Breaking ODI Cricket
"Run Barry, Run" --- ODI cricket has been around for nearly 60 years now. In that time, it has undergone radical change. From a format that started as a filler to compensate fans for a washed-out Test match, to the premier spectacle in the sport, to now being relegated as the forgotten "middle child" of cricket, the ODI format has had quite a ride. In this piece, I want to talk about ODI batting. In particular, I want to talk about Kohli, and how he clocked ODI batting better than anyone in the history of ODI cricket. --- Now, then. Let us get to it. Abstractly, cricket is a game of resource optimization. A team has a finite amount of resources (wickets) and they need to maximize a certain quantity (runs). By further restricting another resource (balls), the value of each wicket changes. The difference between having an unlimited number of balls to face and a finite amount of balls radically alters a team's perception and valuation of each wicket. For instance, ...