This is a continuation of my previous article which was based on a request by Seshasayee. I had posted the eleven-players-together article and Sumanth Sankaran did an excellent job of doing the 2-10 groupings using some nifty Jave code. I had already done the 2-3 player group work and the results match. Hence I am pleased to present his findings. Let me confess that I have only done the formatting and editing work related to the article using Sumant's findings and have also updated the recent matches. My thanks to Sumanth for this. I have reproduced below Sesha's specific request.

Ananth in future when you have some time you can consider analysing number of Test matches a group of players in a team have played together...Min 2 to Max 11.

Updated till Test# 1944 (South Africa - England : Dec 26 2009)

Number of players together : 2

IND: 122 R Dravid, SR Tendulkar (# 1)
     122 A Kumble, SR Tendulkar (# 1)
     113 R Dravid, SC Ganguly
SAF: 118 JH Kallis, MV Boucher  (# 3)
      96 M Ntini, MV Boucher     
      93 JH Kallis, SM Pollock
AUS: 108 ME Waugh, SR Waugh
     104 GD McGrath, SK Warne
     103 IA Healy, MA Taylor
ENG:  99 AJ Stewart, MA Atherton
      87 DI Gower, IT Botham
      79 AJ Stewart, N Hussain
WI :  99 CG Greenidge, IVA Richards
      95 CA Walsh, CEL Ambrose
      94 DL Haynes, IVA Richards
NZ :  78 NJ Astle, SP Fleming
      76 DL Vettori, SP Fleming
      67 AC Parore, SP Fleming
SL :  95 M Muralitharan, WPUJC Vaas
      95 DPMD Jayawardene, M Muralitharan
      90 M Muralitharan, ST Jayasuriya
PAK:  78 Imran Khan, Javed Miandad
      75 Javed Miandad, Mudassar Nazar
      68 Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf
ZIM:  61 A Flower, GW Flower
BAN:  42 Habibul Bashar, Khaled Mashud

Tendulkar, in company with two other great Indian stalwarts, Dravid and Kumble, occupies the top two positions with 122 Tests each. Kallis and Boucher are next. There is no doubt that two of these combinations will continue to prosper in future. Note that Australia have three independent combinations occupying the top-3 places.

Number of players together : 3

IND: 103 R Dravid, SC Ganguly, SR Tendulkar (# 1)
      97 A Kumble, R Dravid, SR Tendulkar   (# 2)
      96 R Dravid, SR Tendulkar, VVS Laxman (# 3)
SAF:  88 JH Kallis, M Ntini, MV Boucher      
      80 JH Kallis, MV Boucher, SM Pollock
      74 HH Gibbs, JH Kallis, MV Boucher
AUS:  92 ME Waugh, SK Warne, SR Waugh
      85 IA Healy, MA Taylor, SR Waugh
      83 IA Healy, MA Taylor, ME Waugh
ENG:  60 AJ Stewart, GP Thorpe, MA Atherton
      56 AJ Stewart, MA Atherton, N Hussain
      53 AJ Stewart, D Gough, MA Atherton
WI :  82 CG Greenidge, DL Haynes, IVA Richards
      75 DL Haynes, IVA Richards, PJL Dujon
      74 DL Haynes, IVA Richards, MD Marshall
NZ :  59 DL Vettori, NJ Astle, SP Fleming
      49 AC Parore, NJ Astle, SP Fleming
      49 IDS Smith, JG Wright, MD Crowe
SL :  76 DPMD Jayawardene, KC Sangakkara, M Muralitharan
      76 DPMD Jayawardene, M Muralitharan, WPUJC Vaas
      71 MS Atapattu, ST Jayasuriya, WPUJC Vaas
PAK:  50 Abdul Qadir, Javed Miandad, Mudassar Nazar
      46 Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Mudassar Nazar
      45 Asif Iqbal, Majid Khan, Wasim Bari
ZIM:  56 A Flower, ADR Campbell, GW Flower
BAN:  33 Habibul Bashar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mashud

Almost the same as 2-player combinations with the Indian "Famous Five" forming various combinations and occupy the top three places. What a trio for West Indies at the top.

