Sachin Tendulkar – The atlas

No other phrase defines the legend of Sachin Tendulkar better than what Rahul Bhattacharya wrote in the introduction to a tribute to the man. Framed as a question, it asked whether Tendulkar was as much a product of his times as he was of his genius.

What were those times like?

Times we remember turning off our television sets after a Tendulkar dismissal because it meant the end of hope.

When were those times?

Never more apparent than between 1 January 1996 to 31 December 1999. These were the times when Tendulkar was at his masterly best, dominating bowlers all around the world regardless of the scenario or the pitch. Navjot Sidhu, while paying tribute to Sachin in a tribute show, remembered an old man asking him “Tu Tendulkar wali game khelta tha? (You played the sport that Tendulkar plays?)”. What shaped an image of this man which appears to be bigger than the game itself? How dominant, and indispensable was Sachin?

I attempt to answer it through an analysis of his numbers during the period mentioned in the paragraph:

Observers often point out that of the major Test playing nations, England had the most consistently poorest run in international cricket in the 1990’s. India won just one (as pointed out in an earlier article) of the 39 overseas Tests it played in this period, and that victory was against a still young and weak Test playing nation, Sri Lanka (Tendulkar, incidentally scored a century in that match too)

In the aforementioned period too (1 Jan’96 – 31 Dec’99), India held up very badly against other Test playing nations, winning more matches than only Zimbabwe. And all of those victories came on home turf. India’s W/L ratio (.583), was also better than only Zimbabwe.

Table 1: Performance Summary of Teams (1 Jan’96- 31 Dec’99)

Team	Played	Won	Lost	Drawn
Australia	46	25	12	9
South Africa	39	19	8	12
Pakistan	33	12	9	12
New Zealand	35	11	11	13
England	34	10	17	15
West Indies	34	10	16	8
Sri Lanka	31	9	8	14
India	35	7	12	16
Zimbabwe	25	2	12	11

Sachin Tendulkar, it emerges, was not only the best batsman in the Indian outfit (going strictly by the aggregate and average), but was easily the best batsman in the world. Although Mark Waugh and Brian Lara may get more votes in for style and big match innings respectively, Tendulkar was easily the most formidable aggregator of runs in that period.

Tendulkar, in this period, averaged 11 points higher than the next ranked batsman and scored twice the number of centuries than both Ganguly and Azharuddin (7 each). In fact, the percentage point difference between his and Dravid’s average is second highest after Sri Lanka’s case where Aravinda De Silva (61.29) exceeds Sanath Jayasuriya's average (47.55) by 13.74 points.

Table 2: Best Indian Batsmen (1 Jan’96-31 Dec’99)

Batsman	Mtchs	Runs	Average	100s
Sachin Tendulkar	35	3358	61.05	14
Rahul Dravid	34	2698	49.96	6
Saurav Ganguly	32	2432	49.63	7
Mohammad Azharuddin	30	1784	40.54	7
Navjot Sidhu	15	1115	46.45	3

n case you’re wondering why is the article titled ‘The Atlas’, it is in reference to the former West Indies batsman George Headley who represented the Island nation almost on his own in the 1930s. Tendulkar merits legitimate comparison with Headley when it is seen that he scored almost 19% of his team’s runs during the period in focus.

Table 3: Batsman Runs as a % of team runs (1 Jan’96-31 Dec’99)

Team	Highest Scoring Batsman	Runs	Team Runs	% of Team Runs
Australia	Steve Waugh	3331	24262	13.7%
South Africa	Gary Kirsten	2591	19401	13.4%
Pakistan	Saeed Anwar	2328	15771	14.8%
New Zealand	Stephen Fleming	2116	17330	12.2%
England	Alec Stewart	3024	18962	15.9%
West Indies	Brian Lara	2525	14580	17.3%
Sri Lanka	Aravinda De Silva	2268	14760	15.4%
India	Sachin Tendulkar	3358	18133	18.5%

(That Brian Lara was to continue bearing the brunt of run scoring for his team right till his retirement in 2007 is a matter worth looking into).

A Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Sehwag later, India is still considered a lightweight touring side to major Test playing nations (excluding sub-continent opponents). Although spirited performances and wins under Sourav Ganguly had helped correct this image, successive leadership hasn’t helped further the cause thanks to heavy overseas drubbings from 2011 onwards.

But matters were worse during the period in focus where Tendulkar again emerges as India’s top batsman with considerable support lent only by Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.

Table 4: Top Indian Batsmen-Overseas (Excl.Subcontinent) – (1 Jan’96-31 Dec’99)

Batsman	Matches	Runs	Ave	100s
Sachin Tendulkar	15	1414	61.47	5
Rahul Dravid	14	1209	60.45	3
Saurav Ganguly	13	911	45.55	3
Mohammad Azharuddin	13	420	23.33	2
Nayan Mongia	13	342	18.00	0
Navjot Sidhu	6	10	324	1

In matches that India lost overseas, Sachin again stood out as the sole performer, averaging almost 24 points more than the next best, Mohammad Azharuddin. These efforts include two of his most awe-inspiring innings, 122 vs England at Birmingham (1996) and 169 vs South Africa at Newlands (1997).

