Harsh Thakor
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Viv Richards,Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara defined their eras as few cricketers have ever done ,all virtually creating a new epoch in the history of the game.Their very presence could create the impact of a Greek God or pervaded the influence of a great emperor.
Viv was the ultimate man in terms of sheer impetuosity,Tendulkar the most charismatic and Lara the most capable of domination over a prolonged period.A few shots of Viv's blade could turn the course of a game like noone.The sheer presence of Tendulkar could turn the performance of his team 360 degrees.To single-handedly ressurect a team from the grave Lara was the most mercurial of them.
A fifty or century from Viv would turn the complexion of game more than anyone,more so an O.D.I.Viv took domination of bowling to it's highest zenith almost taking it to another dimension.Still to revive a sinking ship at 20-3 or 50-5 Lara and Tendulkar have proved themselves more capable,representing weaker teams.Sachin was the epitome of consistency while Lara could mantain breathtaking strike rate in marathon innings better than any great batsmen wit the possible exception of Virendra Sehwag.Of the 3 Lara had the best average percentage score of the teams total and the only one to exceed a score of 300.Lara had twice as many double centuries as Tendulkar and three times that of Viv.It is also worth noting that Lara represented one of the weakest batting sides.
In peak era I rate Viv the best considering the bowling of his era and opposition in WSC supertests.Viv played a role more than any cricketer in taking West Indies to the pinnacle of glory in O.D.I.and test cricket .He intimidated the opposition like piercing a sword through the flesh of a body and exuded command more than any cricketer.Arguably if he wished he could have broken all the batting records but he placed the joy the game gave to him more than anything.In destroying sher pace he was simply in another league.Tendulkar is supreme in terms of sheer longevity and combining both forms of cricket could arguably even surpass Bradman.He wa s the most complete of the trio and consistent.Statistically he overshadowed both his compatriots..Lara had patches of inconsistency but his 5 best test innings were better than any great batsmen ever and no batsmen ever had a greater prowess for registering mamoth scores.No batsmen ever single-handedly ressurected a weak batting team from the grave like Brian like he displayed in the 1999 Frank Worrell trophy at home.His successive scores of 213 and 153 n.o.totally reversed the fortunes of that series like new chapter written in an epic novel.Lara took batting artistry to another dimension in full flow executing strokes that were surreal.In dominating spin blowing Lara and Tendulkar were significantly better than Viv.
Viv lost his form to a certain extent in the 1980's.Although still very flamboyant he could be overshadwed by Javed Miandad or Gordon Greenidge or even Clive Lloyd.Tendulkar arguably did not put the final icing in the cake to win games as much as he could,lacking the crucial match-wining killer instinct of Viv and Lara.Lara fell into patches of inconsistency and in one phase averaged below 50.
All three were somewhat caricatures of Bradman with Tendulkar coming closest in style.In the O.D.I.version I rate Viv at the top as he won more games than anyone,particularly in finals.In pure test cricket I would select Lara because of his knocks to reverse crucial games single-handedly,register mammoth individual scores and score at an incredible strike rate.At their best I still have no doubt Viv and Lara would overshadow Tendulkar .Combining both forms of cricket at their best Viv would win the race by a whisker.However in the sum total of both forms of the game because of sheer longevity and the pressure he withstood Sachin Tendulkar may just nose Viv by a whisker.In a total package Sachin posessed just those few more ingredients for the perfect batsmen even if Viv and Brian were more talented.Tendulkar's combined stats speak for itself which make him arguably the worthiest contender to join Bradman or Hobbs.
Below are stats compiled by S.Rajesh of cricinfo.
VIV RICHARDS
Viv Richards' ODI record Matches Innings Runs Average 100 50
Overall 187 167 6721 47.00 11 45
World Cup 23 21 1013 63.31 3 5
Australian tri-series 65 60 2563 46.60 3 22
Tournament finals 18 17 836 55.73 1 9
In the 1984 series against England, Richards made an extraordinary unbeaten 189 out of a total of 272, which is still the highest percentage contribution to a completed team innings. He shared a last-wicket stand of 106 with Michael Holding, which is a record for the 10th wicket. In fact, West Indies did not lose a single ODI when Richards scored a century.
While batting was clearly his best suit, Richards was also a more-than-useful contributor with the ball, especially in ODIs. He picked up 99 wickets at an average of 32.05 and an economy rate of 4.43; against India his 33 wickets came at fewer than 20 runs apiece. In 1987 against New Zealand, he became the first player to score a century and pick up four wickets in an ODI.
Richards has the astonishing record of winning 31 Man-of-the-Match awards in just 187 games, which is one award every six games, easily the highest among all players to win more than 25 awards. The table below summarises this record for the top players and clearly establishes Richards as one of the greatest match-winners in ODIs.
