IPL 2022 has just concluded and yet again, it is has thrown a lot of promising and potential youngsters in its wake, while established players have fallen! With IPL 2022, we realise that “Sceptre and Crown must tumble down” and that form and class like everything else are “shadows not substantial things” (Death the Leveller by James Shirley).

So King Kohli had to kneel, and hitman’ himself got hit. Rishabh Pant, Jadeja also had a poor season. On the contrary there were several youngsters who shone like Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Umran Malik or a Mohsin Khan

This post is about my potential T20 Indian players for the World Cup 2022 and beyond.

The post below includes my own analysis and thoughts. Feel free to try out my Shiny app GooglyPlusPlus and draw your own conclusions.

You can also view the analyais as a youtube video at Insights from GooglyPlusPlus

How often we hear that data by itself is useless, unless we can draw insights from it? This is a prevailing theme in the corporate world and everybody uses all sorts of tools to analyse and subsequently draw insights. Data analysis can be done in many ways as data can be sliced, diced, chopped in a zillion ways. There are many facets and perspectives to analysing data. Creating insights is easy, but arriving at actionable insights is anything but. So, the problem of selecting the best 11 is difficult as there are so many ways to look at the analysis. My Shiny app GooglyPlusPlus based on my R package yorkr can analyse data in several ways namely

1. Batsman analysis
2. Bowler analysis
3. Match analysis
4. Team vs team analysis
5. Team vs all teams analysis
6. Batsman vs bowler and vice versa
7. Analysis of in 3,4,5 in power play, middle and death overs

GooglyPlusPlus uses my R package yorkr which has ~ 160 functions some which have several options. So, we can say roughly there are ~500 different ways that analysis can be done or in other words we can gather almost roughly 500+ different insights, not to mention that there are so many combinations of head-on matches and one-vs-all matches.

So generating insights or different ways of analysis data alone is not enough. The question is whether we can get a consolidated view from the different insights. In this post, I try to identify the best contenders for the Indian T20 team. This is far more difficult than it looks. Do you select players on past historical performance or do you choose from the newer crop of players, who have excelled in the recent IPL season. I think this boils down the typical situation in any domain. In engineering, we have tradeoffs – processing power vs memory tradeoff, throughput vs latency tradeoff or in the financial domain it is cost vs benefit or risk vs reward tradeoff. For team selection, the quandary is, whether to choose seasoned players with good historical performance but a poor performances in recent times or go with youngsters who have played with great courage and flair in this latest episode of IPL 2022. Hence there is a tradeoff between reliable but below average performance or risky but superlative performances of new players.

For this I base my potential list from

• Then (past history of batsmen & bowlers) – I have chosen the performance of batsmen and bowlers in the last 3 years. With we can arrive at those who have had reasonably reliable performance for the last 3 years
• Now (IPL 2022) – Performance in the current season IPL 2022

A. Then (Jan 2020 – May 2022) – Batsmen analysis

In this section I analyse the performances of batsmen and bowlers from Jan 2022 – May 2022. This is done based on ranking, and plots of Runs vs Strike Rate in Power Play, Middle and Death overs

Also I analyse bowlers based on the overall rank from Jan 2022- May 2022. Further more analysis is done on Wickets vs Economy Rate overall and in Power Play, Middle and Death overs

a. Ranks of batsmen (Runs over Strike Rate) : Jan 2020 – May 2022

The top batsmen consistency wise

[KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Nitish Rana, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Ambati Rayadu, Rahul Tripathi, Rishabh Pant, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya]

b. Ranks of batsmen (Strike Rate over Runs) : Jan 2020 – May 2022

The most consistent players from the Strike Rate perspective are

The batsmen with best Strike Rate in the last 3 years are

[Dinesh Karthik, Prithvi Shaw, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav, Nitish Rana, Mayank Agarwal, Krunal Pandya, MS Dhoni, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul]

c.Best Batsmen Runs vs SR : Jan 2020 – May 2022

The best batsmen should have a reasonable combination of Runs and SR. The best batsmen are

[KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill , Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Shubman Gill, Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Nitish Rana, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Rahul Tripathi,

d. Best batsmen Runs vs SR in Powerplay: Jan 2020 – May 2022

The best players in Power play

The best players in Power play in the last 3 years are

[KL Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Rohit Sharma, Devdutt Padikkal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan, Yashashvi Jaiswal, Wriddhiman Saha, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana,Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma Shreyas Iyer ]

e. Best batsmen Runs vs SR in Middleovers: Jan 2020 – May 2022

The most consistent players in the last 3 years in the middle overs are

[KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Devdutt Padikkal, Rahul Tripathi, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya]

f. Best batsmen Runs vs SR in Death overs: Jan 2020 – May 2022

The best batsmen in death overs are

[Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Rahul Tewatia, MS Dhoni, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Ambati Rayadu, Virat Kohli, Nitish Rana, Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan]

