Amla has standout performances in test series wins and draw in India, England and Australia and they all were very good sides. This alone puts him above Root who has 0 test tons in Australia and 0 test series wins/ draws in India and Australia.
Overall record matters. Any non-opening Test batsman who retires with a sub 45 average and less then 10k runs has no business being counted amongst the greats. It is disrespectful for Root to be compared to Amla.
2003 WC Final is a different ball game. India lost that game as soon as Australia posted 359 runs in 50 overs. It was a total that was unheard before and in a WC Final, it is as good as impossible to chase.
Tell that to Sehwag who played a brilliant innings and could have actually helped India to a respectable <100 runs loss if he didn’t get run out. What stopped Tendulkar from playing the knock that Sehwag did?
India could have put Australia under pressure by racing to 100/0 in 15 overs which would have happened if Tendulkar had guts. Instead, he wilted like a rose and wasn’t in the mental space to back himself even though he was in the prime of his career and was playing a batting paradise. His cowardice triggered a top order collapse and India didn’t even put up a fight.
Also, don’t give me this era “cap”. It wasn’t the highest ODI total of the time and interestingly enough, South Africa chased 435 on the same venue 3 years later. Tendulkar should have made a game out of it but he didn’t have the mentality.
One match don’t define a player. Tendulkar won India three World Cup matches vs Pakistan while Wasim and Waqar together couldn’t won one World Cup match vs India. In contrast, Shaheen has won one ICC World tournament match vs India. This doesn’t define anything.
Don’t change the TV channel. This is the classic Indian move whenever they run out of ammo. Talk about ODIs if you can’t defend Tendulkar’s poor record vs Pakistan in Tests. Talk about Pakistan if you can’t defend Tendulkar’s choke in the 2003 World Cup final.
Here we take a look at points you are arguing on,
Most runs in a calendar year is a terrible way to rate players. Everyone knows England plays test cricket most so obviously that title will go to an England player or basically whoever plays more tests.
Several batsmen have outscored Tendulkar a calendar year in spite of playing similar number of Tests. There are only 2 Englishmen in the top 10 leading run scorers over a calendar year.
Back when Tendulkar played, India didn’t played a lot of test matches in one series. It was mostly 3 test match series or sometimes 2 test series also. Only in Australia, we had 4 test series and that too from 2000 onwards. Tendulkar not hitting 500+ runs further emphasises the fact that his stats are not skewed based on one series but he has done well consistently across tours and across countries and still ends with average of 53.78.
Tendulkar was part of 6 Test series in his career where an Indian batsman scored more than 500 runs. He never managed it even once. What stopped him?
200s and 300s are individual records and that only tells us how a certain player has cashed on heavily when offered roads. SRT scored in tough conditions and tough attacks rather than cashing on 5-6 double tons at home or against minnows.
200s and 300s tell a lot about how a good a batsman is. It is testament of technique, mental application and physical endurance. It is a true show of dominance. Sehwag and Dravid had a far better rate of scoring 200+ scores in spite of batting on the same pitches.
All in all what you are mentioning are just statistical/ personal achievements and nothing else.
That is all there is to Tendulkar’s Test career. Just stats and personal milestones, nothing else. Also, bear in mind personal milestones that are related to matches played and not an exhibition of dominance like highest average, highest score, 500+ runs in a series, most MOM/MOS etc.
Tendulkar failed to achieve pretty much all the records that are not related to number of matches played.
Your last point is incorrect. India’s two biggest wins of 2000s overseas were Adelaide 2003 and Perth 2007. Perth was massive in the context and Tendulkar contributed very well in that test match. VVS was pivotal in most of India’s tough wins though, that’s an undeniable fact.
2nd, 5th
Perth win did nothing for India. They still lost the series. The Rawalpindi Test was far more significant because it was India’s chance to win their first ever Test series in Pakistan and Tendulkar contributed nothing.
India were so desperate to win that series that Ganguly and Dravid risked infuriating a billion worshippers when they prevented their god from a selfish stat padding 200 because they couldn’t afford to waste anymore time.
Rawalpindi 2004 was definitely bigger than Perth 2007. As far as Perth 2007 is concerned, his great contribution was 2nd top scorer in the 1st innings and 5th top scorer in the 2nd innings. Yet another example of him getting outshined by his teammates in yet another famous Indian victory.
to get my shot, he would get the HBK/Flair super kick in some burger joint on ladypool road. And in all seriousness, it’s a shame Stokes and Mccullum have lost here, but they are still far ahead of the pack with their forward vision
