Manish Pandey stands fourth in the list of players with the highest career batting averages in T20I cricket right now. However, if you take a look at the player’s career, it has actually not been very successful, although he did have his share of success. Sometimes, a player’s role in the XI could make him/her have a high batting average. That said, in the T20 format, the concept of batting average is less relevant when you compare it with the other two formats of the game. Various coaches across the globe have already acknowledged the same. New tactics in line with this have already been implemented. Yet, some statisticians, experts, and even a few players go behind this number. Talking more about this, here, we look at three reasons why the batting average is overrated in T20 cricket.
1) A high batting average may not equate to a great batting performance
In the T20 format, a batter scoring a lot of runs may not mean that he/she is helping the team. Of course, in most cases, the batter would be helping the team’s cause but without showing the strike rate, the total number of runs may not be useful in judging his/her contribution.
In many matches, we have seen high run-scorers ending on the losing side. It has been happening very frequently these days. Therefore, a high batting average may not mean that a player has actually done well in the format, especially from a team’s perspective.
2) Batters mostly remain not out which spikes their average
The batting average is dependent heavily on whether a batter gets out or not out in an innings. Of course, when he is not out, there would be a spike in this number.
Saving your wicket might not be the best strategy in the T20s. This would leave the batter with very few options to take risks. These risks are actually needed on a consistent basis in this format. Since the average goes against the intention to win games in most cases, we could say that the batting average is overrated in T20 cricket.
3) The players could be put in two minds about the context of the T20 format
It is what that is fed into a player’s mind that everyone must be most interested in. Average is rated highly in the other two formats of the game. In fact, to a certain extent, many talk well of the batting average in the T20s, too.
However, in reality, it is “impact runs” that win games for a T20 team. With this difference in perception, a few players could be confused as to how to approach a T20 inning. Amidst this, they could lose their form, which hampers their progress.
