IPL 2022: Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) Mentor Gautam Gambhir Relies More on Player Abilities Rather Than Statistics, Says Sunil Narine, Andre Russel Wouldn’t Have Been Picked If It Was the Case

New Delhi: Gautam Gambhir during his playing days has always been a no non-sense cricketer and now while acting as the mentor of IPL newbie Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), the former India international hasn’t changed a bit. While answering an unpopular opinion of the game of cricket, Gambhir said that relying more on statistics than an individual’s abilities is absolutely ridiculous.

‘Match-ups are ridiculous. I have never gone with match-ups, I have never seen a video analyst. Even before the auction, I hadn’t looked at a single stat of the player. Not even once,” Gambhir said on Star Sports show, Game Plan. 

The former KKR skipper has clarified that if it was the case on statistics then star players like Sunil Narine and Andre Russell would’ve never got picked.

“If I would’ve gone by stats, Sunil Narine would’ve never got picked, Andre Russell would’ve never got picked. Sunil Narine had played only one international game. Stats are very misleading. Match-ups are even more. So, when coaches talk about match-ups, I think (they do) because they don’t trust the players. You trust match-ups more than the players. If you trust the player, you go by the instincts,” he told.

“For me, I believe in instincts and quality of the player. I trust a player on his ability, not on what his numbers speak. As an opening batsman, you will always have better numbers as compared to someone who is batting at 6-7. If someone is batting at 6-7 and even if his strike rate is 150, it doesn’t make him a match-winner. Likewise, if his strike rate is 135-140 but he is getting the crucial runs, and he can win the game, he is far more important,” the 2011 World Cup winner added.