Waqar Younis and the others: a look at ODI streaks

A statistical look back at the most prolific streaks in batting and bowling in ODIs

25-Feb-2013

No one ran up ODI bowling streaks like Waqar Younis did © Photosport

This is a logical follow-up to the brace of articles on the best 1-10 Tests streaks for bowlers and batsmen. This coves the ODI matches. I have managed to have both the batsmen and bowlers in a single article by some nifty formatting.

This turned out to be a tough task since I also wanted to utilise this opportunity to build a player-performance database. This is essential since I needed to get the best 1-10 ODI performances for each player and then get the all-time best performances. I also wanted to provide the information on the top players' 1-10 ODIs best performances so that the readers could do their own comparisons. And I was sure that there would be queries on the best performances by specific players after the article was published. I wanted to be able to provide the information quickly. In fact I have also provided the huge table of all qualifying players for downloading.

First let me emphasise that this is only a run aggregate. I myself will clarify that this aggregating of runs in specific sequences of 1-10 ODIs is irrespective of opposing team, home or away, match conditions, period lapsed between matches, not outs et al. That is not the purpose of this article. Readers should appreciate this and not come in with a comment such as "opposition bowling quality is not considered". But that is wishful thinking! Anyhow I will just publish such readers' comments without any response. Also readers who worry about batting average should understand that when someone scores over 500 runs in 10 ODIs, it does not matter about averages. It is going to be quite high.

Let us now look at the tables.

Maximum runs scored in 1 to 10 ODIs

Batsman              Cty StMtId-Year  No Runs
ODIs

Tendulkar S.R Ind (2962-2010) 1 200 Saeed Anwar Pak (1209-1997) 1 194 Coventry C.K Zim (2873-2009) 1 194 Richards I.V.A Win (0264-1984) 1 189 Jayasuriya S.T Slk (1652-2000) 1 189 ... Jayasuriya S.T Slk (2389-2006) 2 309 Dilshan T.M Slk (2932-2009) 2 283 Gower D.I Eng (0168-1983) 2 280 ... Gibbs H.H Saf (1882-2002) 3 385 Saeed Anwar Pak (0841-1993) 3 349 Haynes D.L Win (0322-1985) 3 346 ... Gibbs H.H Saf (1882-2002) 4 482 Tendulkar S.R Ind (1052-1996) 4 424 Salman Butt Pak (2698-2008) 4 418 Zaheer Abbas Pak (0163-1982) 4 418 ... Hayden M.L Aus (2527-2007) 5 529 Gibbs H.H Saf (1882-2002) 5 497 Salman Butt Pak (2698-2008) 5 488 ... Hayden M.L Aus (2527-2007) 6 576 Salman Butt Pak (2700-2008) 6 550 Waugh M.E Aus (1037-1996) 6 545 ... Salman Butt Pak (2698-2008) 7 626 Amla H.M Saf (2979-2010) 7 622 Hayden M.L Aus (2527-2007) 7 617 ... Amla H.M Saf (2963-2010) 8 709 Salman Butt Pak (2696-2008) 8 659 Hayden M.L Aus (2526-2007) 8 641 ... Amla H.M Saf (2962-2010) 9 743 Javed Miandad Pak (0437-1987) 9 697 Waugh M.E Aus (1033-1996) 9 685 ... Amla H.M Saf (2963-2010) 10 768 Hayden M.L Aus (2527-2007) 10 761 de Villiers A.B Saf (2962-2010) 10 730

The batting honours have been widely distributed. Amla leads with 3 top positions, followed by Hayden and Gibbs with 2 each. Tendulkar, Jayasuriya and Salman Butt share the remaining three spots. Salman Butt also figures in the top 3 of quite a few mini-tables. Gibbs is also well-represented.

- Tendulkar's 200 is in his last innings in ODI cricket.
- Upto 5 match streaks, the top batsmen have averaged over 100 runs per ODI.
- Amla's streak is vintage-2010. His 2010 form, leading upto the New Year and World Cup is phenomenal. Not to forget the recent form of de Villiers.

I am sure readers would like to see the best 1-10 ODI sequence aggregates of their favourite batsmen. Instead of cluttering up the main article I have uploaded the file and readers can view/download the complete player file.

To view/down-load the complete 1-10 ODIs table, please click/right-click here.