Number of players together : 4

IND:  86 A Kumble, R Dravid, SC Ganguly, SR Tendulkar    (# 1)
      80 R Dravid, SC Ganguly, SR Tendulkar, VVS Laxman  (# 2)
      73 A Kumble, R Dravid, SR Tendulkar, VVS Laxman    (# 3)
SAF:  65 GC Smith, JH Kallis, M Ntini, MV Boucher        
      59 HH Gibbs, JH Kallis, MV Boucher, SM Pollock
      58 G Kirsten, JH Kallis, MV Boucher, SM Pollock
AUS:  68 GD McGrath, ME Waugh, SK Warne, SR Waugh
      67 AC Gilchrist, JL Langer, ML Hayden, RT Ponting
      66 IA Healy, MA Taylor, ME Waugh, SR Waugh
ENG:  44 DI Gower, IT Botham, RGD Willis, RW Taylor
      41 AJ Strauss, AN Cook, KP Pietersen, PD Collingwood
      39 AJ Stewart, GP Thorpe, MA Atherton, N Hussain
WI :  67 CG Greenidge, DL Haynes, IVA Richards, PJL Dujon
      64 DL Haynes, IVA Richards, MD Marshall, PJL Dujon
      64 CG Greenidge, DL Haynes, IVA Richards, MD Marshall
NZ :  39 AC Parore, CL Cairns, NJ Astle, SP Fleming
      39 IDS Smith, JG Wright, MD Crowe, Sir RJ Hadlee
      37 CD McMillan, DL Vettori, NJ Astle, SP Fleming
SL :  62 DPMD Jayawardene, MS Atapattu, ST Jayasuriya, WPUJC Vaas
      61 M Muralitharan, MS Atapattu, ST Jayasuriya, WPUJC Vaas
      61 DPMD Jayawardene, KC Sangakkara, M Muralitharan, WPUJC Vaas
PAK:  38 Asif Iqbal, Majid Khan, Mushtaq Mohammad, Wasim Bari
      35 Abdul Qadir, Javed Miandad, Mudassar Nazar, Saleem Malik
      35 Asif Iqbal, Majid Khan, Wasim Bari, Zaheer Abbas
ZIM:  43 A Flower, ADR Campbell, GJ Whittall, GW Flower
BAN:  26 Habibul Bashar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mashud, Mohammad Ashraful

This time the Indian "Pancha Pandavas" have formed groups of four players and taken the first three places.

Number of players together : 5

IND:  65 Kumble, Dravid, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Laxman  (# 1)
WI :  58 Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Marshall, Dujon (# 2)
AUS:  55 Healy, Taylor, ME Waugh, Warne, SR Waugh (# 3)
SL :  54 Jayawardene, Muralitharan, Atapattu, Jayasuriya, Vaas
SAF:  43 de Villiers, Smith, Kallis, Ntini, Boucher  
ENG:  34 Strauss, Cook, Pietersen, Panesar, Collingwood
ZIM:  34 A Flower, Campbell, GJ Whittall, GW Flower, Streak
NZ :  32 Parore, Cairns, Vettori, Astle, Fleming
PAK:  29 Asif Iqbal, Majid Khan, Mushtaq Mohd, Wasim Bari, Zaheer Abbas
BAN:  19 Habibul Bashar, Javed Omar, Khaled Mashud, Ashraful, Rafique

Ah! the same 5 together for one last hurrah, or should we say, 65 hurrahs. What a group of players. The five great West Indian players, another wonderful group, come next and the 1990s Australians clock in at no.3.

Number of players together : 6
 40 AUS Langer, Hayden, Ponting, Gilchrist, McGrath, Warne
 39 SL  Atapattu, Jayasuriya, Jayawardene, Sangakkara, Muralitharan, Vaas
 38 AUS Langer, Hayden, Ponting, Martyn, Gilchrist, Warne
 36 IND Sehwag, Dravid, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Laxman, Kumble

Number of players together : 7
 30 AUS Langer, Hayden, Ponting, Gilchrist, Martyn, 
        McGrath, Warne
 30 WIN Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Richardson, Dujon,
        Marshall, Walsh
 28 AUS Slater, Taylor, Boon, ME Waugh, SR Waugh, 
        Healy, Warne
 27 SAF Smith, Amla, Kallis, de Villiers, Steyn, 
        Ntini, Boucher   

Number of players together : 8
 23 AUS Langer, Hayden, Ponting, Martyn, Gilchrist,
        McGrath, Gillespie, Warne
 21 WIN Haynes, Richards, Richardson, Logie, Walsh,
        Ambrose, Marshall, Dujon and 3 other West Indian groups
 22 SAF Smith, Amla, Kallis, de Villiers, AG Prince,
        Steyn, Ntini, Boucher 

