Australia have been the only side in the last 15 years to have had consistently dominant left-handers in their batting order |
The desire for a left-right batting combination has produced many a change in batting orders. Commentators often argue that in ODI cricket, left-right combinations might find it easier to score quickly, as the bowler has to keep adjusting his line and length and bowl to different fields if the strike is rotated regularly. This increases the chance that the bowler may bowl a bad ball. To take a hypothetical case, should this extend to promoting JP Duminy ahead of Faf du Plessis to join Hashim Amla at the wicket? Is there any evidence to suggest that left-right stands are more prolific than others?
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Except for a short period in the late '90s, there has been no significant difference in the run-scoring abilities of left- and right-handers in ODI cricket. From the start of 1995 to the end of 2000, 70 left-handers batted in the top seven of an ODI innings in matches featuring only the top eight Test teams, and averaged 33.6. In these games, 199 right-handers averaged 29.3 batting in the top seven. You can imagine the names - Ganguly, Bevan, Kirsten, Jayasuriya, Lara, Gilchrist, Thorpe, Knight, Twose, Fleming - every team had a top left-hander, if not two, in those years.
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Next, let's look at partnership averages. The evidence suggests that left-right partnerships have done better than right-right partnerships only during periods when left-handers have been better than right-handers overall (prominently so in the late 1990s). In the 21st century, two right-handers have batted together 5984 times in for the top six wickets in an ODI and produced 35.3 runs per stand. Two left-handers have batted together 1317 times and averaged 34.4 runs per stand. Left-right pairs have batted 6767 times and averaged 36.3. So left-right pairs have done two runs better than two left-handers, and one run better than two right-handers. During this time, 154 left-handers have averaged 32.8 in ODIs, the same as the 341 right-handers have. So perhaps there is some minor benefit to left-right pairs. If you look at median stands, the median left-right stand in the 21st century has been worth 23 runs. The median left-left and right-right stands have been worth 22 runs each.
OPPONENT | LEFT-LEFT | LEFT-RIGHT | RIGHT-RIGHT |
Australia | 34.47 | 30.09 | 39.26 |
England | 38.8 | 38.5 | 36.75 |
India | 36.66 | 39.61 | 35.77 |
New Zealand | 33.62 | 37.24 | 36.53 |
Pakistan | 27.82 | 36.7 | 36.8 |
South Africa | 35.47 | 34.89 | 32.14 |
Sri Lanka | 34.39 | 34.93 | 35.74 |
West Indies | 36.18 | 40.5 | 39.84 |
Finally, let's look at batting teams in the 21st century. In general, teams with strong left-handers have done well with at least one left-hander at the wicket. Australia have been the only side to have consistently dominant left-handers in their batting order in the last 15 years. India have had Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Suresh Raina, and to a lesser extent, Sourav Ganguly.
TEAM | LEFT-LEFT | LEFT-RIGHT | RIGHT-RIGHT |
Australia | 41.58 | 40.15 | 41.64 |
England | 33.19 | 33.3 | 34.36 |
India | 31.76 | 40.05 | 39.14 |
New Zealand | 24.96 | 32 | 31.68 |
Pakistan | 31.64 | 32.73 | 32.55 |
South Africa | 31.08 | 38.41 | 40.32 |
Sri Lanka | 33.46 | 36.58 | 34.67 |
West Indies | 35.4 | 32.48 | 28.37 |
Left-right pairs have no systematic advantage over other types of batting pairs in the ODI game. If the choice is between a left-hander and right-hander, the batsman in better form ought to be selected, regardless of how many other batsmen of that type are already present in the line-up. In Test matches, the story may perhaps be different.
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