Sehwag versus Pietersen

[Dhondy]

When Pietersen edged through the slips in yesterday to reach his hundred, his team had only reached 170. The hundred had been scored off 163 deliveries, while all else were falling around him. It broke a fallow run for him, during which he had gone 10 innings without a 50, and averaged a mere 22.2. His innings brought back memories of Sehwag's recent knock at Adelaide for me, played during India's second innings. The Indian opener had reached his milestone with the team total reading a mere 128, and it took him 123 deliveries. When he was ultimately dismissed for 154, he had saved India's bacon with just about all other batsmen underperforming. The opener had been banished by Indian selectors to the sidelines for poor form for exactly a year and two weeks, before being brought back at Perth, where he set up India's nascent victory with a much needed change in attitude, although his scores of 29 and 43 don't fully reflect his contribution to his team cause. During the 10 innings before he was unceremoniously dropped, Sehwag's form hit rock bottom, averaging 18.9. So do the similarities extend further? Let's examine the two. In 54 Test matches, spanning 91 innings, Sehwag has so far scored 4441 runs @ 50.46, scoring at a rate of 74.89. Pietersen, after 36 Tests, through 68 innings, has tallied 3249 runs @ 49.98, scoring at 63.48. Sehwag has 13 tons and 13 fiftys, which means that he goes past 50 every 3.5 innings and past a hundred, every seventh innings. Pietersen has 11 hundreds and 10 fiftys. Thus, he scores a fifty every 3.2 innings and a hundred every 6.2 innings, marginally better than Sehwag. The Indian opener though, has phenomenal powers of concentration once he gets past 100, averaging 174.6 in such innings, with a triple hundred, and two double tons. No less than 9 of his 13 hundreds, in fact the last 9, have crossed 150 or beyond, comprising fully 69% of his tons. Pietersen averages 140.9 in his tons, has one double hundred, and 4 of his 11 hundreds have breached 150, a proportion of 36%. It's fair to say that Sehwag averages more, scores faster and bigger, albeit those big innings come slightly less frequently than Pietersen's. Ah, but how do they perform against Australia, the bench mark of batsmen the world over? Against Australia, Sehwag has played 11 Tests and 22 innings, scoring 1132 runs in the process, averaging 53.9 at a SR of 72.6. Pietersen, against the same opposition, has played 10 Tests and 20 innings, and scored 963 runs @ 53.5, with a SR of 57.6. Very similar. However, Sehwag has played 7 Tests in Australia to Pietersen's 5, and scored 833 runs @ 59.5, with a SR of 74, to the English player's 490 runs @ 54.44, scored at 48.5/100 deliveries. It must be mentioned however, that Pietersen has always had to play against McGrath and Warne through those 10 Tests. In the four Tests that Sehwag played against these two bowlers, in India, he scored 434 runs @ 42.71, which was still comfortaly better than all his teammates in that series. He's also played as part of the ICC XI in an one off Test against two, and scored 83 runs @ 41.5. What about home and away? Sehwag averages 52.2 at home, and 49.3 away, and 7 of his 13 tons have come away from home. Pietersen averages 58.6 at home and 40.6 away, and only 3 of his 11 centuries were scored overseas. Sehwag thus fares better away from home than Pietersen. Where Pietersen scores over Sehwag though, is in his consistency against all sides. He does not average below 40 against any Test playing nation, the lowest, 42.15, being against Pakistan. Sehwag though, averages only 32 against England, 27 versus NZ, a lowly 18.7 against SL, and 11.5 versus BD. Apart from Australia, the side to have suffered most at his hands have been Pakistan, against whom he averages 91. His record is therefore quite variegated. Pietersen again is very consistent whether it's the first team innings or the second, averaging 52.58 and 46.75 respectively. Sehwag favours the first innings, with an average of 64.18, to his second innings mean of 28.67, an anomaly only partially redressed by his Adelaide knock. Finally, although one should take these figures with a pinch of salt, with Sehwag in the side, India have won 19 Tests, and lost 14, a W:L ratio of 1.36. In contrast, England have won 11 and lost 13 with Pietersen in the side, a W: L ratio of 0.85. Just as I pointed out Sehwag's advantage in not having played McGrath and Warne as often as Pietersen, I must draw your attention to the fact that Pietersen was fortunate in not having to negotiate Shane Bond at his peak on the meadows that passed as pitches in NZ, a series in which Sehwag averaged 10. I couldn't end without pointing out that despite very impressive records, these two are very dissimilar players. Sehwag favours the offside, and is a brilliant cutter and driver of the ball. Pietersen favours the leg side, and has a withering pull shot, which Sehwag lacks. What are we to make of all this then? Both are brilliant batsmen, score quickly, although Sehwag shades Pietersen there, both are prone to lean patches, but Sehwag is more mercurial, more inconsistent, and has fared brilliantly against Pakistan and Australia, while performing poorly against several others, while Pietersen is much more consistent against various sides. Sehwag, OTOH, plays really big knocks, performs better away from home and has been part of a winning side more often. Those are the facts and figures, folks. You be the jury. On my part, I'd pay to watch either. In my book, for sheer entertainment value, nobody beats these two in world cricket today, although Viru is a personal favourite.