B) Now (IPL 2022) – Batsmen analysis

IPL 2022 just finished and clearly brings out the batsmen who are in great nick. It is always going to be a judgment call of whether to go for ‘old reliable’ or ‘new and awesome’.

a. Ranks of batsmen (Runs over Strike Rate) : IPL 2022

The best batsmen this season in Runs over Strike rate are

The best batsmen are

[KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Wriddhiman Saha, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Verma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube]

b. Ranks of batsmen (Strike Rate over Runs) : IPL 2022

The batsmen with the best strike rate are

[Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant, Rahul Tewathia, Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, R Ashwin, Deepak Hooda, MS Dhoni, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Shreya Iyer]

c.Best Batsmen Runs vs SR :IPL 2022

From an overall performance the following batsmen shone this season

[KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, Abhishel Sharma, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Tilak Verma, Shreya Iyer, Nitish Rana, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant]

d. Best batsmen Runs vs SR in Powerplay: IPL 2022

Top batsmen in Power play in IPL 2022

[Abhishek Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Wriddhiman Saha, Ishan Kishan, KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mayank Agarwal, Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana]

e. Best batsmen Runs vs SR in Middleovers: IPL 2022

Best batsmen in middle overs in IPL 2022

[Deepak Hooda, Hardik Pandya, Tilak Verma, KL Rahul, Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Ambati Rayudu, Suryaprakash Yadav, Shikhar Dhawan, Ruturaj Gaikwad]

f. Best batsmen Runs vs SR in Death overs: IPL 2022

Top batsmen in death overs in IPL 2022

[Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Tewatia, MS Dhoni, KL Rahul, Azar Patel, Washington Sundar, R Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, Ayush Badoni, Shivam Dube, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Sanju Samson]

Overall Batting Performance in season

Kohli peaked in 2016 and from then on it has been a downward slide (see below)

Taking a look at Kohli’s moving average it is clear that he is past his prime and it will take a herculean effort to regain his lost glory

Similarly, Rohit Sharma’s moving average is constantly around ~30 as seen below

The cumulative average of Rohit Sharma is shown below

Comparing KL Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and V Kohli we see that KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan have had a much superior performance in the last 2-3 years. Rohit has averaged about ~25 runs every season.

Comparing the 4 wicket-keeper batsmen Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan and Dinesh Karthik from 2016

i) Runs over Strike Rate

We see that Pant peaked in 2018 but has not performed as well since. In the last 2 years Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan have done well

ii) Strike Rate over Runs

For the last couple of seasons Rishabh Pant and Dinesh Kartik top the strike rate over the other 2

Similar analysis can be done other combinations of batsmen

Choosing the best batsmen from the above, my top 5 batsmen would be

1. KL Rahul
2. Shikhar Dhawan
3. Prithvi Shaw, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan
4. Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Shubman Gill, Shivam Dube,
5. Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Verma, Rahul Tripathi, Suryakumar Yadav,
6. Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik

Personally, I feel Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer are a little tardy while playing express speeds, as compared to Sanju Samson or Rishabh Pant.

If you notice, I have not included both Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma who have been below par for some time

C. Then (Jan 2020 – May 2022) – Bowler analysis

This section I analyse the performances of bowlers from Jan 2022 – May 2022. This is done based on ranking, and plots of Wickets vs Economy Rate in Power Play, Middle and Death overs

a. Ranks of bowlers (Wickets over Economy Rate) : Jan 2020 – May 2022

The most consistent bowlers Wickets over Economy Rate for the last 3 years are

[YS Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Dhami, Harshal Patel, Shardul Thakur, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Prasidh Krishna, R Ashwon, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Tewatia]

b. Ranks of bowlers (Economy Rate over Wickets) : Jan 2020 – May 2022

The most economical bowlers since 2020 are

[Axar Patel, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, CV Varun, R Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Rahul Chahar, YS Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Rahul Tewatia, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Shardul Thakur]

c.Best Bowlers Wickets vs ER : Jan 2020 – May 2022

The best bowlers Wickets vs ER will be in the bottom right quadrant. The most consistent and reliable bowlers are

