Net Run Rate: The most unforgiving judge of IPL

The Net run rate has been a burning topic of discussion in various multi-nation tournaments around the globe. For some teams, it is the make or break, especially during the later stages when even a difference of 0.01 between them and their closest competitor can stop or facilitate their progression in the tournament’s further stages like in IPL, the play-offs. But, what is this net run-rate and why is it all the rage in multi-team tournaments like the IPL. To say it all in one line, the net run rate is a relative measure of the scoring rate of a particular team with respect to other teams that are a part of the competition.

So why is it so important to teams that are closely placed on the points table?

It all comes down to what all we can do to decide the difference between the performance of the two sides, especially in tournaments like the IPL where in the competition is so close that every year it’s the net run rate that decides which four teams will be going into the ‘play-offs’ and which teams will not. There is no other effective and fair method to compare the performance of two similarly placed teams than to see which of the two had been scoring runs at a faster rate with respect to their competitors.

Till this time the question that might be popping is what all teams can do to improve their net run rate, and the most common answer would be to hit a high number of boundaries and try to score as many runs in their given quota of overs. This might be an effective way but definitely not an easy one. Many teams lose out on the net run rate in matches where after a certain point they themselves, or their opponent gains an unassailable lead over them and they start to play loosely, either giving away boundaries or themselves scoring at a very low strike rate. So apart from scoring at a brisk rate and amassing mountains of runs, the teams must also try to stop the flow of runs as much as possible while defending and try to as miser as possible.

The bottom line here is, apart from winning games, the teams must also keep a thorough account of the rate at which they are conceding and scoring runs in order to prepare themselves against the most feared judge of any multi-team tournament, the net run rate.