Sachin Tendulkar: stats analysis

Master of the game

Sachin Tendulkar has such staggering numbers in both Tests and ODIs that it's conceivable some of those records may never be broken

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	Tendulkar: outstanding numbers, whichever way you look at them © Associated Press  Enlarge
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A criticism that is sometimes levelled at talented cricketers is that their numbers didn't do justice to their ability. That certainly can't be said for Sachin Tendulkar, who has achieved truly staggering stats over a glittering career that is 20 years old and still going strong. That he was a precocious talent was known even before he played his first international game; even so, not many could have imagined that he would score more than 30,000 international runs and would be closing in on 100 international hundreds by 2010.

Perhaps the most impressive of several praiseworthy features about his career has been his sheer consistency. Since 1990, Tendulkar has played more than three Tests in a year 19 times, and in 17 of those years his annual average has been more than 40, and 12 times over 55. Of the 36 series of three or more Tests that he has played in, 20 times his average has exceeded 50, and only six times has it dropped below 30.

The first three years of Tendulkar's career weren't all that productive, but he'd already played enough innings to make the cricket world sit up and taken notice: his first Test century, an unbeaten 119 against England, saved India from defeat, while his 114 in Perth had all the experts gushing over his sheer class. During those early years his problem was a lack of consistency - his highest score in five innings immediately after his first Test hundred was 21.

Soon, however, that problem was conquered, and the result was stunning: he averaged almost 60 from 1993 to 1996, and more than 63 in the six years after that. The form dipped for a while as various injuries hampered him, but since 2007 Tendulkar has been outstanding once again, with 12 centuries in his last 32 Tests.

Tendulkar's Test career

Period	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
Till Dec 1992	20	1085	37.41	4/ 4
Jan 1993 to Dec 1996	26	2021	59.44	6/ 11
Jan 1997 to Dec 2002	59	5705	63.38	21/ 20
Jan 2003 to Dec 2006	29	1779	44.47	4/ 7
Jan 2007 onwards	32	2857	58.30	12/ 12
Career	166	13,447	55.56	47/ 54

During that six-year period from January 1997 to December 2002, Tendulkar was unquestionably the best batsman in the world, handling pace in Australia and South Africa as effectively as he did spin in Sri Lanka. And then, of course, there was the epic 136 against Pakistan in Chennai which, unfortunately for him, wasn't enough to take India to victory against Pakistan.

In only 59 Tests he managed 21 centuries - an average of one every 2.81 matches. His average during this phase was well ahead of the second-placed Andy Flower, who led a string of batsmen who averaged in the md-50s.

Best Test batsmen between Jan 1997 and Dec 2002

Batsman	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar	59	5705	63.38	21/ 20
Andy Flower	41	3464	56.78	9/ 18
Matthew Hayden	35	3054	56.55	12/ 10
Rahul Dravid	62	5178	55.08	14/ 25
Aravinda de Silva	38	3134	54.98	12/ 9
Inzamam-ul-Haq	49	3740	51.94	12/ 15
Jacques Kallis	63	4447	51.70	11/ 25
Ricky Ponting	57	3916	50.85	14/ 14

Unfortunately for Tendulkar, his best period coincided with one where India had a poor bowling attack, especially overseas, and a batting line-up that tended to crumble quite often on tours. In 69 Tests between the beginning of 1993 and the end of 2001, India won 23, but only three of those came abroad. During this period, Tendulkar contributed almost 20% of all runs scored off the bat by India, and more than 21% when they played in Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand or the West Indies. From 2002 onwards, there were many more batsmen contributing - Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman weighed in consistently both home and away, which significantly reduced the dependence on Tendulkar: he has contributed only 14.30% of the team runs since 2002. With the bowling attack getting stronger as well, Tendulkar has been a part of 15 away Test wins during this period, and 32 wins in all in these eight-and-a-half years.

Tendulkar's contribution to the team

Period	Tendulkar's runs	Team runs	Percentage
Till Dec 1992	1085	9122	11.89
Jan 1993 to Dec 2001	6334	32,048	19.76
Jan '93 to Dec '01, in Aus, SA, NZ, Eng, WI	1783	8368	21.31
Jan 2002 onwards	6028	42,140	14.30
Overall	13,477	83,310	16.18

A standout feature of Tendulkar's career has been his tendency to save his best for the greatest team of his generation. Few batsmen have consistently got the better of Australia over the last two decades, but Tendulkar is clearly one of them. His two stunning hundreds on his first tour to Australia announced him as a special talent, while his Boxing Day century in 1999 showed the gulf between him and the rest of the Indian batsmen. Later in his career some of the others - Laxman and Sehwag, especially - also showed their liking for the Australian attack, but Tendulkar is the one player who has sustained his performances against Australia for 20 years.

Highest Test averages against Australia since 1990

Batsman	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar	29	2748	56.08	10/ 11
VVS Laxman	24	2204	55.10	6/ 10
Virender Sehwag	15	1483	51.13	3/ 7
Brian Lara	31	2856	51.00	9/ 11
Kevin Pietersen	12	1116	50.72	2/ 7
Richie Richardson	14	1084	49.27	4/ 4
Graham Thorpe	16	1235	45.74	3/ 8
Shivnarine Chanderpaul	17	1303	44.93	4/ 8

Tendulkar's Test average in Australia is marginally higher than his average against them at home, while six of his ten hundreds against them have come in Australia.

