He finished the tournament as the second-highest run-scorer in the competition aggregating runs. And, on the night of 2nd April , Tendulkar finally fulfilled his long-cherished dream of lifting the World Cup trophy. Sachin Tendulkar is the only batsman in history to have aggregated over runs in three separate World Cup events. In fact, even if we take his aggregates only in ,, and World Cups alone, he will still stand second in the list of batsmen with most runs.
From the age of 19 when he appeared in his first World Cup till the age of 38 when he played his last, Tendulkar morphed and changed with time. His ability to adapt and change with time makes him the greatest batsman in World Cup history. He leads his nearest competitor in terms of runs scored by runs, and none of the current batsmen are even within touching distance of his aggregate in World Cups.
With such impressive numbers across six World Cups, and his ability to raise his game when the stage became grander, Tendulkar can rightfully stake claim to be the greatest batsman in World Cup history. Yes, people will talk about the dominance of Vivian Richards, they will talk about the flamboyance of Adam Gilchrist or the majesty of Ricky Ponting. But then, if you had to get a complete package, then it has to be Tendulkar.
Why Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman in World Cup history. The question is, how did Tendulkar fare when the occasion became grand, and the pressure increased? Follow us on Telegram. Featured Video. That is marginally ahead of Ponting and Lara who rank 24th and 18th but marginally behind Kallis at 14th, with an average of But the astonishing thing about Tendulkar is his level of consistency - he has averaged more than 50 for the last 18 years.
Like many great batsmen, his average has fallen in the twilight of his career, however. So might an even better way of measuring a player's greatness be to examine how he performed at the peak of his powers?
The International Cricket Council ICC player ratings allow you to do this by valuing each player's performance based on various circumstances in a match, such as the level of run-scoring and the standard of the opposition. The ICC gave Tendulkar his highest rating in , when he was awarded a "score" of after a Test against Zimbabwe. Bradman, again, leads the way with awarded to him after a Test against India in the dying days of his career, in And Ponting, Sangakkara, Kallis and Lara all achieved ratings above - a level which the ICC says is "an indication of quite exceptional, world-class form".
The ratings imply that at his peak Tendulkar was not as impressive as the others. But he did top the ICC batting rating table on five occasions during his career, and a year gap between his first and last appearance at the top of the rankings again shows how consistently he performed at a high level over a prolonged period.
But there are other yardsticks too, by which to measure a batsman's career. Many cricket purists prefer to disregard stats, and focus on the skill, style and strength of will a player displayed during a great innings. Patrick Ferriday and Dave Wilson, authors of Masterly Batting: Great Test Centuries, created their list of favourites based on a number of different criteria - runs, conditions, bowling strength, percentage of team total, chances, speed, series impact, match impact, and what they refer to as "intangibles".
Tendulkar makes their list just once, in th place, for the not out he scored against Australia in Chennai in This seems a meagre return for a man who has hit 51 centuries in his Test career. Brian Lara, meanwhile, has five centuries in Ferriday and Wilson's top , including three in their top Most of Lara's centuries were innings that either saved his team from losing or enabled them to win. Tendulkar's were often hidden amongst those of his team-mates.
Yet another method of measuring a player's value was introduced in The Impact Index measures every player relative to the other performances in the same match. Its creator, Jaideep Varma, pays tribute to the one man he feels has made a pre-eminent contribution to the Indian side over the last 20 years, but it's not Tendulkar… it's Rahul Dravid.
Rahul Dravid is a superior Test player to him in terms of changing the cricketing history of his country. But there is one big intangible that has made Tendulkar's career different from almost any other player's - the weight of expectation. Tendulkar has batted for 24 years under the gaze of a billion devoted Indians. It could be argued that the fact he's survived and revelled under these conditions is a better indication of greatness than any number could ever be.
This is cricket as Sachin has known it since the age of He grew up under an incredible weight of expectation and never buckled once. You could go to Virender Sehwag for the cover drive, or VVS Laxman for the on-drive or Rahul Dravid for the square cut or Kevin Pietersen for the lofted drive and so on - or you could get them all under one roof, as it were, with Tendulkar. Where the careers of Bradman and Tendulkar begin to diverge is in the range and variety of international cricket the Indian has played.
There were no one-day internationals in Bradman's time. Bradman toured only England; he only played Tests at 10 venues - five in Australia and five in England. In contrast, Tendulkar has played Tests in 10 countries, one-dayers in He has played at 94 venues. Bradman batted on uncovered wickets, Tendulkar had to counter reverse swing.
A whole new strategy - bodyline - had to be worked out just to counter Bradman's genius. It consisted of bowling fast, virtually unplayable deliveries at the batsman's body with a phalanx of fielders on the leg side. If you played the ball, you were caught, if you didn't, you risked serious injury.
Bradman had his worst ever series, averaging just After 50, what? A hundred international centuries Tendulkar has 96 , perhaps a World Cup win, maybe Test matches?
Tendulkar has become used to those setting goals on his behalf moving the goalpost as he achieves these with almost monotonous inevitability. Indian fans are happy to divorce individual performance from team effort, celebrating one loudly enough to drown the disappointment of the other. Only 20 of Tendulkar's 50 centuries have led to team victories. But that, too, is only a number - as Tendulkar said of his Tendulkar hits landmark 50th ton.
Time up for Sachin Tendulkar? Sachin Tendulkar: An incredible journey. Tendulkar's career in photos. Tendulkar breaks Lara Test record. How does Tendulkar do it.
Board of Control for Cricket in India.
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