485 – Deciding Who Is Best in Sports
Complex Network Approach to Cricket Matches - Expert Opinion and Individual Ranking
Satyam Mukherjee
Northwestern University
We demonstrate in this paper the use of tools of complex network theory to quantify the performance of players in Cricket matches. Using partnership data made available by Cricinfo during the Indian Premier League 2014, we generate batting partnership network (BPN) for each team, in which nodes correspond to batsmen and links represent runs scored in partnerships between batsmen. The resulting network display a graphical summary of the pattern of run-scoring by each team, which helps us in identifying potential weakness in a batting order. We use different centrality scores to quantify the performance, relative importance and effect of removing a player from the team. The individual ranking is then compared with Man of the Match, based on expert opinions. Our analysis can be extended to study the style of play of different teams - some teams display distributed performance among the players, while other teams display centralized performance, where team performance is centralized around a particular player.