CHEPAUK'S PUZZLING NUMBERS

The pitch at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai intrigues me. A total of 1413 runs have been scored so far in 158.5 overs at 8.90 runs per over. An average innings score at Chepauk, so far in the 4 matches played there, has been 177, but the interesting bit is the fact that it has a standard deviation of 37, giving a coefficient of variaton of 21.20.

The corresponding numbers for other venues are:

Venue - Matches - Average Score - Std. Deviation - Coefficient of Variation

Navi Mumbai - 2 - 153.50 - 15.14 - 9.86
Mumbai - 6 - 168.17 - 25.12 - 14.94
Mohali - 4 - 164.38 - 18.58 - 11.30
Kolkata - 4 - 160.75 - 31.22 - 19.42
Chennai - 4 - 176.63 - 37.44 - 21.20
Ahmedabad - 4 - 152.63 - 13.71 - 8.98
Bangalore - 4 - 155.88 - 41.94 - 26.91
New Delhi - 5 - 166.70 - 31.48 - 18.88
Cuttack - 2 - 166.50 - 4.15 - 2.49

From the above figures, Chennai and Bangalore seem to have the most unpredictable pitches. However, Bangalore's figures are distorted due to the match in which the RCB blew away RR for 92 and chased the target without the fall of any wicket. If I were to remove that match, the numbers for Bangalore become 177.00 - 23.67 - 13.37.

As a result, Chennai becomes the only ground to have a Coefficient of Variation of above 20. It's clear why Chennai shows such numbers. On one hand, a chase of 136 results in a tie; and on the other hand, 469 runs are scored in another match.

So for the next 3 matches that Chennai will play host to, the captains (particularly of teams batting first) will have to be careful in their assessment of a decent first innings total. It might turn out to be a tricky puzzle to crack!