Number of players together : 9
 18 WIN Haynes, Richards, Logie, Richardson, Hooper,
        Walsh, Ambrose, Marshall, Dujon
 17 WIN Two West Indian teams of 1980s
 16 AUS Hayden, Ponting, SR Waugh, Martyn, Gilchrist,
        McGrath, Waugh, Warne, B.Lee
 15 SAF Smith, Amla, Kallis, de Villiers, Prince,
        Steyn, Ntini, Boucher, Harris  

Number of players together : 10
 14 WIN Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Richardson, Logie,
        Hooper, Marshall, Dujon, Walsh, Ambrose
 13 AUS Langer, ME Waugh, Hayden, Ponting, Martyn,
        Gilchrist, McGrath, Warne, SR Waugh B Lee
 13 WIN One West Indian team of the 1980s
 11 SAF Smith, McKenzie, Amla, Kallis, de Villiers,
        Harris, Steyn, Morkel, Ntini, Boucher

For the player groups 6-10, I have given only the top three placings. No specific comments since these classifications are only a few players away from the eleven player groups discussed in depth last time.

One final word of thanks to Sesha for a thought-provoking request and Sumanth for doing an excellent job.

To view/download the updated tables (.xls file) Sumanth has created (top-10 for each country instead of top-3), please click here. You might have to download/save and view.

To view/download the updated tables (.txt file) Sumanth has created (top-10 for each country instead of top-3), please click here. You might have to download/save and view.

	Shane Bond's Test career lasted only 18 matches, but fittingly, it ended with a match-winning performance © Getty Images

And so the body finally gave up on him. After battling injuries almost relentlessly through a decade, Shane Bond has finally decided that Test cricket is too much strain for him, and New Zealand are without a strike bowler yet again.

Bond in full flight was an utterly spectacular sight, which makes it doubly sad that the cricket world has seen so little of him, especially in a form of the game that allows him to attack without fear. It’s almost unfair that his decision means he’ll continue to play in formats which will curb those attacking instincts and force him to bowl defensive lines to defensive fields with the onus on saving runs.

The series which stands out for me in a brief Test career was the one against India at home in 2002-03. Admittedly conditions were tailormade for seam and swing, and none of the batsmen got runs consistently, but the manner in which Bond prized out India’s much-vaunted batting line-up made for superb viewing. The second innings of the Wellington Test was the most memorable, when he removed Sehwag, Dravid, Ganguly and Tendulkar with high-class seam and swing to win the match for New Zealand. That series remains his most successful against the top teams.

The stat that best sums up Bond’s effect in the New Zealand team is the team’s results in matches in which he played and in the ones he didn’t. The difference, it turns out, is huge. In the 18 Tests he played, New Zealand won ten (though four of those were against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe). They lost only twice, to Sri Lanka and South Africa. During the period since Bond’s Test debut, they played 49 times without him, and managed to win only ten, and lost 24. New Zealand’s bowling average was ten runs lower, and their strike rate was 20 balls better, when Bond was in the line-up.

New Zealand with and without Shane Bond since his debut

	Tests	Won	Lost	Drawn	Bowling ave	Strike rate
With Bond	18	10	2	6	26.71	51.6
Without Bond	49	10	24	15	36.51	71.1

It’s also interesting to see the effect that Bond had on his bowling mates. Among the specialist bowlers, it seems Bond’s absence effected Daniel Vettori and Daryl Tuffey more than the others – Vettori’s average went up from 24 to 37 in Tests when Bond didn’t play, which indicates the pressure he put on batsmen helped the others bowlers too. Similarly, Tuffey averaged 21 when he played with Bond, and 32 when Bond wasn’t around.

NZ bowlers in Tests with and without Bond

Bowler	With Bond - Tests	Wkts	Ave	W/O Bond - Tests	Wkts	Ave
Daniel Vettori	18	62	24.74	46	144	37.11
Chris Martin	10	29	31.72	36	119	35.37
Jacob Oram	7	20	19.25	26	40	39.95
Chris Cairns	4	17	25.82	8	24	33.37
Daryl Tuffey	6	17	21.35	12	38	32.28
James Franklin	6	13	35.76	18	60	33.28

Another stat that demonstrates his match-winning ability is the number of Man-of-the-Match awards he has won – is just 18 matches he won the award four times, including, quite fittingly, in what turned out to be his last Test. (Which makes a good quiz question – how many players have won the match award in their last Test? I don’t the answer myself, but will try and find out. In the meantime, do send in your answers.)

I wish he’d played more Tests against Australia and improved his record against them – in two Tests he averaged 96.33, but those were his first two Tests, so he deserves some slack (and he bowled better than those figures suggest).