Best Test averages by overseas batsmen in Australia since 1990 (Qual: 750 runs)

Batsman	Tests	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
Virender Sehwag	7	833	59.50	2/ 3
Sachin Tendulkar	16	1522	58.53	6/ 5
VVS Laxman	11	1081	54.05	4/ 3
Rahul Dravid	12	972	48.60	1/ 5
Jacques Kallis	12	915	45.75	2/ 5
Brian Lara	19	1469	41.97	4/ 4

Out of the 271 innings he has played in Tests, 220 have been at the No. 4 slot, where he has amassed more than 11,000 runs at an average exceeding 57. With a cut-off of 2500 runs at that position, only five batsmen have a higher average. And 41 of his 47 hundreds have been scored at this slot, with four coming at No. 5and two at No. 6.

Best No. 4s in Test history (Qual: 2500 runs)

Batsman	Innings	Runs	Average	100s/ 50s
Everton Weekes	57	3372	63.62	11/ 17
Jacques Kallis	130	6943	61.99	25/ 31
Mahela Jayawardene	133	7287	59.72	24/ 24
Mohammad Yousuf	60	3373	59.17	11/ 13
Greg Chappell	86	4316	59.12	15/ 19
Sachin Tendulkar	220	11,239	57.34	41/ 45
Javed Miandad	140	6925	54.10	19/ 31
Denis Compton	86	4234	53.59	13/ 20
Inzamam-ul-Haq	98	4867	52.90	15/ 21
Brian Lara	148	7535	51.25	24/ 31

One of the criticisms levelled against Tendulkar has been his relative lack of runs in second innings: he averages only 42.76 in all second innings, and 36.72 in the fourth innings. However, that also means he has been exceptional in the first innings, thus setting up games for India. He averages 62.88 in all first innings for the team, and 71.72 in the first innings of a match. His overall first-innings average is among the highest: among the batsmen with 4000 such runs, only six have a higher average.

The ODI master
Tendulkar has set some pretty awesome records in Tests, but some of his ODI stats are arguably more staggering. His career aggregate is currently more than 4000 ahead of his nearest competitor, and it'll certainly go up even further by the time he retires. As an opener, he has scored almost 15,000 runs at an average touching 49, which is the highest for openers who've scored at least 2500.

Like in Tests, Tendulkar has also raised his game against the Australians in one-day internationals, scoring more than 3000 runs against them - the only one to do so - at an average of more than 46.

Best ODI batsmen against Australia since 1990 (Qual: 750 runs)

Batsman	ODIs	Runs	Average	Strike rate	100s/ 50s
Aravinda de Silva	24	997	49.85	83.43	2/ 6
Hansie Cronje	39	1364	47.03	73.05	2/ 9
Sachin Tendulkar	67	3005	46.23	85.12	9/ 14
Lance Klusener	26	794	44.11	87.34	0/ 5
Kumar Sangakkara	28	1134	43.61	74.80	1/ 8
Jonty Rhodes	55	1610	40.25	77.92	0/ 10
Brian Lara	51	1858	39.53	76.58	3/ 15

Tendulkar has already stated that he will play the 2011 World Cup, and if his past record at the tournament is anything to go by, opposition bowlers will have plenty to worry about. He has already played five World Cups so far, averaging almost 58 in 36 matches. With the format guaranteeing each team at least six matches, Tendulkar has an excellent chance to become the first batsman to score 2000 World Cup runs.

Best performers in World Cups (Qual: 1000 runs)

Batsman	Matches	Runs	Average	Strike rate	100s/ 50s
Viv Richards	23	1013	63.31	85.05	3/ 5
Sachin Tendulkar	36	1796	57.93	88.21	4/ 13
Herschelle Gibbs	25	1067	56.15	87.38	2/ 8
Sourav Ganguly	21	1006	55.88	77.50	4/ 3
Mark Waugh	22	1004	52.84	83.73	4/ 4
Ricky Ponting	39	1537	48.03	81.06	4/ 6
Javed Miandad	33	1083	43.32	68.02	1/ 8
Brian Lara	34	1225	42.24	86.26	2/ 7

And here's further proof of Tendulkar's ability to rise to the big occasion: he averages more than 55 in tournament finals, with six hundreds in 39 games. There was a period, between 1999 and 2004, when his big-match form deserted him, but he hit back strongly in the CB Series finals against Australia in 2008, scoring an unbeaten 117 and 91, and he followed that with 138 in the final of the Compaq Cup in Colombo last year.

Best performers in ODI tournament finals (Qual: 750 runs)

Batsman	Matches	Runs	Average	Strike rate	100s/ 50s
Gary Kirsten	20	1019	67.93	74.16	3/ 7
Viv Richards	18	836	55.73	84.78	1/ 9
Sachin Tendulkar	39	1833	55.54	87.41	6/ 10
Matthew Hayden	17	760	50.66	73.14	1/ 6
Dean Jones	30	1064	48.36	73.12	1/ 8
Aravinda de Silva	24	930	44.28	88.06	2/ 6
Sanath Jayasuriya	39	1613	42.44	98.35	2/ 13
Marvan Atapattu	26	969	40.37	70.01	2/ 6

Some of the important records that stand in Tendulkar's name:
Tests

• Most Test runs (13,447) and hundreds (47). Also the only player with more than 100 scores of 50-plus in Tests.
• Most runs scored by a batsman at No. 4; more than 3500 runs ahead of the second-placed Lara.
• Most runs put together by a non-opening partnership (5747, with Rahul Dravid).
• Two Tests short of equalling the record for most Tests by a player (Steve Waugh's 168).

One-day internationals

• Most ODI runs, hundreds.
• Only batsman to score a double-hundred in this format.
• Involved in the highest partnership for any wicket (331 with Dravid against New Zealand in 1999), and intotal partnership runs with a single batsman.
• Most Man-of-the-Match awards.
• Most runs in World Cups, and in multi-team tournament finals. Also, most runs in a single World Cup.
• Most ODI runs against Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa.
• Two matches short of equalling Sanath Jayasuriya's record for most matches.