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Numbers Do Lie: 61 Hidden Cricket Stories [Feb 01, 2017]
Please Read Brand New, International Softcover Edition, Printed in black and white pages, minor self wear on the cover or pages, Sale restriction may be printed on the book, but Book name, contents, and author are exactly same as Hardcover Edition. Fast delivery through DHL/FedEx express.
- GenresNonfictionSports
368 pages, Paperback
Published February 14, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 3, 2017
"There is a lot of romanticism in cricket and we tend to revere those bowlers and players more who are visually appealing."
I always was wondering in the game of cricket that -
The book is true to its blurb - "Impact Index is a revolutionary way of examining performances in cricket: within the context of the game, the conditions that the cricketers played in, the series or tournament, and the age."
The authors along with the insightful Aakash Chopra gave the lovers of the game an extra dimension to view and understand the performers on the big stage. All the performances, sixty one in fact, are completely based on a statistical model built around a series or tournament defining performance which changed the momentum of the series or tournament. Moreover, the authors were able to take the eras in which the player had played, into consideration as well. For example, a batsman averaging in the forties in the decade of 1950s is a lot better than the one averaging in the late fifties in the decade of 2000s considering the uncovered pitches and the combined average of the players playing in the same era.
Just take a look at a few highlights which I loved from the book. Although I had limited data, I used to believe in some of them. However, some of them were shocking.
1) Anil Kumble being more than his 619 wickets for India
2) Graeme Smith's Houdinic (it's not a word but for the sake of the impact, I had used it) fourth innings performances
3) Brian Lara's inconsequential yet statistically mammoth world record scores of 375 and 400*
4) Rahul Dravid being India's highest impact batsman
5) Dean Jones being second highest impact ODI batsman of all time
6) Marvan Atapattu's impact on Sri Lankan ODI cricket
7) Robin Uthappa being the unluckiest T20 cricketer (thanks to stupid selection policies of BCCI)
8) Unusual yet greater impacts of Roger Twose, Craig McMillan and Sadagoppan Ramesh on ODIs and Tests
9) being the second most impactful batsman after the inhuman Don
10) Alan Davidson being the most impactful player in the history of Test cricket (by reducing the sample size by 10 Tests)
Last but not the least -
11) Sachin Tendulkar who enjoys a God-like status in the cricket frenzied nation of India is the greatest supporting act in the history of Test cricket and not the one who had many series defining performances. Obviously, it is blasphemy for me. Now, you need to read the book to understand the logic behind this point.
Frankly, I believe that this is the best book on cricket I had bought and read so far after spending loads of money as well as time on revengeful autobiographies of some cricketers. I was saddened after reading the plight of the founders of Impact Index and how they were treated by cricket organizations and media. Eventually, they got their due by publishing this book and giving us the different perspective on cricket performances. I rest my case here.
I always was wondering in the game of cricket that -
The book is true to its blurb - "Impact Index is a revolutionary way of examining performances in cricket: within the context of the game, the conditions that the cricketers played in, the series or tournament, and the age."
The authors along with the insightful Aakash Chopra gave the lovers of the game an extra dimension to view and understand the performers on the big stage. All the performances, sixty one in fact, are completely based on a statistical model built around a series or tournament defining performance which changed the momentum of the series or tournament. Moreover, the authors were able to take the eras in which the player had played, into consideration as well. For example, a batsman averaging in the forties in the decade of 1950s is a lot better than the one averaging in the late fifties in the decade of 2000s considering the uncovered pitches and the combined average of the players playing in the same era.
Just take a look at a few highlights which I loved from the book. Although I had limited data, I used to believe in some of them. However, some of them were shocking.
1) Anil Kumble being more than his 619 wickets for India
2) Graeme Smith's Houdinic (it's not a word but for the sake of the impact, I had used it) fourth innings performances
3) Brian Lara's inconsequential yet statistically mammoth world record scores of 375 and 400*
4) Rahul Dravid being India's highest impact batsman
5) Dean Jones being second highest impact ODI batsman of all time
6) Marvan Atapattu's impact on Sri Lankan ODI cricket
7) Robin Uthappa being the unluckiest T20 cricketer (thanks to stupid selection policies of BCCI)
8) Unusual yet greater impacts of Roger Twose, Craig McMillan and Sadagoppan Ramesh on ODIs and Tests
9) being the second most impactful batsman after the inhuman Don
10) Alan Davidson being the most impactful player in the history of Test cricket (by reducing the sample size by 10 Tests)
Last but not the least -
11) Sachin Tendulkar who enjoys a God-like status in the cricket frenzied nation of India is the greatest supporting act in the history of Test cricket and not the one who had many series defining performances. Obviously, it is blasphemy for me. Now, you need to read the book to understand the logic behind this point.