He enjoyed his matches against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe – as did most bowlers – but even after removing his games against them, his stats still look good – an average of 26.22, with a wicket every 43.6 balls. For New Zealand’s sake, here’s hoping they find a like-for-like replacement soon.

Bond against B'desh, Zim and the rest

Opposition	Tests	Wickets	Average	Strike rate	5WI/ 10WM
B'desh & Zim	4	24	11.25	25.7	1/ 1
Other teams	14	63	26.22	43.6	4/ 0
Career	18	87	22.09	38.7	5/ 1

This is a continuation of the theme of my previous article. I have tried to do justice to an excellent request put in by Seshasayee. Unlike the one I did in collaboration with Alex Tierno where we had a number of exchanges before I did the analysis, here Sesha has bowled a "googly spinning square" and let me handle it. I thank him for one heck of a suggestion.

I have reproduced below Sesha's specific request.

Ananth in future when you have some time you can consider analysing number of Test matches a group of players in a team have played together...Min 2 to Max 11 :-)

That is a single statement which has multiple analysis of different shades built in. I have done the first one out of these. Let me say that this was one of the toughest bits of analytical work I have ever done. The details would be of interest to some of the readers and I have created a separate document which can be viewed by clicking on the link provided at the end.

The first analysis I have done is to find out the maximum number of Tests played by the same eleven players. A real tough analysis but well worth the effort since it provides us many insights to the teams, their selection methodology and players' fitness.

Readers must remember that the emphasis is on Tests, not series. Also the playing order is not relevant. Let me warn the readers that they would be surprised with the numbers shown.

West Indies leads the list with 11 Tests in which the same 11 players played. This was at their heyday. These 11 Tests were played, not necessarily in close proximity, over a three-year period between 1988 and 1991. The eleven players were

Greenidge, Haynes, Richards, Richardson, Hooper, Logie, Dujon, Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, Patterson.

The Tests are shown below.

1098 1988 Win-Eng Draw
1099 1988 Win-Eng Win
1108 1988 Win-Aus Win
1110 1988 Win-Aus Win
1112 1988 Win-Aus Win 
1114 1989 Win-Aus Draw
1166 1991 Win-Aus Draw
1167 1991 Win-Aus Win
1168 1991 Win-Aus Draw
1169 1991 Win-Aus Win
1170 1991 Win-Aus Loss

This was one strong team, one of the strongest of all time. The interesting thing is that Lara made his debut in match #1158 smack in the middle of this run and was then not played for a few Tests. For quite a few Tests in the middle Ian Bishop and Benjamin played. The surprising fact is that this strong West Indian team fared in a below-average manner during these 11 Tests, only winning 6, drawing 4 and losing 1.

Australia is next in the list with 9 Tests in which the same 11 players played. This was at their heyday. These 9 Tests were played over a 15-month period. The eleven players were

Hayden, Langer, Ponting, M Waugh, S Waugh, Martyn, Gilchrist, Lee, Warne, Gillespie, McGrath.

The tests are shown below.

1558 2001 Aus-Eng Win
1565 2001 Aus-Nzl Draw
1571 2001 Aus-Nzl Draw
1573 2001 Aus-Nzl Draw
1576 2001 Aus-Saf Win
1590 2002 Aus-Saf Win
1593 2002 Aus-Saf Win
1595 2002 Aus-Saf Loss
1615 2002 Aus-Pak Win

This was again a strong team, among the strongest of all time. In between, for two Tests, MacGill and Bichel played. The irony was that even this Australian team also fared in a below-average manner during these 9 Tests, only winning 5, drawing 3 and losing 1.

There are three teams which come in next, having 11 players in 6 Test matches each. I have only given the summary information to keep the article length to a reasonable one. It will be of interest to readers that two of these occurences have been during the past year, indicating the settled nature of the South African and English teams.

Smith, McKenzie, Amla, Kallis, Prince, de Villiers, Boucher, M Morkel, Harris, Steyn, Ntini.

South Africa: 2008 (3 wins, 2 draws, 1 loss)
1870 2008 Saf-Ind Draw
1871 2008 Saf-Ind Win
1873 2008 Saf-Ind Loss
1880 2008 Saf-Eng Draw
1881 2008 Saf-Eng Win
1893 2008 Saf-Bng Win

Tancred, Shalders, White, AD Nourse, Hathorn, Faulkner, Snooke, Sinclair, Schwarz, Sherwell, Vogler.

