Top 25 Test Batsmen In Difficult Runs

DIFF RUNS Rating

This rating only includes stats of batsmen in 1st and 4th inns after losing the toss. The rating is divided into sections to make it easy to understand how it is calculated. Before each section, its criteria is highlighted in bold. Our ratings are dynamic, and as new matches are played, the rating of earlier batsmen may change if current batsmen set new benchmarks.

The Trend Setter

The Trend Setter (TS) is the player which does the best in a criteria. The rating of all other players are calculated as percentage points of TS. Let’s taken an example to understand it:-

• Let’s assume that Sachin Tendulkar has scored 10,000 runs, which is the highest. This makes him the TS.
• Another player, say Virat Kohli, has scored 5,000 runs.
• If the rating is out of 250, Sachin will get the full points (pts), that is 250.
• The points of Kohli are calculated as His Runs/Sachin’s Runs*250. This comes out to be 125.
• Thus the formula is (Runs Scored/Runs Scored By TS)*Max Points.
• All ratings are calculated similarly with Runs being replaced by the Criteria Stat.
• For Average, a batsman is eligible to be TS only if he has scored a minimum number of runs, which is mentioned in the qualificaton.
• For Strike Rate, a batsman is eligible to be TS only if he has scored a minimum number of runs and has a minimum average, which are mentioned in the qualificaton.
• Lastly, it is to be noted that it is not necessary for a TS to be part of the rating as he might have topped in a criteria but not done well in others.

Top Teams (TT)

The Difficult Runs Rating considers performances only against the Top Teams. Here is some infomartion about Top Teams:-

• Win/Loss Ratio is used to determine top teams.
• The top teams are calculated by decades.
• Further, they are divided into In Asia and Outside Asia.
• To be a top team, the team should be among the top teams in the specific condition (Asia or outside Asia) or among the top teams of the decade overall.
• A bowler’s performace is counted in TT if he palyed against it in the specific condition and in the specific decade.
• The Top Teams may be found in the last section of the rating.

The Eras

The first criteria Prolific gives points for runs scored. We have divided cricket from 1950 onwards into 3 broad eras. This has been done to make it fair for players from earlier era, when less cricket was played, and also for current players, who are in the middle of their careers. Let’s take an example:-

• Let’s assume Ricky Ponting has scored 10,000 runs, which is the maximum and gives him 250 points.
• Now, say Viv Richards in earlier times scored 5,000 runs, which was the max for his era.
• If there are no eras, he would get 50% of the pts, that is 125.
• Instead of that, we reduced 50 pts (according to %age) from the max to arrive at the figure of 200 pts for Richards.
• Now, everyone in his era is compared to Richards and not Ponting.
• So a player who has scored 1,000 runs in Richards’ era will get (1000/5000)*200 pts or 40pts.
• Eras are calculated by MP, which is the mean of the years a player: First Played (FP) and Last Played (LP).

C Ave

The Comparative Average (C Ave) for batsmen is calculated by taken into account two factors:-

• First is the average of batsmen at particluar positions (1-11) in a decade.
• Second is the average of the opposition bowlers at Home, in Asia or outside Asia; whichever is applicable.
• The average of the opposing team’s bowlers is also calculated by decades.
• Higher C Ave suggests that more runs were given by bowlers in the above mentioned factors.
• Thus it was easier to score runs against those oppositions and in those positions.
• The batsmen’s points will thus be decreased accordingly.
• Lower C Ave means the opposite.

R Ave

The Relative Average (R Ave) is calculated using the C Ave. Its formula is (Batsman’s Ave/His C Ave)*A Constant Factor. This constant doesn’t affect the rating as it is the same for everone. If your C Ave is comparatively high, your R Ave will be low; which is worse for batsmen. Broadly speaking, the following batsmen will benefit from this system:-

• Openers, who face the new ball.
• Lower order batsmen, whose averages are lower.
• Batsmen who have played more in unfavourable conditions.
• Batsmen who have played in an era where the bowlers dominated, like the 1980s or late 2010s
• Batsmen who have played more against top opposition than weaker teams.

Ave HS

In this criteria, we have taken the top 5 scores of the batsman in the specific condition. Average High Score (Ave HS) is simply the total runs in the 5 innings divided by 5.

C SR And R SR

The Comparative Strike Rate (C SR) and Relative Strike Rate (R SR) for batsmen is calculated using the same method as in C Ave and R Ave with average replaced with SR. Points to note are:-

• Batsmen from the earlier era benefit from R SR.
• This is because SR was generally low earlier and it has incresed with time.
• Rest of the factors are the same as in R Ave.

R4BF

Balls played by batsmen for many inns is not available for earlier times. When such is the case, we have used Runs For Balls Faced (R4BF) to determine the Strike Rate. This is the runs scored by the batsman for the available data of balls.

DR Rating

The DIFF RUNS (DR) Rating is the addition of the points of all the above criteria. The rating is out of 1,000.