was not just any theatre, it was one of the first air conditioned halls in Hyderabad, a premiere cinema hall which used to host the best of what the film industry had to offer and the place to go for Hyderabad...

Hyderabad a Biography by Narendra Luther

My 60th post had to bring me back to Hyderabad, the place where it all began. There are books which allow you to pass time and there are books which transport you into another time. ' Hyderabad a Biography ' by Mr. Narendra Luther belongs to the second category. I picked up this book a few years ago amidst intense work schedules and instantly fell in love with it for it's wit and charm. I've read books which either narrated history with gravity or recollected facts with solemnity but Mr. Luther's book was the first I read where history was recounted with generous sprinklings of humor. Plus how can I not love a book about Hyderabad, my hometown and one of the most vibrant cities on the face of earth. A city with a rich history of more than 1000 years and for centuries a melting point of cultures from all over the world . Here was a region which remained a country within a country long after India gained independence, braved it's period of turmoil and instabil...

Mahabharata - An All Time Classic by C.Rajagopalachari

There are books which you read and then there are books which make you read them and change your life. Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari's (Rajaji's) Mahabharata belongs to the latter category. Mahabharata introduced me to the joy of reading books as a kid and today I couldn't have picked a better topic for my 25th post. I cannot describe what a pleasure and honor it is to extol the virtues of this classic book during this holy festive season of Makar Sankranti . Mahabharata an all time classic by C. Rajagopalachari The story of Mahabharata is as old as the mountains and has been retold several times. Mahabharata by Rajaji however stands out in my mind because here is a story which is spiritual yet not religious, is thought provoking yet not preachy, is compelling yet not tedious. The story left an indelible impression upon me for several reasons which are: Rajaji uses extremely simple language to convey some of the finer aspects of the saga. I was 10 years old when I r...

Life Etc Etc

Search This Blog