South Africa: 1906-07 (4 wins, 2 losses)
0088 1906 Saf-Eng Win
0089 1906 Saf-Eng Win
0090 1906 Saf-Eng Win
0091 1906 Saf-Eng Loss
0092 1906 Saf-Eng Win
0094 1907 Saf-Eng Loss

Strauss, Cook, Vaughan, Pietersen, Bell, Collingwood, Ambrose, Broad, Sidebottom, Abderson, Panesar.

England: 2008 (4 wins, 1 draw, 1 loss)
1867 2008 Eng-Nzl Win
1868 2008 Eng-Nzl Win
1874 2008 Eng-Nzl Draw
1876 2008 Eng-Nzl Win
1878 2008 Eng-Nzl Win
1880 2008 Eng-Saf Draw

India has had two separate teams of 11 players playing 4 Tests each. Both data sets are given below. Kapil Dev has been an integral part of both sets, although these have been 14 years apart. India has has quite a few 3-match sets of eleven players, twice under Ganguly and once under Dhoni. The main problem has been that the batsmen have had a steady presence. However the bowling combinations have been many. The permutations of spin annd pace bowler combinations have precluded playing the same side for long.

Prabhakar, Sidhu, Kambli, Tendulkar, Azharuddin, Amre, Kapil Dev, More, Kumble, Chauhan, Raju.

India: 1993
1211 1993 Ind-Eng Win
1213 1993 Ind-Eng Win
1214 1993 Ind-Eng Win
1229 1993 Ind-Slk Draw

Gavaskar, Chauhan, Vengsarkar, Viswanath, Yashpal Sharma, Kapil Dev, Kirmani, Binny, Ghavri, S Yadav, Doshi.

India: 1979
0861 1979 Ind-Pak Draw
0863 1979 Ind-Pak Draw
0865 1979 Ind-Pak Win
0866 1979 Ind-Pak Draw

Pakistan has had 6 different sets of eleven players who have played in 3 Tests together. The most recent is shown. Their opening combinations would have split up many a eleven.

Mohd Hafeez, Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Mohd Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-haq, Shoaib Malik,
Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Shahid Nazir, Umar Gul, Kaneria.

Pakistan: 2006
1815 2006 Pak-Win Win
1816 2006 Pak-Win Draw
1818 2006 Pak-Win Win

New Zealand has had 3 different sets of eleven players who have played in 3 Tests together. The most recent is shown.

Franklin, Wright, Jones, M Crowe, Greatbatch, Rutherford, RJ Hadlee, Bracewell, IDS Smith, Snedden, Morrison.

New Zealand: 1990
1136 1990 Nzl-Ind Win
1138 1990 Nzl-Ind Draw
1146 1990 Nzl-Eng Draw

Sri Lanka has had only one set of 11 players who have played in 3 Tests together.

Atapattu, Jayasuriya, Sangakkara, M Jayawardene, Tillekaratne, Samaraweera,
Arnold, Vaas, Fernando, Zoysa, Muralitharan.

Sri Lanka: 2001-02
1581 2001 Slk-Zim Win
1583 2002 Slk-Zim Win
1592 2002 Slk-Pak Win

Zimbabwe has had 5 sets of 11 players who have played in 2 Tests together. Bangladesh has had 3 sets of 11 players who have played in 2 Tests together.

To view an interesting note on the technical complexities in doing this analysis please, please click here. You might have to download/save and view.

At a future date I will do an analysis of lower number of players who have played together, starting with 2 players. That again is a tough analysis and requires different algorithms for each analysis.

This piece was written in collaboration with Alex Tierno

	Brendon McCullum's unbeaten 80 off 28 balls against Bangladesh has the highest Innings Power Factor © Getty Images

I have attempted something new for "It Figures" in this article. Almost on a continuous basis, many of the readers have offered suggestions for analysis. Some of these have been answered as a response to the comment. Some require creation and publishing of tables in existing articles. Once in a while I get a suggestion which warrants a separate article. This is the first one created based on this premise. In future when such an idea comes up, I will do a similar publishing.

This is based on a suggestion made by Alex Tierno a few months back. I was tied up with various things and only now could I do justice to the suggestion. Alex, in consultation with me, has also has polished the idea with some tweaking recently.

Alex has suggested that I create a new factor for ODI innings which he called "Destructive index". I have called that the "Innings Power Factor". This is a single factor which incorporates the three major features of an ODI innings: runs, scoring rate and contribution to team score.

I will respond to reader comments in a general manner prior to publishing. However Alex can respond to these in a summary fashion after publishing.

The formula used is

Innings Power Factor (IPF) = Runs scored * Scoring rate * % of Team score.

