The Rachin Ravindra Conundrum

New Zealand's selection (and England's) illustrates the central conundrum in today's ODI cricket

New Zealand’s three specialist bowlers conceded 6/133 in their 30 overs in the opening match of the 2023 World Cup in Ahmedabad. Their 4th and 5th bowlers (Jimmy Neesham, Rachin Ravindra and Glenn Phillips) conceded 3/149 in their 20 overs. As I write this, Ravindra is batting 59(45), in New Zealand’s fast start (121/1 in 15 overs) in its chase of 283.

England managed 282. The trade-off a team faces, is as follows. Ravindra conceded 76 in his 10 overs. A better bowler would probably concede 50-55 on average, and may be manage a wicket or two, turning that 282 into something closer to 240. The question teams faces under the current ODI rules (no more than 4 fielders outside the ring until the 41st over), is whether to choose Ravindra, or a stronger bowling option in that 4th bowler’s spot.

Many teams (including India) will prefer to hedge in this World Cup, and pick the better batter and weaker bowler. Under the old rules, before the Powerplay system was first introduced in 2005, picking the better batter was easily the better option. The extra fielder on the boundary meant that it was unlikely that the weaker bowler would conceded 76 instead of 50 (the weaker bowler would probably concede 50 instead of 40).

It is worth noting however, that picking the better batter (and weaker bowler) is not as obvious as it might have been 20 years ago.

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