[YS Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Harshal Patel, CV Arun, Ravi Bishnoi, Rahul Chahar, R Ashwin, Axar Patel]

d. Best bowlers Wickets vs ER in Powerplay: Jan 2020 – May 2022

The best bowlers in Powerplay are

[Mohammed Shami, Deepak Chahar, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Choudhary, Shardul Thakur, T Natarajan, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, WashingtonSundar, Shivam Mavi]

e. Best bowlers Wickets vs ER in Middle overs : Jan 2020 – May 2022

The most reliable performers in middle overs from 2020-2022 are

[YS Chahal, Rahul Chahr, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshal Patel, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Umran Malik, R Ashwin, Avesh Khan, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav]

f. Best bowlers Wickets vs ER in Death overs : Jan 2020 – May 2022

The most reliable bowlers are

[Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, T Natarajan, Avesh Khan, Shardul Thakur, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Shivam Mavi, YS Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Chetan Sakariya]

B) Now (IPL 2022) – Bowler analysis

a. Ranks of bowlers (Wickets over Economy Rate) : IPL 2022

The best bowlers in IPL 2022 when considering Wickets over Economy Rate

[YS Chahal, Umran Malik, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshal Patel, T Natarajan, Avesh Khan, Shardul Thakur, Mukesh Choudhary, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Bishnoi]

a. Ranks of bowlers (Economy Rate over Wickets) : IPL 2022

The most economical bowlers in IPL 2022 are

[Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Rahul Chahr, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, R Ashwion, Umran Malik, Kuldeep Yadav, YS Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna]

c.Best Bowlers Wickets vs ER : IPL 2022

The overall best bowlers in IPL 2022 are

[YS Chahal, Umran Malik, Harshal Patel, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, R Ashwin, Rahul Chahar, Krunal Pandya]

d. Best bowlers Wickets vs ER in Powerplay: IPL 2022

The best bowlers in IPL 2022 in Power play are

[Mukesh Choudhary, Mohammed Shami, Prasidh Krishna, Umesh Yadav, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, T Natarajan, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Siraj]

d. Best bowlers Wickets vs ER in Middle overs: IPL 2022

The best bowlers in IPL 2022 during middle overs

The best bowlers are

[YS Chahal, Umran Malik, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshal Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, R Ashwin]

e. Best bowlers Wickets vs ER in Death overs: IPL 2022

The best bowlers in death overs in IPL 2022 are

[T Natarajan, Harshal Patel, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, YS Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Yash Dayal, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh]

Typically in a team we would need a combination of 4 bowlers (2 fast & 2 spinner or 3 fast and 1 spinner) with an additional player who is all rounder.

For 4 bowlers we could have

1. JJ Bumrah
2. Mohammed Shami, Umran Malik, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav
3. Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan, Harshal Patel
4. YS Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Rahul Chahar, Axar Patel
5. Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Rahul Tewathia, R Ashwin

i) Performance comparison (Wickets over Economy Rate)

Bumrah had the best season in 2020. He has been doing quite well and has been among the wickets

ii) Performance comparison (Economy Rate over Wickets)

Bumrah has the best Economy Rate

We can do a wicket prediction of bowlers. So for example for Bumrah it is

iii) Performance evaluation (Wickets over Economy Rate)

Harshal Patel followed by Avesh Khan had a good season last year, but Umran Malik pipped them this year (see below)

iv) Performance analysis of spinners

a. Wickets over Economy Rate: 2022

Chahal has the best season followed by Bishnoi and Chahar this season

b) Economy Rate over WIckets

Axar Patel has the best economy rate followed by Rahul Chahar

Conclusion

The above post identified the best candidates for the Indian team in the future and beyond. In my T20 list, I have neither included Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. The data in T20 clearly indicates that they have had their days. There is a lot more talent around. The tradeoff is a little risk for a greater potential performance. My list would be

1. KL Rahul
2. Shikhar Dhawan
3. Ruturaj Gaikwad, Prithvi Shaw
4. Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Abhishek Sharma
5. Sanju Samson (Wicket keeper/captain)/ Rishabh Pant/Dinesh Karthik
6. Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Rahul Tewathia
7. Jasprit Bumrah
8. Mohammed Shami, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Umran Malik
9. Arshdeep Singh, Avesh Khan, Harshal Patel
10. YS Chahal
11. Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Rahul Chahar

You may agree/ disagree with my list. Feel free to do your analysis with GooglyPlusPlus and come to your own conclusions

This analysis is also available on youtube Insights from GooglyPlusPlus

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