The more I studied this the more I was impressed with the simplicity and effectiveness of this as a measure of ODI innings. The higher each of these factor is, the more the value of the innings. At the same time, the introduction of the % of Team score moderates the factor as exampled below.

Let us take two examples. a 50 in 20 balls would get 125 points using the first two factors. A 125 in 125 balls would also result in a value of 125 points. However the % of Team score for the first innings is likely to be 15-25% and 40-50% for the second. This takes care of higher valuation of higher scores.

It should be noted that this factor, being a pure batting one, does not take into account team strengths, bowling quality, pitch type, innings status, result et al. If all these factors are introduced it will become another Ratings exercise. So please do not send any comments on the exclusion of these factors. In a way this is similar to the 100s-50s. A 100 is a hundred irrespective of when, where and who it was scored against. I also like this measure since it does not have the 99 to 100 problem I have earlier talked about.

This is an unforgiving measure and requires all three factors to work together to finish with a reasonable value. Cameos tend to lose out. At the end of the article I have done a table which takes into account only the first two values.

I briefly toyed with the idea of having a fourth factor, the Result (1.1/1.0 or 1.0/0.9). I gave up for two reasons. It penalizes Coventry/Tendulkar/Hayden/RASmith/Ponting et al unfairly. They could not have done anything more. Also in the top-100, 85 are wins, so this factor will not have any great impact.

The analysis is done in two parts. In the first part, all the innings are analysed and the IPF calculated, sequenced and the table drawn up. By a perusal of this table I have determined that an IPF of 70 (100 off 60 out of 240) translates into an outstanding performance and one above 40 (80 off 50 out of 250) is a very good performance. Also IPF values above 10 (50 off 50 out of 250) translate into good performances. At the other end, only IPF values of below 2.0 might be termed unsuccessful innings. These summaries are posted into the player data and Player tables are drawn up.

1. Top ODI performances ordered by IPF (Runs * S/R * % TS) : > 50.0

 No MtId Year Player Name          IPF  For  Vs I Runs(Balls) S/R  %TS TmScre Res

  1.2660 2007 McCullum B.B        192.5 Nzl Bng 2  80*( 28) 285.7 84.2% [ 95] Won
  2.1209 1997 Saeed Anwar         152.9 Pak Ind 1 194 (146) 132.9 59.3% [327] Won
  3.2873 2009 Coventry C.K        150.0 Zim Bng 1 194*(156) 124.4 62.2% [312]    
  4.0264 1984 Richards I.V.A      146.0 Win Eng 1 189*(170) 111.2 69.5% [272] Won
  5.0216 1983 Kapil Dev N         146.0 Ind Zim 1 175*(138) 126.8 65.8% [266] Won
  6.1236 1997 Ijaz Ahmed          146.0 Pak Ind 2 139*( 84) 165.5 63.5% [219] Won
  7.1652 2000 Jayasuriya S.T      140.2 Slk Ind 1 189 (161) 117.4 63.2% [299] Won
  8.2290 2005 Dhoni M.S           139.5 Ind Slk 2 183*(145) 126.2 60.4% [303] Won
  9.0457 1987 Richards I.V.A      131.8 Win Slk 1 181 (125) 144.8 50.3% [360] Won
 10.2824 2009 Sehwag V            131.3 Ind Nzl 2 125*( 74) 168.9 62.2% [201] Won
 11.1049 1996 Kirsten G           130.2 Saf Uae 1 188*(159) 118.2 58.6% [321] Won
 12.1207 1997 Jayasuriya S.T      125.3 Slk Ind 2 151*(120) 125.8 65.9% [229] Won
 13.0169 1983 Gower D.I           125.2 Eng Nzl 1 158 (118) 133.9 59.2% [267] Won
 14.2082 2004 Gilchrist A.C       117.4 Aus Zim 1 172 (126) 136.5 50.0% [344] Won
 15.1523 1999 Tendulkar S.R       113.3 Ind Nzl 1 186*(151) 123.2 49.5% [376] Won
 16.2581 2007 Gilchrist A.C       113.2 Aus Slk 1 149 (104) 143.3 53.0% [281] Won
 17.1010 1995 Lara B.C            112.4 Win Slk 1 169 (129) 131.0 50.8% [333] Won
 18.2420 2006 Boucher M.V         111.8 Saf Zim 1 147*( 68) 216.2 35.2% [418] Won
 19.2349 2006 Gibbs H.H           110.2 Saf Aus 2 175 (111) 157.7 40.0% [438] Won
 20.2923 2009 Tendulkar S.R       109.5 Ind Aus 2 175 (141) 124.1 50.4% [347]    

Readers, myself included, would be surprised at the top entry. However a careful perusal of McCullum's blitzkrieg, about which I had come out with an article recently, justifies the position. A middling score, boosted by an unbelievable scoring rate and an amazingly high % of Team score has propelled this innings to the top. Those who question why McCullum's innings outshines Richards'/Jayasuriya's/Anwar's/Kapil's masterpieces should note that McCullum's innings meets Alex's "destructiveness" characteristic to a T.