Players with the best rate of MoM awards in ODIs (Qual: 25 MoM awards) Player Total Matches MoM awards Matches per award
Viv Richards 187 31 6.03
Sachin Tendulkar 442 61 7.24
Saeed Anwar 247 28 8.82
Nathan Astle 223 25 8.92
Sanath Jayasuriya 444 48 9.25
Viv Richards in World Series Cricket Matches Innings Runs Average 100 50
14 25 1281 58.23 4 4
Richards' best years were between 1976 and 1988. In 92 Tests during this period he scored 22 hundreds and was the only batsman to average more than 55 (among those who scored more than 4000). That was an era when several all-time greats were around - Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Sunil Gavaskar and Javed Miandad are all listed in the table below - but Richards' average was marginally higher than theirs (though he obviously didn't have to face his own bowlers, who were easily the most fearsome attack during that period). He averaged more than 50 in 13 out of the 23 series he played during this period.
Performance of top batsmen in Tests between 1976 and 1988 (Qual: 4000 runs) Batsman Matches Innings Runs Average 100 50
Viv Richards 92 135 7091 55.39 22 34
Greg Chappell 50 87 4233 54.97 13 18
Javed Miandad 95 146 7033 54.94 19 35
Allan Border 100 175 7670 52.17 23 35
Sunil Gavaskar 108 180 8655 51.51 29 36
Gordon Greenidge 83 139 6025 48.58 14 30
The table below summarises Richards' career series averages. Of the 29 series he played, 14 times he averaged more than 50, and less than 30 on just seven occasions, most of them coming either during the early years or at the end.
Viv Richards' series averages Total no. of series Ave > 70 Ave between 50-70 Ave between 40-50 Ave between 30-40 Ave < 30
29 5 9 3 5 7
Of the 24 Test hundreds he scored, 12 were in wins. Between 1974 and 1991, which is when Richards played his 121 Tests, only Greenidge scored more centuries in wins. Richards also averaged nearly 54 with six centuries in away wins. Unlike some batsmen who struggle to score in the last innings of Tests, his stats were remarkably consistent over the four innings of a match: his average in the first innings of matches was 53, while his average in the fourth innings was nearly 48, which represents one of the lowest variations among top batsmen. (Click here for his career summary.)
Richards saved his best for England, against whom he scored 2869 runs at an average of over 62 with eight centuries. Among those who've scored at least 2000 runs against England, only Don Bradman has a higher average. Richards also leads the list of batsmen with the mosthundreds against India - he added seven more to the century he scored in his second Test. His most destructive knock against them, though, was arguably in Kingston in 1983, when he scored a rapid 61 off 36 balls to lead West Indies to an unlikely win; his fifty came off just 32 balls in that innings.
Richards batted at various positions during his career but was at his best at the pivotal No. 3 spot. Of all the batsmen who've played a minimum of 50 innings in that position, only Bradman and Wally Hammond have a higher average.
SACHIN TENDULKAR
Tendulkar's consistency also shines through when his career is split into blocks of 50 Tests. The lowest he averaged in one of those four blocks was 46.91, between Tests 101 and 150, a period during which he was also beset by tennis-elbow problems. Apart from that spell, his least productive period was the last couple of years, when his average dropped to 27.52 from 15 Tests, with no hundreds in 24 innings. At the end of 2011, Tendulkar averaged 56, but because of that lean spell, he finished at 53.78 (which is still outstanding by any standards). (Click here for his cumulative career average in Tests.)
Tendulkar's Test career, in blocks of 50 Tests Period Runs Average 100s/ 50s
First 50 Tests Nov 1989-Mar 1997 3438 49.82 11/ 16
51-100 Tests Mar 1997-Sep 2002 4967 65.35 19/ 18
101-150 Tests Oct 2002-Aug 2008 3472 46.91 9/ 15
151-200 Tests Aug 2008-Nov 2013 4044 52.51 12/ 19
Career Nov 1989-Nov 2013 15,921 53.78 51/ 68
His best phase
In 1992, Tendulkar scored three hundreds, and all of them were masterpieces - 148 not out in Sydney, 114 in Perth, and 111 in Johannesburg. He was ready for bigger things, but he still finished with a calendar-year average of 41.90, because in the remaining eight innings that year he totalled 46 runs - his scores in those innings read 6,17,5,0,11,1,6,0 - clearly, he needed to become more consistent.
Being a quick learner, Tendulkar grasped that lesson fast, and over the next ten-year period he was the most prolific batsman in world cricket. That was also the time when most opposition teams had a couple of world-class fast bowlers in their ranks: the overall batting average in those ten years was 29.59; in the next 11-year period it went up to 32.67.
For Tendulkar, though, that period between 1993 and 2002 was when he was head and shoulders above all other batsmen in world cricket. He averaged 62.30 from 85 Tests; the next-best, Steve Waugh, averaged 55.07. His masterpieces during that period included 122 at Edgbaston in 1996, 169 in Cape Town the following year, 113 in Wellington in 1998, 136 against Pakistan in Chennai in 1999, 116 against Australia in Melbourne later that year, and 155 in Bloemfontein in 2001. That India ended up losing all six of those matches was a reflection of the rest of the batsmen, and the Indian bowling attack, that Tendulkar had to play with and carry along. Not all his hundreds were in defeats, though: he also scored nine in wins during that period, most famously conquering Shane Warne when scoring an unbeaten 155 in the second innings in Chennai in 1998.