Frankly, I believe that this is the best book on cricket I had bought and read so far after spending loads of money as well as time on revengeful autobiographies of some cricketers. I was saddened after reading the plight of the founders of Impact Index and how they were treated by cricket organizations and media. Eventually, they got their due by publishing this book and giving us the different perspective on cricket performances. I rest my case here.
May 19, 2017
The potential for this method of analysing data could make this the Moneyball of cricket.
October 25, 2017
3.5/5 One often hears that "(conventional cricket) statistics conceal as much as they reveal." How does one evaluate a player then ? By those eternal subjective arguments with personal biases ?
The Impact Index team has an answer. Their core idea is to provide context to every performance. The percentage of the runs/wickets you scored, the pressure you absorbed etc and most importantly, did u win/draw a series because of that performance.
The pro of this system is that it throws up some good hidden stories and also helps put in words a few things that we already knew - For example Dravid starred in more significant overseas test victories than Tendulkar and thus had more "impact" on winning while the later was more consistent.
The obvious con is that it ignores performaces in lost causes. Although, while talking of Shakib or Gavaskar, they did acknowledge this somewhat.
All said, a good book to read for a cricket fan. And I hope they keep refining their system and come up with even better ones.
The Impact Index team has an answer. Their core idea is to provide context to every performance. The percentage of the runs/wickets you scored, the pressure you absorbed etc and most importantly, did u win/draw a series because of that performance.
The pro of this system is that it throws up some good hidden stories and also helps put in words a few things that we already knew - For example Dravid starred in more significant overseas test victories than Tendulkar and thus had more "impact" on winning while the later was more consistent.
The obvious con is that it ignores performaces in lost causes. Although, while talking of Shakib or Gavaskar, they did acknowledge this somewhat.
All said, a good book to read for a cricket fan. And I hope they keep refining their system and come up with even better ones.
April 1, 2017
Will be an interesting read for any Cricket buff. Debunks the legendary myths about some famous cricketers with some very interesting facts and presents a new way of looking at Cricket stats. Some stories are boldly written. Aakash Chopra only chips in with some commentary on each of the story that is researched and written by the Impact Index team. So do not expect a book written by Chopra.
May 11, 2018
A book that makes us see cricket and more importantly cricket generated stats in a different light. The system highlights findings that have been not discussed much in cricketing circle so far. If there are few lines that sum up the idea of the Imapct Index it has to be these
1. Batting averages should really have no place in the twenty-first century. (This is the last line of the book's 54th story- Matthew Hayden was the highest impact Australian Batsman in an illustrious generation)
2. Brian Lara's 375 and 400 are not his highest impact test performances. (Title of the book's 57th story)
If these lines doesn't make you pick up this book, then I wonder what will.
The best part of the book is that will not bog down you with its system of stats, its only aim is to unearth interesting stories based on the system and bring it to readers. After reading the book you will learn to see and understand sports in different light. A very satisfactory experience. I hope that system gets its due acceptance. I would be delighted to have a sequel of the book, with more interesting stories, in my hand soon!.
1. Batting averages should really have no place in the twenty-first century. (This is the last line of the book's 54th story- Matthew Hayden was the highest impact Australian Batsman in an illustrious generation)
2. Brian Lara's 375 and 400 are not his highest impact test performances. (Title of the book's 57th story)
If these lines doesn't make you pick up this book, then I wonder what will.
The best part of the book is that will not bog down you with its system of stats, its only aim is to unearth interesting stories based on the system and bring it to readers. After reading the book you will learn to see and understand sports in different light. A very satisfactory experience. I hope that system gets its due acceptance. I would be delighted to have a sequel of the book, with more interesting stories, in my hand soon!.
June 8, 2020
Have read most of these observations on the website. It is a very unique concept & an eye opener. However, it does get repetitive after a while and the views expressed do not seem to be based entirely on sound objective scale. That is why 3 stars !!
August 6, 2018
This book is a bold take on cricket which challenges established modes of record-keeping such as runs scored, average, strike rate etc by suggesting a single alternate statistic - impact index. In a nutshell, impact index takes into account the context of the match when deciding how good a player is. So Virat Kohli's recent 149 against England on a seam-friendly wicket where India's innings total was just 274 will have far greater impact than some other century scored on a subcontinent pitch highly conducive to batting where the team total is 500+. Impact index calculations, without being too complicated, take into account a large variety of factors such as batting knocks in the 1950s being of higher impact because the overall trend at that time was of poor scores. I found this book quite illuminating and am really hoping for impact index to be adopted on a bigger scale. My only criticism, for which I dock a star, is that the book is not written in too interesting a way. The stories could have been a bit more romanticized and spiced up to pique the reader's interest instead of merely describing that someone came in to bowl when the opposition was 200-2 and took 4 wickets in 5 overs. Other than that, well done Impact Index!
July 17, 2017
**Disclaimer -- This book is not by Akash Chopra, he only provides commentary on the stories curated by Impact Index and does a good job at it ***
In the world of Cricket, Numbers have always played a hand in giving a perspective into a player's capabilities. And all these book states looking at the numbers simplistically doesn't cut it anymore. A certain level of objectification and relativity has to be brought on into the way cricket stats are currently seen to improve the overall experience of the game and this book is a good place to start in that direction.
