Vinoo Mankad vs Richie Benaud vs Gary Sobers

Requested by my Grandfather

Vinoo Mankad vs Richie Benaud vs Gary Sobers

This chart shows each of the players results away from home at test matches. Sobers’ batting average took a dip, going down to 50.73 (still great), while his bowling was the same at 34. Benaud had practically the same batting average as at home, of 24.45, while his bowling average was even better, at 24.03. Mankad struggled away from home, the leg spinner experiencing a batting average of 29, and a bowling average of 42.

The only person to captain more than 6 games was Gary Sobers, and the West Indian all rounder had good stats, averaging 60 with the bat, and still 34 with the ball. He won just over 23 percent of his games, but surprisingly lost 26 percent. As no one else captained enough, Sobers collects 2pts.

Part of a fantastic West Indian side, featuring many great players, Sobers won a third of all his games, drew 38 and was obviously involved in the 1st infamous tied test. The West Indies team he was a part of lost 27 percent of their games he featured in. Vinoo Mankad drew a huge percentage of his games, 59, and lost just 29 percent, just two more than the fantastic West Indies. India however, were not as adept at winning games, with just 11 percent of their games being won. Benaud, like Sobers, was involved in the first tied test, and his Australian side won the highest percentage of games of the three players, at 37.5. They also lost the least, at 20 percent. Like most sides around this time, Australia drew many games, 40% to be precise.

All 3 players had worse bowling than batting averages after 15 tests, but after this time, Sobers raced ahead of them all with the bat, his average hovering around 58-60 until the time of his retirement in 1974. His bowling average gradually decreased over time, but plateaued at 34 after 60 ish games. Benaud’s batting average was actually never higher than his bowling average, and his career ended with his averages the wrong way round. To be fair to him, he was a bowler who could bat a bit, much like Sobers was a batter who bowled. Mankad has similar statistics to another great Indian all rounder, Kapil Dev. His batting average of 32 was respectable, slightly higher than Kapil, and his bowling ended also on 32, point 5 higher than his bowling. His career wasn’t always this way however, both his averages getting better with age, coming down to around the same after about 40 games.

Sobers had by far the best batting average of the group, but the worst bowling wise. One of the greatest batsmen in history, Sobers struck a magnificent 365*, the highest score ever, until Brian Lara surpassed him in 1994. He was also capable of bowling in two different styles, medium pace and slow left arm, developing chinamans later on in his career. Mankad, an Indian batsman primarily, had the outstanding best figures of 8-52, and also made 2 double centuries, one against England and one against New Zealand. Benaud could hardly be considered a batter, with a poor average of 24, but his bowling average of 27 was the best of all 3. He was widely known for his run out in the dying stages of the first tied test, which involved a shocking 5 run outs (in Australia’s second innings alone!).

Overall, the best of the 3 was Sobers. Albeit a weaker bowler than the others, he more than made up for it with his outstanding batting. Mankad is the second best, in my opinion, with averages very similar to each other. Benaud, the weakest of the group was the best bowler, but by so far the worst batter, it doesn’t make up for his bowling.