Highest averages in Tests between Jan 1993 and Dec 2002 (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar 85 7726 62.30 27/ 31
Steve Waugh 109 7765 55.07 25/ 33
Rahul Dravid 69 5614 53.46 14/ 28
Matthew Hayden 37 3079 53.08 12/ 10
Andy Flower 60 4630 52.02 12/ 25
Jacques Kallis 65 4455 50.62 11/ 25
Brian Lara 86 7328 50.53 18/ 34
Inzamam-ul-Haq 80 6056 50.46 17/ 31
Ricky Ponting 63 4246 48.80 14/ 17
Mohammad Yousuf 42 3099 48.42 10/ 16
Pace and bounce? No problem
What stood out, and differentiated him from other Indian batsmen during that period, was the way he performed outside the subcontinent. The period from his debut to the end of 2001 was one where he had to shoulder the bulk of the run-scoring burden on tours; the golden period for Dravid was to start from 2002. The difference between him and the other batsmen was especially glaring in Australia and South Africa, because Dravid and Sourav Ganguly did score runs in England and New Zealand. Between 1991 and 2001, Tendulkar scored six centuries in 17 Tests in Australia and South Africa; all the other Indian batsmen put together managed only eight. In fact, of the first 21 Tests Tendulkar played, only one was at home, while 16 were outside the subcontinent (including one in Zimbabwe). Tendulkar had little experience of these conditions, but he coped quite well.
The table below shows how badly the other Indian batsmen struggled in those conditions between 1991 and 2001. Mohammad Azharuddin scored only 472 runs in 21 innings despite getting two hundreds - 14 times in those 21 innings he was dismissed for 15 or fewer; Sanjay Manjrekar's highest in 16 innings on those tours was 46; Dilip Vengsarkar totalled 158 from 9 innings, while VVS Laxman scored 244 from 11, excluding that memorable 167 in Sydney. Amid such batting failures, Tendulkar was a shining exception: in four of those five series, he averaged more than 40. Overall in those 17 Tests, he scored 19% of the total runs that were scored by all the Indian batsmen.
Highest run-getters at No.4 in Tests Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar 275 13,492 54.40 44/ 58
Jacques Kallis 168 8918 61.93 34/ 36
Mahela Jayawardene 177 8656 52.46 28/ 30
Brian Lara 148 7535 51.25 24/ 31
Javed Miandad 140 6925 54.10 19/ 31
Sachin Tendulkar's ODI career Period ODIs Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s
Before 1994 65 1679 31.09 74.32 0/ 12
1994 to Dec 2000 198 8220 45.66 88.96 27/ 38
Jan 2001 onwards 200 8527 48.17 86.41 22/ 46
Career 463 18,426 44.83 86.23 49/ 96
The opening act
Among all openers who scored 8000-plus ODI runs, Tendulkar's average is the highest; in fact, even with a 6000-run cut-off, no opener has an average of more than 42 - Gary Kirsten's 41.80 is the second-best. Apart from the high average and strike rate, the other stat that stands out for Tendulkar is his conversion rate of fifties into hundreds: he has 45 centuries and 75 half-centuries, a fifties to hundreds ratio of 1.67. Among openers with at least 6000 runs, the only ones with comparable ratios were Herschelle Gibbs (18 centuries and 24 fifties, ratio 1.33) and Saeed Anwar (20 hundreds and 37 fifties, ratio 1.85). All the others had ratios of more than two, with some of the top names (Haynes, Ganguly, Gilchrist) scoring three fifties per century. Thus, while it's true that Tendulkar was given the opportunity to make big scores thanks to his batting position, he also utilised that much better than most other openers.
Openers with more than 8000 runs in ODIs Batsman Innings Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar 340 15,310 48.29 88.05 45/ 75
Sanath Jayasuriya 383 12,740 34.61 92.48 28/ 66
Adam Gilchrist 259 9200 36.50 98.02 16/ 53
Sourav Ganguly 236 9146 41.57 73.59 19/ 58
Desmond Haynes 237 8648 41.37 63.09 17/ 57
Chris Gayle 217 8184 40.71 84.83 20/ 44
Saeed Anwar 220 8156 39.98 79.93 20/ 37
Australia's tormentor
Tendulkar was often at his best against the best team of his generation, Australia. He scored 3077 runs against them at 44.59, which is 36% more than the second-best aggregate against them. The highlights were obviously the 143 and 134 in Sharjah in 1998, a year which was his best in ODIs: he scored 1894 runs at 65.31, including nine centuries. Both, the runs scored and the hundreds remain a record for a calendar year.
Even apart from those two Sharjah classics, he had seven hundreds against Australia, the last one being 175 - his highest against Australia - three years ago in Hyderabad. Tendulkar's nine hundreds is also record for a batsman against one opposition. (Tendulkar also has eight hundreds against Sri Lanka, while no other batsman has more than seven against an opposition.)