[cochise]

Superb comparison Dhondy! Thanks...Viru is a personal favourite too...but you have given me quite a bit to consider. Very different styles of players but very similar approaches and outcomes. Fascinating.

[Dhondy]

And thank you Cochise, for posting here. Your clarity of thought and enthusiasm have been noticed, and greatly appreciated. Without wishing to sound servile, let me tell you that I make it a point to read most of your posts.

[cochise]

Cheers mate!

[umpire]

well, so what you are saying that Sehwag should never be dropped? Sometimes you drop a player so that he can go back, take his mind off cricket and work on his problems. The way Sehwag was playing he was walking wicket. He needed to be dropped. I distinctly remember Sehwag in his interview after hundred at Canberra in practice game. He failed in first innings. When he arrived for his second knock, his only goal was to watch the "ball". He said he was too much concentrating on other things. He mind was corrupted with advises. He must have been told, "You don't move your feet", "you should first get in" blah blah. What Sehwag needed was time out from Indian team. His fitness was going down the drain. If we had persisted with him, we might have lost him forever.

[manoj_admlab]

Very good comparison Dhondy. And thanks for your efforts.

[Cricketics]

Classic post Dhondy both the players u mentioned above also happen to score and play big innings.. Sehwag has been consistently playing big knocks 150, 200 run knocks for us often.. the way he converts his 100 into big knocks is also waht makes him special.. good post dhondy..

[Bumper]

Good comparisons of two very exciting modern players, Dhondy! Sehwag to me is the superior player overall, for his ability to do well against all opponents as an opener and to be able to do it both against pace & spin. I think his averages against Eng, NZ & SL will be corrected when he plays them again. Being attacking & still being consistent, at the opening slot is far more difficult than doing the same, at the middle order, IMO. One metric , where Pietersen consistently outscores Sehwag, is 2nd innings performance. Here are some stats: Veeru (in 3rd & 4th innings) averages 28.67 (1 ton) Pietersen (in 3rd & 4th) averages 47 (4 ton) Pietersen used to be a monster in the 4th innings until recently (he was averaging 60+ till the recent NZ tour I think). Till date: Veeru averages 29 in the 4th Pietersen averages 47. However, both Veeru & Pietersen have to correct their abysmal records in alien conditions. Veeru averages poorly (10 in NZ, 26 in SA) in the two most seamer friendly conditions of modern times. Pietersen OTOH, averages 31 in the subcontinent.