Then come the 6 famous innings by Anwar/Coventry/Richards/Jayasuriya/Dhoni/Kapil. The odd innings which splits these six is Izaz Ahmed's Lahore demolition of India.

In the top 37 100+ innings, Richards and Jayasuriya have four innings each, Tendulkar has three and Gilchrist and Lara have two each.

Out of the 446 70+ innings, 238 (53.4%) are in the first innings.

To view the complete IPF list, please click here.

Now let us see the player tables.

2. IPF Summary by Batsmen: Ordered by average IPF value

SNo.Batsman             Cty Inns  Runs <-Innings Power Factor->
                                       > 10 75+ 50+ 10+   Avge

  1.Zaheer Abbas        Pak   60  2572  20   0   5  15   13.29
  2.Richards I.V.A      Win  167  6721  58   5   5  48   13.10
  3.Tendulkar S.R       Ind  425 17178 138   7  20 111   12.53
  4.Gayle C.H           Win  200  7430  55   5  11  39   11.89
  5.Trescothick M.E     Eng  122  4335  34   1   5  28   10.52 
  6.Gilchrist A.C       Aus  279  9619  72   5   9  58   10.42 
  7.Smith G.C           Saf  147  5613  49   2   4  43   10.17 
  8.Lara B.C            Win  289 10406  80   6   6  68   10.00 
  9.Pietersen K.P       Eng   85  3179  28   0   1  27    9.93 
 10.Hayden M.L          Aus  155  6132  41   2   1  38    9.90 

Two 80s greats, Zaheer Abbas and Richards lead this table with averages exceeding 13.00. Richards has achieved this in over 150 innings. However note the high average of Tendulkar, 12.53 achieved in 425 innings. Then come a string of modern ODI stalwarts.

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3. IPF Summary: Ordered by number of above average IPF values ( > 10)

SNo.Batsman             Cty Inns  Runs  
                                        > 10(!!)  75+ 50+ 10+
                                         No   %

  1.Tendulkar S.R       Ind  425 17178  138-32.5    7  20 111
  2.Jayasuriya S.T      Slk  429 13377   99-23.1    8  14  77
  3.Ponting R.T         Aus  321 12310   90-28.0    1   9  80
  4.Inzamam-ul-Haq      Pak  350 11739   86-24.6    0   7  79
  5.Ganguly S.C         Ind  300 11363   83-27.7    3   7  73
  6.Lara B.C            Win  289 10406   80-27.7    6   6  68
  7.Kallis J.H          Saf  281 10410   78-27.8    0   5  73
  8.Dravid R            Ind  313 10765   76-24.3    0   3  73
  9.Gilchrist A.C       Aus  279  9619   72-25.8    5   9  58
 10.de Silva P.A        Slk  296  9284   71-24.0    0   5  66

Tendulkar has 138 innings which meet the 10 points cut-off, 7 of these are the higher level performances exceeding 70 points. Jayasuriya follows with 99 performances, 8 at the top level and then follows Ponting with 90. Inzamam-ul-haq, Ganguly and Lara follow next. The presence of that Sri Lankan great, de Silva, in no.10 position is heart-warming. Two days during early-1996 are justification for this place.

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4. IPF Summary: Ordered by % of differential (success-failure) performances

(IPF values < 2.0) - (IPF values > 10.0)

SNo.Batsman             Cty Inns  Runs   <-Innings Power Factor-->
                                         > 10(!!)  < 2 (??)    Diff
                                         No   %      No   %     %

  1.Zaheer Abbas        Pak   60  2572   20-33.3    23-38.3    5.00
  2.Richards I.V.A      Win  167  6721   58-34.7    69-41.3    6.59
  3.Hussey M.E.K        Aus  102  3623   29-28.4    38-37.3    8.82
  4.Pietersen K.P       Eng   85  3179   28-32.9    37-43.5   10.59
  5.Smith G.C           Saf  147  5613   49-33.3    66-44.9   11.56
  6.Greenidge C.G       Win  127  5134   39-30.7    55-43.3   12.60
  7.Tendulkar S.R       Ind  425 17178  138-32.5   192-45.2   12.71
  8.Hayden M.L          Aus  155  6132   41-26.5    63-40.6   14.19
  9.Ponting R.T         Aus  321 12310   90-28.0   137-42.7   14.64
 10.Jones D.M           Aus  161  6068   45-28.0    70-43.5   15.53

