<i>Moneyball</i> stats at the IPL
Can cricketers' values be measured like in the movie Moneyball
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
Can cricketers' values be measured like in the movie Moneyball? S Ramakrishnan a.k.a Ramky, who spent over a decade with the Indian team starting out as a video analyst, has provided analytical support to nearly every IPL team, the Indian Express' Karthik Krishnaswamy finds out.
“Our whole business is built around Moneyball,” Ramky says. “That phrase didn’t exist when I started, but for the last 12 years, it's been all about looking at stats differently.” Ramky’s company, Sports Mechanics, has provided analytical support to nearly every IPL team. “All four seasons so far, the champions were our clients,” he says.
Ramky says that insiders look at players’ performances in a markedly different way to casual spectators. “Performance should be mapped to team interest,” he says. “Imagine a bowler asked to bowl stump-to-stump, bowl dot balls, and the other guy gets a lot of wickets. If you judge both on wickets taken, you are penalising the first guy for being a team player.”
Nikita Bastian is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo