Peter Roebuck pays homage to Tendulkar’s on-going 20-year career in this excellent article: 20 not out.
As much as the loss in the last game against Australia was disappointing, it was a supreme pleasure to watch Tendulkar’s 175. He’s on the wrong side of the equation as far as age is concerned, and won’t be at the crease for too long. Cherish his last few days, and try not to miss a game he’s playing in.
I am saddened just thinking of his impending retirement (which could very well be a couple of years away). Let’s hope he pulls a Jack Hobbs or Sanath Jayasuriya.
Apparently, that is old news. Very old, in fact: it happened in 2006. How did I not hear of it? Peter Roebuck reports on the extraordinary personality of Vermeulen. Absorbing story.
My first post about these two batting greats was three years ago to the month, and it still continues to attract an audience. So, I decided it was time for an update.
Here are the current career stats for both:
Mat
Inns
Runs
Avg
100s
Sachin Tendulkar
159
260
12773
54.58
42
Ricky Ponting
131
221
10960
56.20
37
And here are their stats since April 2006 (ie, since the last post).
Matches
Runs
Batting Avg.
Centuries
Sachin Tendulkar
27
2304
51.20
7
Ricky Ponting
26
2168
49.27
6
Nearly identical stats. Both Tendulkar and Ponting struggled with injuries but are now back. There was talk 3 years ago that Tendulkar would fade away and Ponting would take over the world record for the most number of Test centuries. Neither has happened. Ponting was playing tremendously around 2005/06, but since has returned to more earthly form, allowing Tendulkar to keep pace (and even pull ever so slightly ahead).
Ponting is slightly younger than Tendulkar and hence people have been conjecturing that Ponting will be ahead when both men put their bats away. However, both might still end up playing for about the same amount of time. Tendulkar has not mentioned anything about retiring and it feels like he wants to just carry on as long as he can. Given that he is ahead at the moment, I would say that he’ll most likely be ahead when they both retire.
We’ll have to wait a few more years to get the answer. Until then let’s enjoy the last few years of both these batsmen.
The Asia Cup final is going on right now and Mendis has turned the game on its head. India were coasting at 76/1 after 9 overs. Now, it is 98/5 from 16. Currently, Mendis’ figures read 4-0-8-4. That’s 4 overs, 8 runs, 4 wickets. I’d heard a lot about this 23-year-old gem that Sri Lanka discovered, and finally I got to see him in action today. It seems it was also the first time for the Indian batsmen. Frankly, I’m quite disappointed the way they handled him (it seems they hadn’t done their research on him), but this post is not about India. It’s about Mendis. And what he can do for cricket.
Cricket will be that much more interesting because of him. I can’t wait to see Tendulkar play Mendis. India has some of the finest players of spin (Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman), and Mendis playing a Test against them is a mouth-watering aspect. Or even the Aussies. I am anxiously looking forward to these contests. They should be thrilling. Looking at the cricket schedule, India is touring Sri Lanka at the end of this month. What good timing. What might have been a drab series, at least to me, now has become very interesting. Let’s hope Tendulkar is fit and back in the Indian team by that time.
For those that haven’t seen Mendis, here’s a short video of the buzz he created when he first joined the Sri Lankan national team to play against the West Indies.
Fox Sports (USA) went on a mission to find the most dangerous ball in sports and ended up finding that it was the cricket ball (although the ball in baseball can be just as lethal). Watch for yourself.