The one glitch in Tendulkar's stats, though, are his ODI numbers in Australia: just one century in 46 innings, and a below-par average of 34.67. Unlike in Tests, where he averages more than 50 against Australia both home and away, in ODIs Tendulkar's best against them came in the subcontinent: in Asia he average 55.30 against them in 40 innings, with eight centuries, but outside Asia he averaged 29.82 against them, with one century in 30 innings.
Highest run-scorers in ODIs against Australia Batsman ODIs Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar 71 3077 44.59 84.74 9/ 15
Desmond Haynes 64 2262 40.39 65.14 6/ 13
Viv Richards 54 2187 50.86 84.63 3/ 20
Brian Lara 51 1858 39.53 76.58 3/ 15
Kumar Sangakkara 44 1706 42.65 77.02 1/ 12
Jacques Kallis 50 1660 34.58 72.87 1/ 13
Jonty Rhodes 55 1610 40.25 77.92 0/ 10
Richie Richardson 51 1498 32.56 63.26 0/ 15
World Cup superstar
In the biggest tournament in the format, Tendulkar was usually at his best. His overall World Cup tally of 2278 is the best, and he is also the only batsman to twice aggregate more than 500 in a World Cup tournament - he scored 673 in 2003, a record for a single World Cup, and 523 in 1996. Only four other batsmen have touched 500 even once in a World Cup. Tendulkar's nine Man-of-the-Match awards is also a World Cup record, three clear of the second-placed Glenn McGrath.
Apart from his World Cup heroics, Tendulkar also finished with a great record in tournament finals, though there was a period between 1999 and 2004 when he appeared to struggle in them. Overall he averaged more than 54 in tournament finals, with six hundreds in 39 innings.
BRIAN LARA
Part of the thrill of watching Lara was the uncertainty over which version would turn up - the sublime version could send spectators and critics into raptures, but equally, the scratchy version could be painful to watch. Lara's Test career lends itself to a neat three-way partition - for the first five years the runs came easily and he averaged 60; then came a more difficult period, when he averaged less than 40 over four seasons, and while it wasn't all bleak - that memorable Barbados innings came during this period, as did a fantastic series against Australia - for large periods it was hugely disappointing. In his last five seasons - starting with the outstanding series against Sri Lanka in 2001-02 - he has been among the runs again. In his last Test series - against Pakistan late last year - he averaged 89.60, with two hundreds, including a double. Talk about finishing with a flourish.
Break-up of Lara's Test career Period Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
1990-91 - 1995-96 33 3197 60.32 7/ 17
1996-97 - 2000-01 47 3356 39.95 8/ 16
2001-02 - 2006-07 51 5420 60.90 19/ 15
Through much of his career, Lara has had to battle for the mantle of best batsman with Sachin Tendulkar. Between 1992 and 1995 there was little to choose between the two, but Lara's slump coincided with a golden period for Tendulkar, when he averaged almost 62. Since November 2001, though, Lara has clearly been the superior batsman, and one of only five to average more than 60; over the same period Tendulkar average 49.70 only, with nine hundreds in 50 Tests.
Top Test batsmen since November 2001 Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Ricky Ponting 62 6501 71.43 25/ 22
Mohammad Yousuf 42 4318 66.43 16/ 15
Jacques Kallis 54 5001 62.51 15/ 27
Rahul Dravid 58 5128 61.78 14/ 25
Brian Lara 51 5420 60.89 19/ 15
Being a part of a mediocre West Indian team meant enduring more than his fair share of defeats - Lara is the only batsman with more than 5000 runs in defeats, more than 2000 runs clear of the second-placed Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Most number of runs in Test defeats Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Brian Lara 63 5316 42.19 14/ 22
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 49 3059 33.61 3/ 19
Alec Stewart 54 2993 29.93 0/ 23
Sachin Tendulkar 39 2783 35.67 8/ 11
Allan Border 46 2771 33.38 5/ 13
Andy Flower 34 2713 43.06 7/ 15
Lara has had his share of personal battles, and victories, against fast bowlers, but he was clearly at his best against spin - it wouldn't be far-fetched to call him the best against spin in the last 20 years. The tables below display the numbers since November 2001 in both forms of the game, and the stats lend further credence to that theory.
Lara against pace & spin in Tests since Nov 2001 Runs Balls Dismissals Average Runs per over
Pace 3144 5377 61 51.54 3.50
Spin 2276 3510 28 81.29 3.89
Lara against pace & spin in ODIs since Nov 2001 Runs Balls Dismissals Average Runs per over
Pace 1899 2589 56 33.91 4.40
Spin 1335 1381 24 55.63 5.80
A further break-up against specific bowlers makes for interesting reading as well. He has dominated Muttiah Muralitharan, Stuart MacGill, Danish Kaneria, Chaminda Vaas and Makhaya Ntini, but some of the other bowlers have enjoyed more success against him since 2001. While most bowlers would be thanking their stars at the prospect of not having to bowl to Lara again, one might feel differently - Andre Nel has dismissed him 11 times in international cricket, eight in Tests and three in ODIs.