To view/down-load the complete player table, please click/right-click here. The batsmen who have scored 2000 runs or more are included.

Now for the bowler sequence table.

Maximum wickets captured in 1 to 10 ODIs

Bowler               Cty  StMtId-Year  No Wkts
ODIs

Vaas WPUJC Slk (1776-2001) 1 8 Waqar Younis Pak (1724-2001) 1 7 Muralitharan M Slk (1650-2000) 1 7 Aaqib Javed Pak (0685-1991) 1 7 McGrath G.D Aus (1970-2003) 1 7 Bichel A.J Aus (1976-2003) 1 7 Davis W.W Win (0203-1983) 1 7 ... Waqar Younis Pak (1724-2001) 2 13 Azhar Mahmood Pak (1517-1999) 2 11 Gilmour G.J Aus (0031-1975) 2 11 Aaqib Javed Pak (1205-1997) 2 10 Muralitharan M Slk (1650-2000) 2 10 Harris R.J Aus (2946-2010) 2 10 Bond S.E Nzl (2273-2005) 2 10 de Mel A.L.F Slk (0211-1983) 2 10 ... Waqar Younis Pak (0625-1990) 3 15 Harris R.J Aus (2946-2010) 3 13 Gilmour G.J Aus (0031-1975) 3 13 Warne S.K Aus (1149-1996) 3 13 ... Waqar Younis Pak (0625-1990) 4 17 Mendis B.A.W Slk (2718-2008) 4 17 Vaas WPUJC Slk (1950-2003) 4 16 Harris R.J Aus (2946-2010) 4 16 ... Mendis B.A.W Slk (2718-2008) 5 20 Waqar Younis Pak (0627-1990) 5 19 Patterson B.P Win (0459-1987) 5 17 Hendrick M Eng (0071-1979) 5 17 Harris R.J Aus (2796-2009) 5 17 Donald A.A Saf (1121-1996) 5 17 ... Waqar Younis Pak (0627-1990) 6 24 Mendis B.A.W Slk (2718-2008) 6 22 Donald A.A Saf (1124-1996) 6 21 .... Waqar Younis Pak (0627-1990) 7 29 Mendis B.A.W Slk (2718-2008) 7 25 Donald A.A Saf (1124-1996) 7 24 ... Waqar Younis Pak (0625-1990) 8 33 Mendis B.A.W Slk (2718-2008) 8 26 Donald A.A Saf (1121-1996) 8 26 ... Waqar Younis Pak (0609-1990) 9 33 Mendis B.A.W Slk (2718-2008) 9 30 Donald A.A Saf (1121-1996) 9 29 ... Waqar Younis Pak (0625-1990) 10 35 Mendis B.A.W Slk (2735-2008) 10 34 Donald A.A Saf (1073-1996) 10 31

Unlike the batting tables, this table is Waqar Younis all the way. Vaas just managed to gather that extra wicket to lead the 1-match table. Then Mendis, with his mercurial start to his career, just about managed to get the additional wicket in the 5-match streak. The rest is all Waqar Younis. He leads in 8 of the 10 mini-tables. This was Waqar, at his toe-crushing best during 1990. This streak helped Pakistan win 10 matches in a trot.

- From 6 to 10 matches, the sub-tables have the same three players, Waqar, Mendis and Donald in the same order. R.J.Harris had an excellent sequence for Australia.
- The 1990s have been a wonderful period for such streaks.
- There is a wide proliferation of bowlers in the low number streaks.
- It is interesting to note that Waqar Younis has a long streak starting in match no 625 and a great two match streak of 7 and 6 wickets towards the end of his career. He does not appear twice because I am showing only one streak per bowler - Upto 8-match streaks the bowlers have managed to gather more than 4 wickets per match.
- Note the absence of Indian bowlers in these tables, both Batting and Bowling.

I am sure readers would like to see the best 1-10 ODIs sequence aggregates of their favourite bowlers. Instead of cluttering up the main article I have uploaded the file and readers can view/download the complete player file.

To view/down-load the complete 1-10 ODIs table, please click/right-click here.

To view/down-load the complete player table, please click/right-click here. The bowlers who have captured 100 wickets or more are included.

