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Cricket Players'Stats are misleading. Match-ups, even more': Gambhir says KKR would've 'never picked Narine' if stats were considered
Gautam Gambhir spoke in detail about the reliance on stats and match-ups in the shortest format of the game.
The 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League begins later this week when Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings meet the Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders in Mumbai. The season sees an addition of two new franchises with Lucknow Super Giants and Gujarat Titans making their debut in the tournament. While KL Rahul leads the Lucknow franchise, all-rounder Hardik Pandya assumes a maiden leadership role for the Titans.
Former India opener Gautam Gambhir was also roped in by the Lucknow franchise as their mentor and the side ended its maiden IPL mega auction with 21 players in their roster. Lucknow will feature the likes of Quinton de Kock, Jason Holder, Krunal Pandya, Marcus Stoinis, Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi among others, in addition to captain Rahul.
During a conversation for Star Sports' ‘Game Plan’, Gambhir spoke in detail about the upcoming edition. During a segment where the guests in the conversation were asked to give an unpopular opinion about the game, Gambhir said that he doesn't understand the point of match-ups in cricket, further adding that he didn't look at a “single stat” of the players before taking part in the mega auction in February.
“Match-ups. Match-ups are ridiculous. I have never gone with match-ups, I have never seen a video analyst. Even before the auction, I hadn't looked at a single stat of the player. Not even once,” Gambhir said.
Gambhir, who had led the Kolkata Knight Riders to two IPL titles in 2012 and 2014, said that he wouldn't have the likes of Sunil Narine and Andre Russell if the franchise had picked the players on the basis of stats.
“If I would've gone by stats, Sunil Narine would've never got picked, Andre Russell would've never got picked. Sunil Narine had played only one international game. Stats are very misleading. Match-ups are even more. So, when coaches talk about match-ups, I think (they do) because they don't trust the players. You trust match-ups more than the players. If you trust the player, you go by the instincts,” said Gambhir.
Narine had made his T20I debut in March 2012 – the same year he made his debut for the KKR.
“For me, I believe in instincts and quality of the player. I trust a player on his ability, not on what his numbers speak. As an opening batsman, you will always have better numbers as compared to someone who is batting at 6-7. If someone is batting at 6-7 and even if his strike rate is 150, it doesn't make him a match-winner. Likewise, if his strike rate is 135-140 but he is getting the crucial runs, and he can win the game, he is far more important,” Narine added further.