Viv was the ultimate man in terms of sheer impetuosity,Tendulkar the most charismatic and Lara the most capable of domination over a prolonged period.A few shots of Viv's blade could turn the course of a game like noone.The sheer presence of Tendulkar could turn the performance of his team 360 degrees.To single-handedly ressurect a team from the grave Lara was the most mercurial of them.
A fifty or century from Viv would turn the complexion of game more than anyone,more so an O.D.I.Viv took domination of bowling to it's highest zenith almost taking it to another dimension.Still to revive a sinking ship at 20-3 or 50-5 Lara and Tendulkar have proved themselves more capable,representing weaker teams.Sachin was the epitome of consistency while Lara could mantain breathtaking strike rate in marathon innings better than any great batsmen wit the possible exception of Virendra Sehwag.Of the 3 Lara had the best average percentage score of the teams total and the only one to exceed a score of 300.Lara had twice as many double centuries as Tendulkar and three times that of Viv.It is also worth noting that Lara represented one of the weakest batting sides.
In peak era I rate Viv the best considering the bowling of his era and opposition in WSC supertests.Viv played a role more than any cricketer in taking West Indies to the pinnacle of glory in O.D.I.and test cricket .He intimidated the opposition like piercing a sword through the flesh of a body and exuded command more than any cricketer.Arguably if he wished he could have broken all the batting records but he placed the joy the game gave to him more than anything.In destroying sher pace he was simply in another league.Tendulkar is supreme in terms of sheer longevity and combining both forms of cricket could arguably even surpass Bradman.He wa s the most complete of the trio and consistent.Statistically he overshadowed both his compatriots..Lara had patches of inconsistency but his 5 best test innings were better than any great batsmen ever and no batsmen ever had a greater prowess for registering mamoth scores.No batsmen ever single-handedly ressurected a weak batting team from the grave like Brian like he displayed in the 1999 Frank Worrell trophy at home.His successive scores of 213 and 153 n.o.totally reversed the fortunes of that series like new chapter written in an epic novel.Lara took batting artistry to another dimension in full flow executing strokes that were surreal.In dominating spin blowing Lara and Tendulkar were significantly better than Viv.
Viv lost his form to a certain extent in the 1980's.Although still very flamboyant he could be overshadwed by Javed Miandad or Gordon Greenidge or even Clive Lloyd.Tendulkar arguably did not put the final icing in the cake to win games as much as he could,lacking the crucial match-wining killer instinct of Viv and Lara.Lara fell into patches of inconsistency and in one phase averaged below 50.
All three were somewhat caricatures of Bradman with Tendulkar coming closest in style.In the O.D.I.version I rate Viv at the top as he won more games than anyone,particularly in finals.In pure test cricket I would select Lara because of his knocks to reverse crucial games single-handedly,register mammoth individual scores and score at an incredible strike rate.At their best I still have no doubt Viv and Lara would overshadow Tendulkar .Combining both forms of cricket at their best Viv would win the race by a whisker.However in the sum total of both forms of the game because of sheer longevity and the pressure he withstood Sachin Tendulkar may just nose Viv by a whisker.In a total package Sachin posessed just those few more ingredients for the perfect batsmen even if Viv and Brian were more talented.Tendulkar's combined stats speak for itself which make him arguably the worthiest contender to join Bradman or Hobbs.
Below are stats compiled by S.Rajesh of cricinfo.
VIV RICHARDS
Viv Richards' ODI record Matches Innings Runs Average 100 50
Overall 187 167 6721 47.00 11 45
World Cup 23 21 1013 63.31 3 5
Australian tri-series 65 60 2563 46.60 3 22
Tournament finals 18 17 836 55.73 1 9
In the 1984 series against England, Richards made an extraordinary unbeaten 189 out of a total of 272, which is still the highest percentage contribution to a completed team innings. He shared a last-wicket stand of 106 with Michael Holding, which is a record for the 10th wicket. In fact, West Indies did not lose a single ODI when Richards scored a century.
While batting was clearly his best suit, Richards was also a more-than-useful contributor with the ball, especially in ODIs. He picked up 99 wickets at an average of 32.05 and an economy rate of 4.43; against India his 33 wickets came at fewer than 20 runs apiece. In 1987 against New Zealand, he became the first player to score a century and pick up four wickets in an ODI.
Richards has the astonishing record of winning 31 Man-of-the-Match awards in just 187 games, which is one award every six games, easily the highest among all players to win more than 25 awards. The table below summarises this record for the top players and clearly establishes Richards as one of the greatest match-winners in ODIs.
Players with the best rate of MoM awards in ODIs (Qual: 25 MoM awards) Player Total Matches MoM awards Matches per award
Viv Richards 187 31 6.03
Sachin Tendulkar 442 61 7.24
Saeed Anwar 247 28 8.82
Nathan Astle 223 25 8.92
Sanath Jayasuriya 444 48 9.25
Viv Richards in World Series Cricket Matches Innings Runs Average 100 50
14 25 1281 58.23 4 4
Richards' best years were between 1976 and 1988. In 92 Tests during this period he scored 22 hundreds and was the only batsman to average more than 55 (among those who scored more than 4000). That was an era when several all-time greats were around - Greg Chappell, Allan Border, Sunil Gavaskar and Javed Miandad are all listed in the table below - but Richards' average was marginally higher than theirs (though he obviously didn't have to face his own bowlers, who were easily the most fearsome attack during that period). He averaged more than 50 in 13 out of the 23 series he played during this period.