Since the number of matches varies considerably, I have also introduced a % value, which is the IPFs / ODI Inns. Richards leads in this measure with 34.7%, followed by Pietersen with 34.1%, Smith with 34.0%, Zaheer Abbas with 32.5% and Tendulkar with a high 32.5% despite playing 425 innings. This means that these great players produced a very good batting performance once in three innings. That is really something. Now the chronicle of failures. Mike Hussey has failed to deliver in only 38.2% of the innings, Zaheer Abbas 38.3% and Michael Bevan, 39.8%. It can be seen that most of these batsmen play in the middle order.

Now comes a composite value which is the % failure - % success. The lower this value is the more effective the batsman is. The above table has been ordered in the increasing order of this difference %.

Zaheer Abbas is the top batsman with a differential % value of just 5%. The great Richards follows next with 6.59% and then two modern greats, Pietersen and Hussey, with differential % below 10. Two olden day greats, Greenidge and Jones, split the four modern giants, Smith, Tendulkar, Hayden and Ponting.

The more I see the table the more I feel that this is the single table which encompasses the ODI greats in full.

To view the complete file, please click here.

5. Top ODI performances ordered by IPF-2 (Runs * S/R) : > 125.0

 No MtId Year Player Name         IPF-1 For Vs  I Runs(Balls) S/R  Res

  1.2420 2006 Boucher M.V         317.8 Saf Zim 1 147* ( 68) 216.2 Won
  2.1090 1996 Jayasuriya S.T      276.2 Slk Pak 1 134  ( 65) 206.2 Won
  3.2349 2006 Gibbs H.H           275.9 Saf Aus 2 175  (111) 157.7 Won
  4.0457 1987 Richards I.V.A      262.1 Win Slk 1 181  (125) 144.8 Won
  5.1125 1996 Shahid Afridi       260.1 Pak Slk 1 102  ( 40) 255.0 Won
  6.1209 1997 Saeed Anwar         257.8 Pak Ind 1 194  (146) 132.9 Won
  7.2349 2006 Ponting R.T         256.2 Aus Saf 1 164  (105) 156.2    
  8.2272 2005 Vincent L           246.5 Nzl Zim 1 172  (120) 143.3 Won
  9.2774 2008 Yuvraj Singh        244.2 Ind Eng 1 138* ( 78) 176.9 Won
 10.2873 2009 Coventry C.K        241.3 Zim Bng 1 194* (156) 124.4    

Alex also wanted me to do a calculation excluding the third moderating factor, the % of Team score. In other words make this a pure batting individual factor. The above table is an intriguing one. Again, it is a surprise to see Boucher on top. However his is a big century at a scoring rate above 2.00. Similarly Jayasuriya's innings finds its place. It is amazing that a score as low as Afridi's 102 has found its place in the top-10.

Out of the 379 125+ innings, 264 (70%) are in the first innings. This is a marked change to the reasonably equal split for IPF. Possibly the uncertainty of the target for the first innings might have contributed to this disparity.

In the revised table there is only one change. Kapil Dev has secured 221.92 points for his 175* and moves to 21st place. The complete table has not been replaced.

To view the complete file, please click here.

Let me thank Alex for an excellent idea. I request the readers to come out with a similar factor for bowling performances. Wickets/Economy rate seems quite simple but possibly the readers could improve on this. No outside-bowling parameters please.

I will now give serious considerations to some of Seshasayee's excellent suggestions. I have already done the one on Test players' continuous streaks. The tables have been incorporated in my previous article.

The next one is an intriguing one. Sesha wanted me to analyse the next 2/3 years' programmes and do a projection of Test runs and wickets. My initial reaction was to avoid opening this Pandora's box because of the expected reactions of certain types of readers. Then I realized that this would only be an analysis and I should do this without worrying about the reactions of readers. However this is a tough one and the first thing I have to do is to prepare a complete matrix of tours for the next 2/3 years.

Another of Sesha's suggestions is for me to an analysis on player combinations (2-11) who have played in most number of Tests. Again, another tough one but worth doing because of the novelty and insights it would bring.