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If you are chasing the numbers of Sachin Tendulkar, you are more or less running a lost race. A lot of good logic fails when you take a look at the statistics that the Little Master has amassed over the years. Records are made to be broken: this sporting adage hardly applies when you are up against a hundred international cricket hundreds. Sachin has scored nearly 16,000 runs in almost 200 Test matches at an average of just below 54, including 51 hundreds. The figures get better in the limited overs version of the game – almost 18,500 runs in just over 460 matches at an average of just below 45.00. These numbers suggest the success with which Tendulkar took the stage at a time when runs did not come so easily; when totals above 300 in ODIs were a rarity.
These numbers suggest the longevity of a cricketing life. The cricket itself that spans over two decades, and the immortal afterlife. To be able to achieve that involves a lot more than skill and technique. It involves early attainment of skill and maturity, a strict fitness routine that ensures the longevity, improving through the course of your career, and getting runs in every part of the world against every bowling attack of the world. It involves playing with over three generations of cricketers against the best bowlers of the world: Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Courtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh, Glenn Mcgrath, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Allan Donald, Muttiah Muralitharan, Dale Steyn and more. It is an achievement that is unique and simply impossible to replicate.
Yet, this is the ambitious, destined to fail, attempt of the article. To find in the new breed of cricketers someone who has exhibited the talent, the success and the hunger to come close to, if not match, the greatest batsman of our generation. Here is a list of players that come to mind:
Sachin Tendulkar was a 16-year-old when he made his debut, while Alastair Cook was 22, and that’s about 5-6 years that he lost there. It’s not an excuse for his stats, but an evidence of the immense talent that Sachin had at such a young age that made him destiny’s child. Cook does not have the natural flair or the range of Tendulkar’s batting. He’s predominantly a Test batsman which means he’s only competing with half of what Sachin is today, but even then he falls quite short.
He averages just below 50 with almost 7500 Test runs in just over 90 Test matches. However, that is not to undermine the achievement of the elegant left-handed opener. He does have something that makes a fair comparison to Sachin. He is extremely consistent, opens the batting and shares Tendulkar’s grace on and off the pitch.
Both the players are temperamentally good and never express their emotions on the field. Kevin Pietersen recently said that Cook could take on Sachin’s record; and while that seems realistically impossible, he definitely deserves to be on this list.
3. Hashim Amla
Amla is another batsman who started his career too late to have the head start that is required to match Sachin’s numbers. Even after Hashim Amla started his career, he took a little time to settle into his own shoes. His averages tell a story, and are testament to his presence on this list.
The middle-order batsman averages 55.00 in 73 ODIs with 11 hundreds. In the longer version of the game, he averages just over 52.00, with almost 5800 runs and 19 hundreds. He is the politest man that you are likely to meet on the cricket field – a quality that he shares with Tendulkar – and is on the same page as Sachin in terms of the philosophy of batting. He plays orthodox cricketing shots relying on timing, placement, neat footwork, and does not believe is excessive innovation.
His ability to perform in both formats of the game is yet another quality that is rare. Unfortunately, age is not on his side and South Africa do not play a whole lot of cricket in a calendar year, which means he will definitely fall short in terms of numbers.
2. AB De Villiers
Yet another South African on this list. The embodiment of a modern day cricketer, AB De Villiers is a far cry from what Sachin Tendulkar represents to the game. It is important to remember that Sachin was also an innovative batsman in a sense; the paddle sweep is not a shot that was ever-present in the game of cricket. But the level at which AB De Villiers innovates is head and shoulders above the rest of the current batsmen.
A product of T20 cricket, De Villiers is also equally adept at playing orthodox shots straight from the prescribed cricket manual. He made his debut at the age of 20, and is 29 now. He averages over 50.00 in both forms of the game with a cumulative total of almost 12,000 runs with 30 hundreds (16 in Tests, 14 in ODI’s).
He shares Sachin’s consistency, his attitude, technical aptitude and supplements it with innovation, power and leadership ability. He can keep wickets and is athletic in the field, a complete cricketer who is a boon to the game; but comparisons with Sachin remain unfair.
1. Virat Kohli
It is perhaps fair that the most probable heir of Sachin’s legacy comes from the same herd that has been inspired by watching him over many years.
Virat Kohli’s present age is just about the same as the number of years Sachin Tendulkar has been playing the game at the highest level. Sachin’s last World cup in 2011 brought him his first taste of victory, whereas that was the beginning of the journey for Virat Kohli.
The batsman from Delhi shares a lot of the cricketing attributes of his master. He can play every shot in the book, and relies greatly on his wrist-work and timing. Playing at the top of the order for India from a very young age has allowed him a head start that augurs well for him and for India. He is yet to prove himself in the Test match arena in overseas conditions, but he has scored runs abroad.
He averages just below 50.00 in ODIs with 4230 runs in 100 innings to his name. Whereas in the Test arena, he has played 18 matches at an average of 41.00. He is temperamentally a different cricketer who is prone to exhibitions of emotion on the field, but he is just as jovial off it. He has an appetite for runs that matches Sachin, but the his longevity can only be tested with time.