Performance of top batsmen in Tests between 1976 and 1988 (Qual: 4000 runs) Batsman Matches Innings Runs Average 100 50
Viv Richards 92 135 7091 55.39 22 34
Greg Chappell 50 87 4233 54.97 13 18
Javed Miandad 95 146 7033 54.94 19 35
Allan Border 100 175 7670 52.17 23 35
Sunil Gavaskar 108 180 8655 51.51 29 36
Gordon Greenidge 83 139 6025 48.58 14 30
The table below summarises Richards' career series averages. Of the 29 series he played, 14 times he averaged more than 50, and less than 30 on just seven occasions, most of them coming either during the early years or at the end.
Viv Richards' series averages Total no. of series Ave > 70 Ave between 50-70 Ave between 40-50 Ave between 30-40 Ave < 30
29 5 9 3 5 7
Of the 24 Test hundreds he scored, 12 were in wins. Between 1974 and 1991, which is when Richards played his 121 Tests, only Greenidge scored more centuries in wins. Richards also averaged nearly 54 with six centuries in away wins. Unlike some batsmen who struggle to score in the last innings of Tests, his stats were remarkably consistent over the four innings of a match: his average in the first innings of matches was 53, while his average in the fourth innings was nearly 48, which represents one of the lowest variations among top batsmen. (Click here for his career summary.)
Richards saved his best for England, against whom he scored 2869 runs at an average of over 62 with eight centuries. Among those who've scored at least 2000 runs against England, only Don Bradman has a higher average. Richards also leads the list of batsmen with the mosthundreds against India - he added seven more to the century he scored in his second Test. His most destructive knock against them, though, was arguably in Kingston in 1983, when he scored a rapid 61 off 36 balls to lead West Indies to an unlikely win; his fifty came off just 32 balls in that innings.
Richards batted at various positions during his career but was at his best at the pivotal No. 3 spot. Of all the batsmen who've played a minimum of 50 innings in that position, only Bradman and Wally Hammond have a higher average.
SACHIN TENDULKAR
Tendulkar's consistency also shines through when his career is split into blocks of 50 Tests. The lowest he averaged in one of those four blocks was 46.91, between Tests 101 and 150, a period during which he was also beset by tennis-elbow problems. Apart from that spell, his least productive period was the last couple of years, when his average dropped to 27.52 from 15 Tests, with no hundreds in 24 innings. At the end of 2011, Tendulkar averaged 56, but because of that lean spell, he finished at 53.78 (which is still outstanding by any standards). (Click here for his cumulative career average in Tests.)
Tendulkar's Test career, in blocks of 50 Tests Period Runs Average 100s/ 50s
First 50 Tests Nov 1989-Mar 1997 3438 49.82 11/ 16
51-100 Tests Mar 1997-Sep 2002 4967 65.35 19/ 18
101-150 Tests Oct 2002-Aug 2008 3472 46.91 9/ 15
151-200 Tests Aug 2008-Nov 2013 4044 52.51 12/ 19
Career Nov 1989-Nov 2013 15,921 53.78 51/ 68
His best phase
In 1992, Tendulkar scored three hundreds, and all of them were masterpieces - 148 not out in Sydney, 114 in Perth, and 111 in Johannesburg. He was ready for bigger things, but he still finished with a calendar-year average of 41.90, because in the remaining eight innings that year he totalled 46 runs - his scores in those innings read 6,17,5,0,11,1,6,0 - clearly, he needed to become more consistent.
Being a quick learner, Tendulkar grasped that lesson fast, and over the next ten-year period he was the most prolific batsman in world cricket. That was also the time when most opposition teams had a couple of world-class fast bowlers in their ranks: the overall batting average in those ten years was 29.59; in the next 11-year period it went up to 32.67.
For Tendulkar, though, that period between 1993 and 2002 was when he was head and shoulders above all other batsmen in world cricket. He averaged 62.30 from 85 Tests; the next-best, Steve Waugh, averaged 55.07. His masterpieces during that period included 122 at Edgbaston in 1996, 169 in Cape Town the following year, 113 in Wellington in 1998, 136 against Pakistan in Chennai in 1999, 116 against Australia in Melbourne later that year, and 155 in Bloemfontein in 2001. That India ended up losing all six of those matches was a reflection of the rest of the batsmen, and the Indian bowling attack, that Tendulkar had to play with and carry along. Not all his hundreds were in defeats, though: he also scored nine in wins during that period, most famously conquering Shane Warne when scoring an unbeaten 155 in the second innings in Chennai in 1998.
