As my regular readers know, I’ve been tinkering around with building a database (it’s coming, don’t worry!). As part of it, I’ve been looking at how we can evolve stats to talk about more than just metrics that were created a couple of centuries ago.
One of the more fascinating problems that has cropped up is how we track IPL batter seasons. Scoring the most runs is not the best metric, while pure strike rate favours openers and finishers.
Of course, this is the wrong season to think about that. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has dominated every basic metric; he has 680 runs at 242.85, with an average of 45.33. And he still has (potentially) two more games to go.
Which brings us to a more interesting question; is this the best IPL batting season ever?
To answer it, I used one of those more complex stats I’ve been working on; Window-Relative Strike Rate. It’s a very simple idea – how much faster does a batter score relative to his teammates during the same overs in an innings?
For example, in yesterday’s game, Sooryavanshi scored at a strike rate of 334.48 from overs 0.1 to 7.6 when he got out. The rest of the Rajasthan Royals batters scored 28 runs in 19 balls during his innings, for a strike rate of 147.37. Therefore, Sooryavanshi’s Window-Relative SR yesterday was (334.48 – 147.37=) +187.11!
[That’s an insanely high number that reflects his ridiculous innings yesterday. Usually the fastest innings are in the +40 range].
The idea is simple; if you look at how a batter outscored his teammates in the same over range, that accounts for both historic changes in IPL batting and phase-wise changes in the game. It’s not perfect, but it’s instructive.
Which brings us back to the question at hand; how does Sooryavanshi’s innings rank compared to the all-time seasons of yesteryear? I averaged every batter’s Window Relative SRs for a season, and applied a minimum 500-run threshold to weed out random outliers.
These are the 10 best IPL batting seasons of all time (there are some obvious outliers that prove how imperfect this metric is on it’s own, but it still useful in my opinion);
Sooryavanshi is already historic – and this chart is before yesterday’s game (Cricsheet hasn’t updated it’s dataset to include the game yet). Before his +187.11 performance against SRH, his Relative SR was already ahead of everyone but Andre Russell (2019) and Sanath Jayasuriya (2008), while he’s well on course to top the runs totals from those Chris Gayle seasons.
Sooryavanshi is historic. You know this, I know this, we all know this. But, this season is becoming so historic that no matter what metrics you look at, it still pops out as one of the best of all time.
As an RCB fan, I’m petrified of seeing him in the final. As a cricket fan, I desperately want him to get another couple of games under his belt to see if he can conclusively make this the best IPL batting season of all time.
🚨 If you’re an RCB fan, I’d love if you could fill out this 2-minute survey on how you feel about the franchise this year. I plan to create a graphic story of your answers soon! 🚨
🏏 Cricket Roundup: Sooryavanshi’s 97 (29), the NZ-IRE Test, & ABD is ESPN’s #6.
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🏆 RR BEAT SRH | Rudransh Khurana on Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s unfathomable 29-ball 97. | Deivarayan Muthu on Jofra Archer’s 3-wicket powerplay heroics. |
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🇮🇪🇳🇿 NZ AT 361/5 | Abhijato Sensarma on Rachin Ravindra finding some form. | Nathan Johns on IRE fighting back for one session. | Dom Murray on NZ’s unprecedented 14-Test run in the next 9 months. |
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🏏 THE CRICKET ROUNDUP | Raf Nicholson on digging through the archives to write her book on Women’s cricket. | Firdose Moonda on ESPN #6; AB de Villiers. | 🔒 Peter Lalor on the proposed pink ball changes for fading light. |
📺 A/V: Tongue leads ENG, & Panesar on his career.
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“Josh Tongue looks ahead”
🎤 Test Match Special with Josh Tongue on leading ENG’s new look Test side. [Apple/Spotify] -
“Tension With Steve Smith, Warne’s Comments & Ashes Triumph”
📽️ Stick to Cricket host Monty Panesar to talk about his legendary ENG career, and shoot the shit on the news of the week. [YouTube]
LEGEND:
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🚨 = Shameless plug (i.e. a BoC piece!)
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🏆 = Tournament Cricket
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🔒 = Behind a paywall
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📊 = In-depth statistics
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🤖 = AI-generated (take it with a pinch of salt)
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🎤 = Podcast
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📽️ = Video