Who is the Best Cricketer in the World?

Former Indian cricketer and World Cup winner Sachin Tendulkar is undoubtedly the best cricketer in the world. Not only did Tendulkar retire with over 34000 international runs and 100 centuries across all the formats, but his longevity and commitment to the game have also surpassed the realms of the best of cricketers.

Making his debut way back on November 15, 1989, Tendulkar retired from Test cricket in November 2013, thus contributing an unbelievable 24 years to international cricket. From facing the likes of Imran Khan and Abdul Qadir to Darren Sammy and Marlon Samuels, the Master Blaster has played against almost three generations of players.
 

Sachin Tendulkar in Tests

Making his Test debut in 1989 in Pakistan, Tendulkar had a decent outing as a mere 16-year-old and continued to be a part of the playing eleven henceforth. His first century would, however, come against Australia in Sydney in 1994, when Tendulkar’s unbeaten 148 helped India draw the match against a strong side. Once that mental block, centuries flew in for Tendulkar as he quickly scored two more on the South African tour in 1992.

Tendulkar would eventually retire with a whopping 51 centuries in the longest format, the most by any batsman in the history of the game. His highest Test score came against Bangladesh in their backyard as his unbeaten 248 helped India win by an innings and 140 runs.

Tendulkar’s favourite opponent was Australia, against whom tallied a mindboggling 3630 runs in 39 Tests with an average of 55. Out of Tendulkar’s 51 Test tons, 11 came against Australia, who were closely followed by England. From Graham Gooch and Nasser Husain to Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook, Tendulkar dominated them in various decades.

During one of his exploits in Australia’s Sydney, one placard had read, “Commit all your crimes when Sachin is batting. They will go unnoticed because even the Lord is watching.”

Tendulkar’s 15921 is the most runs any batsman has scored in Test cricket history. His tally of 51 centuries and 119 fifties remains unmatched by any batsman. Fondly known as the “Little Master” for his below-average height, Tendulkar remains the fastest to reach 13000, 14000 and 15000 Test runs despite retiring from cricket a decade back.

Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden famously said, “I have seen God, he bats at no. 4 for India.”

Sachin Tendulkar in ODIs

While Tendulkar dreamt of becoming a Test legend, he also ended up being the most celebrated ODI cricketer of all time. His ODI career trajectory remained similar, as he debuted against Pakistan in 1989 and became the team’s mainstay thereafter. Like his first Test ton, Tendulkar’s maiden ODI century also came in 1994 against the same opponent. It was the Singer World Series and Tendulkar’s 110 had helped India put up a total of 246 runs as Australia eventually fell short by 31 runs.

Tendulkar would score two more centuries in 1994, against New Zealand and West Indies, before getting just one ton the following year. However, it was the calm before the storm as he would return with six centuries in 1996. Tendulkar was fast becoming India’s most consistent performer and he would reach his peak in 1998 when he ended with an unbelievable nine centuries. His knock of 143 against Australia in Sharjah in 1998 was famously labelled as the “Desert Storm” for Tendulkar’s lone fight against the likes of Damien Fleming, Shane Warne, Tom Moody and Michael Kasprowicz.

While Australia suffered the most against Tendulkar, in ODIs it was Sri Lanka. Tendulkar would tally a mammoth 3113 runs against the Lankans in 84 matches, who are followed by Australia (3077) and Pakistan (2526).

Tendulkar retired from ODI cricket in 2012 and his tally of 18426 runs is yet to be reached by any batsman. His tally of 1894 runs in 1998, is still the most number of runs in a calendar year, and the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma haven’t yet come close to matching it. Tendulkar’s ODI century tally of 49 is yet another landmark that no batsman has achieved. 

Such big was Sachin Tendulkar’s impact that Barrack Obama, former President of America, a nation that doesn’t even play cricket, had said, “I don’t know cricket, I don’t know how Sachin plays. But I still try to watch him playing because I want to know why my country’s economy goes down 0.5% when he’s batting.”