Highest averages in Tests between Jan 1993 and Dec 2002 (Qual: 3000 runs) Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar 85 7726 62.30 27/ 31
Steve Waugh 109 7765 55.07 25/ 33
Rahul Dravid 69 5614 53.46 14/ 28
Matthew Hayden 37 3079 53.08 12/ 10
Andy Flower 60 4630 52.02 12/ 25
Jacques Kallis 65 4455 50.62 11/ 25
Brian Lara 86 7328 50.53 18/ 34
Inzamam-ul-Haq 80 6056 50.46 17/ 31
Ricky Ponting 63 4246 48.80 14/ 17
Mohammad Yousuf 42 3099 48.42 10/ 16
Pace and bounce? No problem
What stood out, and differentiated him from other Indian batsmen during that period, was the way he performed outside the subcontinent. The period from his debut to the end of 2001 was one where he had to shoulder the bulk of the run-scoring burden on tours; the golden period for Dravid was to start from 2002. The difference between him and the other batsmen was especially glaring in Australia and South Africa, because Dravid and Sourav Ganguly did score runs in England and New Zealand. Between 1991 and 2001, Tendulkar scored six centuries in 17 Tests in Australia and South Africa; all the other Indian batsmen put together managed only eight. In fact, of the first 21 Tests Tendulkar played, only one was at home, while 16 were outside the subcontinent (including one in Zimbabwe). Tendulkar had little experience of these conditions, but he coped quite well.
The table below shows how badly the other Indian batsmen struggled in those conditions between 1991 and 2001. Mohammad Azharuddin scored only 472 runs in 21 innings despite getting two hundreds - 14 times in those 21 innings he was dismissed for 15 or fewer; Sanjay Manjrekar's highest in 16 innings on those tours was 46; Dilip Vengsarkar totalled 158 from 9 innings, while VVS Laxman scored 244 from 11, excluding that memorable 167 in Sydney. Amid such batting failures, Tendulkar was a shining exception: in four of those five series, he averaged more than 40. Overall in those 17 Tests, he scored 19% of the total runs that were scored by all the Indian batsmen.
Highest run-getters at No.4 in Tests Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar 275 13,492 54.40 44/ 58
Jacques Kallis 168 8918 61.93 34/ 36
Mahela Jayawardene 177 8656 52.46 28/ 30
Brian Lara 148 7535 51.25 24/ 31
Javed Miandad 140 6925 54.10 19/ 31
Sachin Tendulkar's ODI career Period ODIs Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s
Before 1994 65 1679 31.09 74.32 0/ 12
1994 to Dec 2000 198 8220 45.66 88.96 27/ 38
Jan 2001 onwards 200 8527 48.17 86.41 22/ 46
Career 463 18,426 44.83 86.23 49/ 96
The opening act
Among all openers who scored 8000-plus ODI runs, Tendulkar's average is the highest; in fact, even with a 6000-run cut-off, no opener has an average of more than 42 - Gary Kirsten's 41.80 is the second-best. Apart from the high average and strike rate, the other stat that stands out for Tendulkar is his conversion rate of fifties into hundreds: he has 45 centuries and 75 half-centuries, a fifties to hundreds ratio of 1.67. Among openers with at least 6000 runs, the only ones with comparable ratios were Herschelle Gibbs (18 centuries and 24 fifties, ratio 1.33) and Saeed Anwar (20 hundreds and 37 fifties, ratio 1.85). All the others had ratios of more than two, with some of the top names (Haynes, Ganguly, Gilchrist) scoring three fifties per century. Thus, while it's true that Tendulkar was given the opportunity to make big scores thanks to his batting position, he also utilised that much better than most other openers.
Openers with more than 8000 runs in ODIs Batsman Innings Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar 340 15,310 48.29 88.05 45/ 75
Sanath Jayasuriya 383 12,740 34.61 92.48 28/ 66
Adam Gilchrist 259 9200 36.50 98.02 16/ 53
Sourav Ganguly 236 9146 41.57 73.59 19/ 58
Desmond Haynes 237 8648 41.37 63.09 17/ 57
Chris Gayle 217 8184 40.71 84.83 20/ 44
Saeed Anwar 220 8156 39.98 79.93 20/ 37
Australia's tormentor
Tendulkar was often at his best against the best team of his generation, Australia. He scored 3077 runs against them at 44.59, which is 36% more than the second-best aggregate against them. The highlights were obviously the 143 and 134 in Sharjah in 1998, a year which was his best in ODIs: he scored 1894 runs at 65.31, including nine centuries. Both, the runs scored and the hundreds remain a record for a calendar year.
Even apart from those two Sharjah classics, he had seven hundreds against Australia, the last one being 175 - his highest against Australia - three years ago in Hyderabad. Tendulkar's nine hundreds is also record for a batsman against one opposition. (Tendulkar also has eight hundreds against Sri Lanka, while no other batsman has more than seven against an opposition.)
The one glitch in Tendulkar's stats, though, are his ODI numbers in Australia: just one century in 46 innings, and a below-par average of 34.67. Unlike in Tests, where he averages more than 50 against Australia both home and away, in ODIs Tendulkar's best against them came in the subcontinent: in Asia he average 55.30 against them in 40 innings, with eight centuries, but outside Asia he averaged 29.82 against them, with one century in 30 innings.