One-day matches

Tendulkar in action during an ODI

If India’s Test match fortunes define the Sachin legend, its One-day fortunes further cement it. India performed reasonably better in ODIs, thanks to the exploits of its opening pair of Tendulkar and Ganguly. India won 31 out of the 85 ODIs it played in that period, 15 of them in 1998, a year in which Tendulkar scored 1894 runs and 9 centuries (both records still stand).

Tendulkar was the top aggregator in ODIs, scoring 657 runs more than his closest competitor. When comparing top contributors from each team, one notices that although Tendulkar emerges as the highest contributor (16.34%), he is not very far ahead of the next placed Mark Waugh (16.28%), and Grant Flower (15.90%)

Table 5: Batsman Runs as a % of team runs (1 Jan’96-31 Dec’99)

Team	Top Batsman	Runs	Team Runs	% of team runs
Australia	Mark Waugh	3960	24327	16.28%
South Africa	Gary Kirsten	3061	23101	13.25%
Pakistan	Saeed Anwar	4224	28631	14.75%
New Zealand	Nathan Astle	2667	18432	14.47%
England	Alec Stewart	1713	14142	12.11%
West Indies	Brian Lara	2464	16421	15.01%
Sri Lanka	Aravinda De Silva	3488	24724	14.11%
India	Sachin Tendulkar	5359	32806	16.34%
Zimbabwe	Grant Flower	3027	19041	15.90%

Nevertheless, Tendulkar contributed significantly in matches that India won, scoring almost 2% more runs for his team than the next placed Brian Lara. It can be seen that 5 of the 9 batsmen in the list are opening batsmen, since the potential to play more number of balls goes some distance in determining the percentage contribution. But then, there is no alternative to performance, solid performance.

Table 6: Batsman Runs in Wins, as a % of team runs (1 Jan’96-31 Dec’99)

Team	Top Batsman	Runs	Team Runs	% of team runs
Australia	Mark Waugh	2656	14260	18.6%
South Africa	Gary Kirsten	2761	18062	15.3%
Pakistan	Saeed Anwar	3041	16582	18.3%
New Zealand	Nathan Astle	1384	7717	17.9%
England	Alec Stewart	1015	6178	16.4%
West Indies	Brian Lara	1753	8959	19.6%
Sri Lanka	Aravinda De Silva	2452	14448	17.0%
India	Sachin Tendulkar	3364	15622	21.5%
Zimbabwe	Andy Flower	1283	7233	17.7%

What is interesting, and most representative of Tendulkar’s importance to India, is the fact that his batting average in matches that India won in this period (76.45) is way higher than his average in matches that India lost (28.80). If this stat is not a clear indicator of his value to the team, then no other is.

A point often brought up by Tendulkar’s critics is his lack of nerve in tournament finals. His numbers comprehensively refute this argument (in the period considered).Only Michael Bevan and Grant Flower (although in much fewer matches) averaged more than Sachin Tendulkar in tournament semi-finals and finals. Tendulkar also scored more runs and centuries in such games than any other player.

Table 7: Average in tournament Semi-Finals and Finals (Qual-Min 4 Matches)- 1 Jan’96-31 Dec’99

Batsman	Mtchs	Runs	Average	100s
Michael Bevan	16	558	69.75	0
Sachin Tendulkar	19	1177	69.23	5
Grau Kirsten	12	494	61.75	2
Grant Flower	5	306	61.20	1
Paul Strang	5	61	61	0
Aravinda De Silva	17	756	54	2

Included in this list are his 134 vs Australia at Sharjah (Coca Cola Cup Final - 1998), 124 vs Zimbabwe at Sharjah (Coca Cola Cup Final - 1998), 128 vs Sri Lanka at Colombo (Akai-Nidahas trophy final - 1998), & 88 vs Australia at Bangalore (Titan Cup Final - 1996).

The certainty of Sachin Tendulkar - the prodigy becoming a legend was never more ingrained, apart from the case of Don Bradman. This is perhaps another point of comparison between two of the foremost exponents of batsmanship of their respective generations. Sachin’s domination of the maidans of Mumbai in the late ‘80s was legion, ask anyone who saw him play during that time and he would tell you how the news of Sachin batting in a match would spread like a wildfire, filling the air with an expectation never experienced since.

He carried this halo with him to the international arena where for a brief while, as Sharda Ugra once said, his brilliance made irrelevant all possible comparisons. One is compelled to believe that his own teammates must have been in absolute awe of him, so much so that all hopes of an Indian victory rested just and just on his shoulders.

The chant ‘Sachiin, Sachin..’, can trace its origins somewhere during this period.