T20I Stats : Worrying numbers for Sri Lanka ahead of T20 World Cup

July 27, 2021 at 1:41 AM

With the T20 World Cup about to get underway in October in UAE, former champions Sri Lanka are made to sweat it out in the Pre-Group stages this time around, for a place in the main tournament.

Sri Lanka are currently placed 9th in ICC T20I rankings with Bangladesh below them with just 3 rating points less than Sri Lanka.

While it is no secret that Sri Lanka’s recent T20I form has been nothing short to awful, we look at some recent numbers (from beginning of 2020) which will really worry Sri Lanka, with just a few months away from the T20 World Cup.

Sri Lanka have won only 1 match out of their last 11 T20Is. Since 1st of January 2020, Sri Lanka’s solitary win is the least number of wins recorded by any of the Top 10 teams. The next lowest is Bangladesh who have 4 wins in this period.

Sri Lanka’s Win/Loss ratio during this period is 0.1. This is also easily the lowest Win/Loss ratio among top 10 teams. Then next lowest is Australia with a Win/Loss ratio of 0.58.

Sri Lanka’s current position at the bottom is no coincidence. Their poor performance with both Bat and Ball has brought them down to current situation.

The Lankans had a poor batting average of 16.7 during the above period. Again, the lowest batting average among top 10 teams. To put into context, the team with the next lowest batting average, Australia had an average of 24.5. India being giants of T20 cricket, had the best numbers with the bat with a batting average of 33.8.

Sri Lankan Batsmen’s lack of intent has been questioned by many experts in recent times. They score at just 6.92 runs per over since beginning of 2020 – least among the top 10. All other teams from the top 10 had a Run Rate higher than 8 ! Black caps top the table scoring at an amazing run rate of 9.2 in the 19 matches they played in this period.

The Bowling department also didn’t have a good outing during the aforementioned period. Sri Lanka’s bowlers had an average of 29.22, which is again the highest among the top 10 teams. Sri Lankan bowlers managed to bowl-out a team only once in the completed 11 matches in this period. That was when they beat West Indies in the Caribbean – their only win since start of 2020.

With the T20 World Cup just around the corner, Sri Lanka’s new look team lead by Dasun Shanaka will have to do something special to turn around this miserable form and to put in some respectable performances at T20 international cricket’s marquee event.