Highest run-scorers in ODIs against Australia Batsman ODIs Runs Average Strike rate 100s/ 50s
Sachin Tendulkar 71 3077 44.59 84.74 9/ 15
Desmond Haynes 64 2262 40.39 65.14 6/ 13
Viv Richards 54 2187 50.86 84.63 3/ 20
Brian Lara 51 1858 39.53 76.58 3/ 15
Kumar Sangakkara 44 1706 42.65 77.02 1/ 12
Jacques Kallis 50 1660 34.58 72.87 1/ 13
Jonty Rhodes 55 1610 40.25 77.92 0/ 10
Richie Richardson 51 1498 32.56 63.26 0/ 15
World Cup superstar
In the biggest tournament in the format, Tendulkar was usually at his best. His overall World Cup tally of 2278 is the best, and he is also the only batsman to twice aggregate more than 500 in a World Cup tournament - he scored 673 in 2003, a record for a single World Cup, and 523 in 1996. Only four other batsmen have touched 500 even once in a World Cup. Tendulkar's nine Man-of-the-Match awards is also a World Cup record, three clear of the second-placed Glenn McGrath.
Apart from his World Cup heroics, Tendulkar also finished with a great record in tournament finals, though there was a period between 1999 and 2004 when he appeared to struggle in them. Overall he averaged more than 54 in tournament finals, with six hundreds in 39 innings.
BRIAN LARA
Part of the thrill of watching Lara was the uncertainty over which version would turn up - the sublime version could send spectators and critics into raptures, but equally, the scratchy version could be painful to watch. Lara's Test career lends itself to a neat three-way partition - for the first five years the runs came easily and he averaged 60; then came a more difficult period, when he averaged less than 40 over four seasons, and while it wasn't all bleak - that memorable Barbados innings came during this period, as did a fantastic series against Australia - for large periods it was hugely disappointing. In his last five seasons - starting with the outstanding series against Sri Lanka in 2001-02 - he has been among the runs again. In his last Test series - against Pakistan late last year - he averaged 89.60, with two hundreds, including a double. Talk about finishing with a flourish.
Break-up of Lara's Test career Period Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
1990-91 - 1995-96 33 3197 60.32 7/ 17
1996-97 - 2000-01 47 3356 39.95 8/ 16
2001-02 - 2006-07 51 5420 60.90 19/ 15
Through much of his career, Lara has had to battle for the mantle of best batsman with Sachin Tendulkar. Between 1992 and 1995 there was little to choose between the two, but Lara's slump coincided with a golden period for Tendulkar, when he averaged almost 62. Since November 2001, though, Lara has clearly been the superior batsman, and one of only five to average more than 60; over the same period Tendulkar average 49.70 only, with nine hundreds in 50 Tests.
Top Test batsmen since November 2001 Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Ricky Ponting 62 6501 71.43 25/ 22
Mohammad Yousuf 42 4318 66.43 16/ 15
Jacques Kallis 54 5001 62.51 15/ 27
Rahul Dravid 58 5128 61.78 14/ 25
Brian Lara 51 5420 60.89 19/ 15
Being a part of a mediocre West Indian team meant enduring more than his fair share of defeats - Lara is the only batsman with more than 5000 runs in defeats, more than 2000 runs clear of the second-placed Shivnarine Chanderpaul.
Most number of runs in Test defeats Batsman Tests Runs Average 100s/ 50s
Brian Lara 63 5316 42.19 14/ 22
Shivnarine Chanderpaul 49 3059 33.61 3/ 19
Alec Stewart 54 2993 29.93 0/ 23
Sachin Tendulkar 39 2783 35.67 8/ 11
Allan Border 46 2771 33.38 5/ 13
Andy Flower 34 2713 43.06 7/ 15
Lara has had his share of personal battles, and victories, against fast bowlers, but he was clearly at his best against spin - it wouldn't be far-fetched to call him the best against spin in the last 20 years. The tables below display the numbers since November 2001 in both forms of the game, and the stats lend further credence to that theory.
Lara against pace & spin in Tests since Nov 2001 Runs Balls Dismissals Average Runs per over
Pace 3144 5377 61 51.54 3.50
Spin 2276 3510 28 81.29 3.89
Lara against pace & spin in ODIs since Nov 2001 Runs Balls Dismissals Average Runs per over
Pace 1899 2589 56 33.91 4.40
Spin 1335 1381 24 55.63 5.80
A further break-up against specific bowlers makes for interesting reading as well. He has dominated Muttiah Muralitharan, Stuart MacGill, Danish Kaneria, Chaminda Vaas and Makhaya Ntini, but some of the other bowlers have enjoyed more success against him since 2001. While most bowlers would be thanking their stars at the prospect of not having to bowl to Lara again, one might feel differently - Andre Nel has dismissed him 11 times in international cricket, eight in Tests and three in ODIs.