[Kartikey]

Nice article, Dhondy. I belive Sehwag is the better player but Pietersen is also good. I believe KP is the only world-class player in Eng's team

[Dhondy]

You really are busy these days, aren't you, Bumps?:D I have that particular statistic in my OP. Wouldn't have missed out on something as obvious. Thank you to all you kind folks who found it too long and statsy, but didn't have the heart to tell me. ;-)

[Ram]

Excellent analysis there Doc. I was particularly drawn towards the stat which compared both the players' performance against Aus. You are judged by your performance against the best and both Veeru and KP have done consistently well against the Aussies. We all know how KP helped England win the 2005 Ashes with his 100 in the final test and even in the otherwise disastrous Ashes series of 2007, he was one of the lone good performers. Sehwag was brilliant in Aus in 2003/04 and his innings against Aus in Chennai in 2004 wont be forgotten in a hurry. Of course, Adelaide 2007/08 was a masterpiece in itself However, we musnt forget the fact the KP is a middle order player and Sehwag opens. In this age of bloated averages, we have umpteen number of MO players with averages in excess of 50, but very few openers who have that distinction and Sehwag is one of 'em.

[Bumper]

Performance against Australia is great. But i wouldnt go by only by that yardstick to judge a player. To me, beating Pakistan is as much as an honor. (May be not anymore. But i have thoroughly enjoyed all bilateral series with them prior to the most recent one). Infact in some of the games vs Pakistan, we are under more pressure than against any other opponents. This is where Sehwag distinguishes himself. Veeru is a big match player. There is something special about cricketers like him. Infact many of the new generation players (Sehwag, Dhoni, Yuvraj) simply dont fail when pitted against their arch rivals. Perhaps their mean, mofo, no nonsense nature has something to do with it ?

[Anakin]

Enjoyed reading the OP. As some already pointed out, Veeru has been opening the batting which is harder imo and so I'll rate him higher than KP.

[Guest Hiten.]

Sehwag to me is always a better test player than a ODI player. I really hop he focuses more on his test career and nurture his test career rather than seeing him go berserk in ODI. Sehwag has proved time and time again that whenever he plays a controlled innings, he turns out to be a very dangerous customer.Only tests can give him platform to be able to play a controlled innings. Moreover, Sehwag has not really adopted ODI cricket ever since he started. He started as a mediocre middle order batsman and has not changed a bit since he made his ODI debut. Only thing changed about his ODI cricket was the batting position. On other hand KP has (almost) adapted to both forms of cricket. KP easily topples sehwag in ODI format and when it comes to tests, its other way around.

[CC1981]

I rate KP slightly higher overall, since he is superb in both forms of the game- ODIs and Tests.The way i see it, its only the truely greats who can dominate both formats of the game. Sehwag, IMO has a key advantage KP doesn't have: Sehwag has the 'license to kill' in each and every time he goes out to bat in Tests, knowing fully well that he has batsmen of the callibre of Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly to take over from him. KP on the other hand, is the sole linchpin of the English batting lineup and 'behind him' in the order, there is only Collingwood who's any good and consistent. Ie, i think Sehwag gets to bat in a more 'pressure-free' environment than KP. On the other hand, i think Sehwag is a more naturally agressive batsman than KP- one thing thats evident about Sehwag's attitude, perhaps shared only by Afridi, is that he doesn't subscribe to the idea of ' lets block the next 4 deliveries coz i crashed 2 boundaries in the first 2 and for test matches, this is good enough'. KP, Sachin, Lara, etc. ALL have this attitude, where if they collar the first two balls of an over, they will play conservatively through the rest of the over (unless ofcourse, you give them balls to hit). Sehwag bats like he has no problems reeling off 10 consecutive fours in 10 consecutive balls if he can. Ofcourse, unlike Afretard, Sehwag doesn't make it a priority to hit 10 straight boundaries- but he is always on the lookout. If there is one flaw in Sehwag's batting, its that his placement is very ordinary. Infact, this is the main reason IMO he is only average in the ODIs- the opposition just chokes up Sehwag's run-flow, posting men at his heaviest scoring zones and having only 1 slip at most to him. Sehwag invariably hits to the fielders, gets frustrated and then has a wild hoick. In tests, he has far more scoring channels, since the field setting is lot more agressive and the opposition can't afford to plug all his favourite scoring zones early in the day. Ofcourse, KP too has a major weakness IMO - he is distinctly ordinary against spin on a spinners track, more so than Sehwag is on a seamers' track.

[Guest Hiten.]