All 60 stories are brilliantly chosen, which cause a mix of disbelief, shock, elation, jubilation and most of all a profound sense that the book is right in deriving the observations they did.
Cricket as a game is much more rich than the last 10 or 20 years, and it is necessary to delve upon historic characters and performances time and again to understand the intrinsic beauty of the game. This book does exactly that but though the same numbers which often lie to you in first glance.
A much recommended read for any cricket fan!
In the world of Cricket, Numbers have always played a hand in giving a perspective into a player's capabilities. And all these book states looking at the numbers simplistically doesn't cut it anymore. A certain level of objectification and relativity has to be brought on into the way cricket stats are currently seen to improve the overall experience of the game and this book is a good place to start in that direction.
All 60 stories are brilliantly chosen, which cause a mix of disbelief, shock, elation, jubilation and most of all a profound sense that the book is right in deriving the observations they did.
Cricket as a game is much more rich than the last 10 or 20 years, and it is necessary to delve upon historic characters and performances time and again to understand the intrinsic beauty of the game. This book does exactly that but though the same numbers which often lie to you in first glance.
A much recommended read for any cricket fan!
January 14, 2018
This book is more a statistician's delight than one for an average cricket fan. The choice of Aakash Chopra as the game expert is a brilliant choice. Aakash himself a known commentator as well as author brings his analytical thinking to this book.
I personally feel this book has a be potential to become a TV series. It would have been awesome if along with these lovely insights we could also relive those fabulous innings. With so much cricket happening one tends to forget a lot more than remember.
Coming back to the book, I liked this format but somewhere in the middle it tended to get very predictable. In hindsight may be some pictures would have just added some colour to the book. Another grouse is the small font used when describing the match performances.
In conclusion, This book is for an avid cricket fan who loves his/her numbers as there are some fascinating insights and untold stories from the prism of the Impact Index. Good job authors!
I personally feel this book has a be potential to become a TV series. It would have been awesome if along with these lovely insights we could also relive those fabulous innings. With so much cricket happening one tends to forget a lot more than remember.
Coming back to the book, I liked this format but somewhere in the middle it tended to get very predictable. In hindsight may be some pictures would have just added some colour to the book. Another grouse is the small font used when describing the match performances.
In conclusion, This book is for an avid cricket fan who loves his/her numbers as there are some fascinating insights and untold stories from the prism of the Impact Index. Good job authors!
December 2, 2017
Only for the stats-loving cricket aficionados. The book tries to place every cricket stat in context to the occasion ,conditions and how it contributed to the team's victory. The book deploys the very interesting Impact Index concept to come up with original and arresting insights - Sadagoppan Ramesh and Sidhu are underrated , Sachin Tendulkar is no God but a supporting act etc.
My complaint is that the book (and Impact Index) overrates victories . Cricket is that rare game which has more to it than the team's success. The authors strip the game of romanticism and define it's contours by adding heft to figures. But alas, "what do they know of cricket who only cricket-stats know"?
My complaint is that the book (and Impact Index) overrates victories . Cricket is that rare game which has more to it than the team's success. The authors strip the game of romanticism and define it's contours by adding heft to figures. But alas, "what do they know of cricket who only cricket-stats know"?
Read
July 5, 2020This is an eye-opener, numbers do lie. Basically cricket as a game is not about stats, and evaluation by numbers does not reveal the actual contribution. Or be it any sport.
One thing I wondered reading this book, why a great like Sunil Gavaskar, didn't make in this book, and an all-rounder like Robin Singh should have been considered, he deserved a page or two at least.
One thing I wondered reading this book, why a great like Sunil Gavaskar, didn't make in this book, and an all-rounder like Robin Singh should have been considered, he deserved a page or two at least.
March 11, 2021
Challenges conventional wisdom and strongly held conceptions. I would have liked it to have more structure, the booked kept jumping between eras, between bowlers and batters, and countries. They could have structured it better to string it more seamlessly. As a result of this lack of structure, it tends to get repetitive
August 18, 2018
A good read for anyone interested in cricket. Description of many matches takes you down the memory lane. also, reading about players and matches in 1960s and 70s was good especially because they are not documented much. only thing is you have to be really interested in cricket to enjoy this book
January 7, 2020
Some very insightful analysis on cricket. Sometimes it surprises you, but many a time it confirms what you thought about a certain player, but which couldn't be reflected via stats alone. For example, this book gives ample evidence that sachin was more of a support act rather than a match winner and also states that Ashwin is one of the greatest match winners to have ever played the game. It also hails inzamam as more impactful than many legendary players like Dravid and Tendulkar. A fascinating read for a cricket lover.
October 18, 2017
Good stories, but reading stats can be boring
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews