Stats don't lie: Sachin Tendulkar or Brian Lara - Who is the greatest?

#6 Limited overs cricket

Sachin with the World Cup trophy

To be great, a batsman needs to perform in all the formats he plays in. Sachin and Lara both played one day format for their countries and put in some memorable performances.

One of the most important aspects of limited overs cricket is the strike rate at which a batsman scores his runs. A hundred which is scored at a lower strike in limited overs cricket often ends up being a burden on the team, such is the importance of strike rate.

Sachin scored his 18,426 runs at a strike rate of 86.23, whereas Lara scored his 10,405 runs at a strike rate of 79.51.

Sachin had an average of 44.83 in one-dayers while Lara had an average of 40.48.

Also, Sachin got 62 Man of the Match awards in 463 one-dayers, at a ratio of 7.46 matches per award, while Lara got 30 Man of the Match awards in 299 matches, at a ratio of 9.96.

Another feather in Sachin's cap is that he was part of a world cup winning squad in 2011, which Lara could not achieve.

In limited overs cricket, Sachin is certainly ahead of Lara, since, he has scored runs at a fair clip and he has put in more match-winning performances.