[al Furqaan]

Originally Posted by Gowza
i didn't say he was different to the players you mentioned (at least not from the way you describe them), all of the players you mentioned have the ability to play shots but also get 1s and 2s and do it at a decent rate, it's their mentality that brings them down. however i think tamim more often plays safer shots, players like ashraful and aftab no matter how well they hit the ball most of the time play a risky shot, tamim plays a few more sensible shots imo (though he still plays some terrible ones). but the 1s and 2s is something tamim has the ability to do better than a few others, a lot of BD players struggle to hit 1s and 2s, i think the reason tamim doesn't get them often isn't because it's hard for him it's because he's looking for the boundary too often.

this is true, although players like ash and sakib i think (along with raqib) are quite adept at scoring without using boundaries.

in fact, well before you joined BC, i had done a bit of research...the research needs to updated, btw...i tried to figure out which of our players can score most freely without relying on 4s or 6s.

aftab was the worst, and ash and alok were the best. with alok taking top honors by quite a long shot.

currently, i would say sakib and raqib are also quite good, with perhas sakib being the best.

here is my post with the research done way back in february 2007:

its been a long time (if ever) we have had a solid pair of batsman who could rotate the strike with singles (and 2s and 3s) in the middle overs with the field spread out. boundaries run dry even for the best of batsman. our batsman would never really play correctly.

but now we have a #4 and a #6 who are perhaps the best batsman at rotating the strike and taking those singles when boundaries are all but covered. saqib and ashraful seem to do that job well.

from this 1st ODI against zimbabwe lets look at the stats.

saqib scores 68 runs at a SR of over 90, ash 22 @ over 80. saqib hits 6 boundaries totaling 24 runs, ash a singular 4.

saqib scored just 35% of his runs from boundaries.

ash scored 18%.

of course, alok kapali was another stalwart in this regard, but he's not in the squad and most people don't want to see him.

looking at our current batsman lets see who scores how many runs from boundaries:

S Nafees: 1321 ODI runs, 169 fours, 3 sixes = 52.5% reliance on boundaries (BR)
Javed Omar: 1166 runs, 125 fours, 3 sixes = 44.4% reliance
Rajin Saleh: 1005 runs, 94 fours, 3 sixes = 39.2% reliance
Aftab Ahmed: 1257 runs, 135 fours, 36 sixes = 60.1% reliance
Ashraful: 1529 runs, 157 fours, 18 sixes = 48.1% reliance
Bashar: stats unavailable
Saqib: 429 runs, 43 fours, 0 sixes = 40.1% reliance
Alok Kapali: 964 runs, 76 fours, 4 sixes = 34.0% reliance
Rana: 331 runs, 21 fours, 1 six = 27.2% reliance

now that we have the percentage of each player's total runs which are from boundaries (both 4s and 6s), we can calculate their "singles strike rate" (SSR) which is the number of runs scored via 1s, 2s, and 3s out of 100 (like a total SR minus the boundaries).
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sample calculation:

say batsman X has scored 3000 ODI runs in his career, with 250 4s, and 15 6s and a SR of 75.00
% BR = (250*4 + 15*6)/3000 = 36.3% BR (boundary reliance)

36.3% BR * 75 SR = 27.2 runs via boundaries per 100 balls faced

75 - 27.2 = 47.8 runs via singles (1s, 2s, and 3s) = 47.80 SSR (singles strike rate)

the SSR is the number of singles per 100 deliveries that the said batsman will score on average. its a SR which is only concerned with singles and not 4s or 6s.
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final analysis

Javed: BR = 44.4%, SR = 52.21 ---> SSR = 29.03
S Nafees: BR = 52.5%, SR = 69.45 ---> SSR = 32.99

SN has played exclusively as an opener and thus his stats are relatively meaningless. given 9 fielders in proximity, singles will be hard to come by, as most well hit balls will go for 4 or 6. same with javed, tho bear in mind javed has played at least a couple of innings in the middle order.

Rajin: BR = 39.2%, SR = 54.82 ---> SSR = 33.33
Rana: BR = 27.2%, SR = 49.55 ---> SSR = 36.07

these two have spent most of their innings in the middle order, which is why rajin saleh (now an opener) has more meaningful stats than nafees and omar.

Aftab: BR = 60.1%, SR = 85.22 ---> SSR = 34.00
Ashraful: BR = 48.1%, SR = 71.01 ---> SSR = 36.85
Saqib: BR = 40.1%, SR = 70.55 ---> SSR = 42.26
Alok: BR = 34.0%, SR = 65.66 ---> SSR = 43.34

mean SSR = 35.98
median SSR = 35.04
standard deviation = 4.82
n (sample size) = 8
range = 14.31

Conclusion

***interestingly, the variability in SSR is smaller than that in regular SR. the range in SR is almost 36 compared to in SSR of only 14.31

as we all guessed, javed has a very tough time picking up singles. coupled with his low SR, he's a huge liability, which is why even when he plays a long innings, bangladesh won't set up a big total.

Nafees' SRR is quite better, but its still lower than the average. this doesn't affect us much since he spends most of his time batting during fielding restrictions. also, when he does play a long innings, his SR picks up considerably. think about it, SN often starts with Javed's pace, but has a career SR of almost 70 compared to Javed's 52.

rajin has a much better SSR than javed but an almost identical SR, indicating rajin is better suited in the middle order, and not opening. at least relative to JO.

rana has a significant SSR, and most will agree its a shame he didn't get that many chances, although now he wouldn't fit in XI.

aftab surprised me a little, his SSR is not bad, just 1 under the mean even though he is overly dependent on boundaries. the reason is because he scores so fluently, his singles rate is higher than some others. this indicates that if aftab sticks his butt to the crease, big scores are not far away.

ash didn't surprise. BC members have long stated that he can rotate the strike better than anyone else. true his stats show he does. he just has to stay at the wicket more.

saqib and alok led the charge, with alok taking top honors. this is good news for saqib of course. now spitfire was the first person who informed me that alok was good at rotating strike in the middle overs. i vehemntly disagreed, and was cogently proven wrong by him several weeks ago ( i wonder if spitty remembers...). anyways, i figure if tushar is given a go, then certainly alok deserves a few more chances. maybe all that talk about him being talented is true...

original thread: http://www.banglacricket.com/alochon...es+strike+rate