Judgment Outside Off Stump

In the ball tracking record available in the public domain, Cheteshwar Pujara has made 1339 runs for 37 dismissals in 3051 balls against fast bowling (all bowling which is not spin). That’s a average of 36.2 runs per dismissals, and 82.5 balls per dismissal. If you consider only those deliveries which would have crossed the plane of the stumps outside Pujara’s off stump, and were pitched at a length of 9 metres of fuller, then against those deliveries, Pujara scores 487/22 in 1490 balls - 22.1 runs per dismissal, and 67 balls per dismissal.

Virat Kohli’s record against that line and length outside off stump specified above is 1019/30 in 2076 balls in the same record - 33.2 runs per dismissals, 69 balls per dismissal. His record against fast bowling more generally in the same record is 2142/45 in 3675 balls - .47.6 runs per dismissal, 82.1 balls per dismissal.

The telling thing here is not that Kohli appears to be better at scoring against fast bowling than Pujara - this he surely is. But that teams bowl only 49% of deliveries in that off-stump corridor to Pujara, they bowl 56% to Kohli, even though Pujara does not score and gets out as often as Kohli does to balls in that corridor outside off stump.

Kohli is, you will know especially today, aggressive (use your preferred replacement here - reckless, careless, cavalier, stupid, bad etc.) outside off stump against the fast bowler. He’s unique in that he does this almost entirely off the front foot. Pujara (for instance) plays the more classic square cut off the back foot. Kohli does not.

Bowlers want to get batters out in Test cricket. Pujara does not go after the ball in the corridor outside off stump, but Kohli does, so bowlers bowl to Kohli in the corridor more often than they bowl to Pujara. The case of Steve Smith in the available record is even more acute. 1317 of the 2089 balls bowled to Smith by fast bowlers are in the corridor. Smith tends to shuffle across his stumps, but bowlers persist nevertheless. What’s more, they’re quite successful. Smith’s returns on those 1317 deliveries are 576/21 - 27 runs per wicket. Overall, Smith produce 1106/23 against fast bowling in the available record an average of 48.

I suppose the point is, that bowlers are drawn to areas where they know the batter will give them a chance, because the batter believes that they are scoring areas.

You could have a batter who hits nothing outside off stump and forces the bowlers to bowl straighter, like Pujara. But then, this batter will score slowly as a rule. Or you can have a batter who is prepared to play shots, like Kohli. These are the trade offs involved in batting in Test cricket.

If you admire Kohli’s cover drive to balls which are not rank half volleys, then the occasional edge is part of deal. You can’t have one without the other.