I rate KP slightly higher overall, since he is superb in both forms of the game- ODIs and Tests.The way i see it, its only the truely greats who can dominate both formats of the game. Sehwag, IMO has a key advantage KP doesn't have: Sehwag has the 'license to kill' in each and every time he goes out to bat in Tests, knowing fully well that he has batsmen of the callibre of Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly to take over from him. KP on the other hand, is the sole linchpin of the English batting lineup and 'behind him' in the order, there is only Collingwood who's any good and consistent.

Thats not an advantage mate. Sehwag has the onus of giving us a good start, i.e. facing new ball. KP has shown in the ongoing NZ test series that he is susceptible to the new ball. In cricket there is no such thing as an added advantage be it for a batsman or a bowler. The job has to be done even if your team is comprised of SRT's, SG's, RD's. Sehwag's role is as important as RD at number 3 and Kumble's bowling.

[CC1981]

Thats not an advantage mate.

It most certainly is. If i have 4-5 greats comming in behind me, its definitely less pressure for team's sake than me being the sole lynchpin, upon who's dismissal the team is f*cked.

KP has shown in the ongoing NZ test series that he is susceptible to the new ball.

Most middle order bats are....no different than Sachin or Rahul or Lara as far as tests go.

In cricket there is no such thing as an added advantage be it for a batsman or a bowler.

Nonsense....you can't tell me you are carrying same amount of pressure if you are the best player in the team and the rest are all mediocre as opposed to you having another 3-4 great players in the team who'd pick up the slack if you failed. In team sports, team composition is a huge thing and in my opinion, Sehwag simply doesn't have as much pressure to bat as KP does.

[Shehezaada]

It most certainly is. If i have 4-5 greats comming in behind me, its definitely less pressure for team's sake than me being the sole lynchpin, upon who's dismissal the team is f*cked. Most middle order bats are....no different than Sachin or Rahul or Lara as far as tests go. Nonsense....you can't tell me you are carrying same amount of pressure if you are the best player in the team and the rest are all mediocre as opposed to you having another 3-4 great players in the team who'd pick up the slack if you failed. In team sports, team composition is a huge thing and in my opinion, Sehwag simply doesn't have as much pressure to bat as KP does.

i don't think you can say that Tendulkar, Lara, or Dravid are weak against the new ball CC. Tendulkar's faced the new ball (both in ODIs, and in Tests because of our joke openers over the years), and Dravid has reguarly been out there in the first 5 overs throughout his career. They've played some great knocks when the ball is new, Tendulkar 122 at Edgbaston, Dravid 180 at Hamilton, Lara 153 in WI

[Vignesh]

i don't think you can say that Tendulkar' date=' Lara, or Dravid are weak against the new ball CC. Tendulkar's faced the new ball (both in ODIs, and in Tests because of our joke openers over the years), and Dravid has reguarly been out there in the first 5 overs throughout his career. They've played some great knocks when the ball is new,[b'] Tendulkar 122 at Edgbaston, Dravid 180 at Hamilton, Lara 153 in WI

While Tendulkar n Dravid scored abroad Lara scored in his own Backyard

[CC1981]

Tendulkar's faced the new ball (both in ODIs, and in Tests because of our joke openers over the years), and Dravid has reguarly been out there in the first 5 overs throughout his career. They've played some great knocks when the ball is new, Tendulkar 122 at Edgbaston, Dravid 180 at Hamilton, Lara 153 in WI

Facing the new ball in ODIs is nowhere as challenging as it is in Tests- the new ball isnt as attacking as in ODIs, where there is atmost one-two slips and the bowler is forced to keep it tight...in tests, facing the new ball where the bowler is attacking and there is 3 slips and gully is far more challenging. I am not saying Tendulkar sucks against the new ball, but he certainly is not an opener in the bonafide sense- this is why in ODIs, you've often seen middle order bats open and do well ( eg: Tendulkar, Junior, Pup, etc) And no, i don't consider batting inside the first five-six over to be indicative of prowess against the new ball- it is one thing to go in the middle after having witnessed how the ball is behaving for the first 3-4 overs, another matter entirely going in blind right from the first ball and not knowing how the ball/pitch is going to play- this is why while Dravid is an awesome #3,he is a very mediocre opener.