Comparing Tendulkar, Kallis, Dravid, Lara and Ponting

[Manoj Menon]

Pasting a Quora thread. Makes for interesting read.
 
 
With the retirement of arguably the greatest all rounder in the history of cricket, Jacques Kallis, perhaps a golden generation of batting has come to an end. The 5 best test batsmen of the last two decades have now all called quits. In this post, I will try to compare the 5 modern day batting greats in terms of their various filtered averages. All 5 will be ranked separately on various parameters and be given points proportional to their ranks.

1. On the basis of overall career batting average:
The most popular number which in a way defines a batsman. Each great has an overall average above 50 over their long careers which in itself is a testament to their greatness.
   

2. On the basis of average in test matches won:
It's an important parameter as it demonstrates how much a  batsman has contributed in it's team's victorious runs. As expected, each batsman's average increased from their overall average in matches won.

3. On the basis of average in test matches that were draws:
Again each batsmen's average soared in drawn tests particularly Kallis and Lara who averaged over 70 in drawn games.

4. On the basis of average in test matches that were lost:
 Cricket is a team game and more so test cricket which goes on for 5 days. A batsman's job is to score runs whatever the situation is and ultimately the end result is decided by the cumulative performance of the team. Thus runs scored even in losing causes show how consistent a batsman was. Each batsman though as expected, registered a substantial fall in their average in lost tests with only Tendulkar and Lara having averages slightly on the higher side hinting to the fact that they played many tests being part of a mediocre side. Only Lara managed an average above 40.

5. On the basis of average away from home:
This is probably one of the most important metrics in judging a batsman. A batsman's real test is to score runs in alien conditions, in conditions he never experienced before entering international cricket. To score runs away from home, you have to adapt and adjust. This churned out interesting numbers as only Dravid and Tendulkar managed to increase their average in away tests as compared to their overall averages. The rest all registered a decline.

6. On the basis of coefficient of variation:
Taking all the different filtered batting averages as mentioned above, I calculated the coefficient of variation (COV) for each batsman ( where COV = standard deviation/mean). This gives us a number to judge a batsman's consistency. A batsman with a lower COV will be the one whose averages are the least spread out. Be it matches won, lost, draws or matches away from home, a batsman must ideally score runs at a similar rate in all these conditions. In short, his COV must be on the lower side. COV takes into account only the variability of the numbers. Higher or lower numbers do not influence it. So a more successful batsman might have highly varying performances while a batsman with lower numbers might turn out to be the more consistent one.

Summing up all the points for each batsman, the final results are as follows:

SR Tendulkar - 24 points
JH Kallis - 21 points
BC Lara - 20 points
RS Dravid - 15 points
RT Ponting - 10 points

While Kallis has the best overall average and average in draws, Dravid excels in winning causes. Lara scored the most runs in losing causes whereas Tendulkar came out on top away from home and also was the one whose numbers had the least variation.

http://r10dulkart.quora.com/Comparing-Tendulkar-Kallis-Dravid-Lara-and-Ponting