By Duy Huynh 
Alright let’s dive into how I tackled this IPL player showdown thing. It started buggin’ me after watchin’ another insane Kohli knock – who actually rules IPL stats? Figured I’d dig through the numbers myself instead of yellin’ about it on Twitter like everyone else.
Starting Point: Total Chaos Mode
First mistake? Openin’ the official IPL stats page blind. Big numbers everywhere – runs, wickets, averages, strike rates – felt like walkin’ into a math test I skipped studyin’ for. Panic-sorted players by total runs:
- Kohli sittin’ pretty on top (no shocker there)
- Raina slidin’ down the list (felt old seein’ that)
- ABD somewhere in the murderers’ row
Copied this mess into a Google Sheet – instantly regretted it. Cells looked like alphabet soup threw up. Had to scrape just Virat, ABD, and MSD’s stats for sanity, addin’ Raina later ‘cause folks kept yellin’ his name.
Fightin’ Spreadsheet Demons
Tried comparin’ averages first. Big mistake. Spreadsheet froze like my phone in winter. Reloaded, added strike rates ‘cause ABD fans kept @‘in me. Made color-coded bars like some wannabe analyst:
- ABD’s SR bar punched the ceiling – dude swung that bat like Thor’s hammer
- Kohli’s average bar looked sturdy like a brick house
- Dhoni’s graph had crazy peaks – clutch moments only, then silence
Got ambitious, tried addin’ win % when they scored big. Excel crashed so hard my cat jumped. Rebuilt it with just 100s and team wins – way simpler.
Life Smacked Me Mid-Project
Right when Kohli v ABD graphs started lookin’ decent? Flat WiFi death. ISP guy took 2 days to show up. Stared at half-finished charts like a psycho. Resorted to scribblin’ notes on actual paper – felt primal. Added Raina’s “Mr. IPL” rep manually… hand cramped hard.
The Glue Phase
Pasted my chicken scratch notes back digital. Everything looked uglier than before but functioned. Made rough categories:
- Consistency Kings (Kohli’s marathon stats)
- Impact Monsters (ABD’s delete-ball button)
- Icebergs (MSD’s hidden damage)
- OG Titans (Raina’s fading dominance)
Spent an hour obsessin’ over color schemes before sayin’ “screw it” and pickin’ basic blue/yellow/red. Overthinking ruins everything.
Reality Check Time
Final numbers looked solid… ‘til ESPNcricinfo refreshed stats live. ABD’s strike rate dropped 0.4 – cursed under my breath. Forgot Raina played 10 extra matches somehow. Felt my whole chart was lies. Slammed the laptop shut, grabbed coffee.
Came back later, accepted stats shift like weather. Added giant disclaimers everywhere: “AS OF APRIL 2024” and “SUBJECT TO CHANGE YOU PEDANTS”. Felt better.
Verification Circus
Posted early charts on Discord. Exploded into warzone:
- “WHERE IS WARRIOR?!?” (some Jadeja fan)
- “Bro forgot impact index” (stat nerd I ignored)
- “Boomrah bowler category??” (missed his name entirely)
Spent whole evening addin’ Jadeja’s all-round chaos and Bumrah’s econ gems. Almost trashed everything when I mixed up Ashwin’s IPL/Test stats. Called it a night instead.
Next mornin’, accepted there’s no perfect “god”. Just different beasts huntin’ different stats. Threw together my messy charts anyway – imperfections and all. The process? Damn messy. The answer? Depends who you ask.
Dung Huynh 