For the longer streak analysis I did just one. I decided to do a 50-match analysis. 50 matches represents between 2 and 3 years in a player career and anything longer would rule out quite a few batsmen. The results are presented below.

Batsman              Cty  StMtId-Year  No  Runs
ODIs

Tendulkar S.R Ind (1277-1998) 50 2518 Lara B.C Win (0939-1994) 50 2485 Ganguly S.C Ind (1444-1999) 50 2406 Gooch G.A Eng (0144-1982) 50 2397 Kirsten G Saf (1041-1996) 50 2392 Jones D.M Aus (0502-1988) 50 2376 Gayle C.H Win (1782-2001) 50 2331 Greenidge C.G Win (0081-1979) 50 2330 Chanderpaul S Win (2437-2006) 50 2298 Javed Miandad Pak (0385-1986) 50 2296 Saeed Anwar Pak (1112-1996) 50 2277 Richards I.V.A Win (0074-1979) 50 2268 de Silva P.A Slk (1055-1996) 50 2263 Ponting R.T Aus (2260-2005) 50 2259 Hayden M.L Aus (2227-2005) 50 2249 Haynes D.L Win (0510-1988) 50 2247 Zaheer Abbas Pak (0030-1975) 50 2247 Marsh G.R Aus (0500-1988) 50 2221 Jayasuriya S.T Slk (1077-1996) 50 2207 Waugh M.E Aus (1033-1996) 50 2185

This table goes as planned. There is a collection of the best ODI batsmen of all time. Tendulkar had his best period towards end of 1990s and scored at over 50 runs per match. Lara, despite his lesser credentials in ODI matches, had his purple match during the early part of his career and averaged just below 50 runs per match. Ganguly's streak coincided with Tendulkar's.

To view/down-load the complete 50 ODIs Batsmen table, please click/right-click here.

Bowler               Cty  StMtId-Year  No Wkts
ODIs

Saqlain Mushtaq Pak (1135-1996) 50 105 Donald A.A Saf (0977-1995) 50 104 Waqar Younis Pak (0625-1990) 50 102 Lee B Aus (1677-2001) 50 102 Bond S.E Nzl (1845-2002) 50 97 Muralitharan M Slk (1825-2002) 50 96 McGrath G.D Aus (1210-1997) 50 94 Ntini M Saf (1801-2002) 50 94 Broad S.C.J Eng (2622-2007) 50 92 Shoaib Akhtar Pak (1428-1999) 50 91 Gough D Eng (1077-1996) 50 91 Mills K.D Nzl (2276-2005) 50 90 McDermott C.J Aus (0416-1987) 50 90 Kumble A Ind (0945-1994) 50 90 Bracken N.W Aus (1698-2001) 50 90 Warne S.K Aus (0889-1994) 50 89 Pathan I.K Ind (2093-2004) 50 89 Wasim Akram Pak (0720-1992) 50 88 Pringle C Nzl (0638-1990) 50 88 Lillee D.K Aus (0003-1972) 50 88 Mohammad Sami Pak (1808-2002) 50 87 Ambrose C.E.L Win (0508-1988) 50 86 Naved-ul-Hasan Pak (2179-2004) 50 86 Zaheer Khan Ind (1729-2001) 50 86 Bishop I.R Win (0519-1988) 50 85 Umar Gul Pak (2463-2006) 50 85 Fleming D.W Aus (0907-1994) 50 84 Garner J Win (0128-1981) 50 84 Gillespie J.N Aus (1187-1997) 50 84 Johnson M.G Aus (2413-2006) 50 84

Despite Waqar Younis's great 10 match streak, it is Saqlain Mushtaq who takes the first place in this table. He has captured 105 wickets in his best 50 match period. Donald has also leap-frogged over Waqar and captured 104 wickets in 50 matches. Now comes Waqar Younis, with 102 wickets. Lee shares this spot with Waqar Younis and these four bowlers exceed 100 wickets in 50 matches. Then comes Bond and the two greats, Murali and McGrath.

It is nice to see the presence of Irfan Pathan inn this list, just behind Kumble, but above Wasim Akram and Lillee.

To view/down-load the complete 50 ODIs Bowlers table, please click/right-click here.

Waqar Younis

Anantha Narayanan has written for ESPNcricinfo and CastrolCricket and worked with a number of companies on their cricket performance ratings-related systems