Sachin Tendulkar vs Jos Buttler: Comparing their captaincy stats in ODIs

England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler relinquished white-ball captaincy after the side's poor run continued in the ongoing 2025 Champions Trophy. The side suffered a second consecutive pre-semifinal exit at an ICC ODI event under Buttler, following the disastrous 2023 World Cup campaign.

While Buttler is considered arguably England's best white-ball batter, his captaincy stint was the exact opposite, with the side going on an unfathomable downward slide. It had many Indian fans drawing parallels to a similar journey of one of their own - Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Considered the greatest ODI batter by many, Tendulkar remains the all-time leading run-scorer in the format with over 18,000 runs. However, he endured a largely tumultuous captaincy tenure in the second half of the 1990s, with only a handful of highs amid the several lows.

Who fared better between Buttler and Tendulkar in terms of their ODI captaincy numbers? How did leadership impact the duo's batting in the 50-over format?

Overall captaincy numbers

Sachin Tendulkar and Jos Buttler took over vastly different Indian and English teams as ODI captains. While Tendulkar led a mediocre Indian outfit that was heavily reliant on his run-scoring, Buttler took over from arguably England's most successful white-ball captain, Eoin Morgan.

Morgan led England to their maiden ODI World Cup title in 2019, and Buttler took charge of almost the same side with a similar core.

That said, here is a look at how the duo fared as ODI captains in their respective tenures.

Tendulkar vs Buttler - ODI Captaincy Numbers

There is no hiding the fact that Tendulkar's captaincy numbers pale in comparison to his remarkable batting exploits in ODIs. The former Indian skipper won only 23 out of his 73 ODIs as captain, with a woeful winning percentage of under 35.

Meanwhile, Buttler's numbers point to an even bigger underachievement, considering the strength of the squad he inherited from Morgan. With only 18 wins in 45 ODIs and a winning percentage of just over 40, it is safe to say that Buttler made the right decision to relinquish captaincy after England's dismal 2025 Champions Trophy campaign.

Overall batting numbers during ODI captaincy

One of cricket's most interesting topics of discussion is how leadership buoys some to achieve great heights with the bat, while others shrink under the weight of responsibility. In the case of Tendulkar and Buttler, they played vastly different roles in their respective sides' batting lineups.

While Tendulkar was India's tone-setter during his time as ODI captain, Buttler often played the finishing role for England.

Tendulkar vs Buttler - Batting numbers as ODI captain

The batting numbers for Tendulkar and Buttler as ODI captains are similar on impact. While the former boasts a better average with more 50 and 100+ scores, the latter had a substantitally better strike rate.

Yet, these numbers in isolation do not answer the question at the start of this section: How did captaincy positively or negatively impact the duo's batting?

The captaincy impact on Tendulkar and Buttler's batting

With Tendulkar and Buttler batting numbers as ODI captains from the above table in mind, let us look at their overall ODI averages and strike rates and the same as non-captains.

Tendulkar vs Buttler - Captaincy impact on batting in ODIs

It is crystal clear from the above table that Tendulkar and Buttler might have been better off without the captaincy burden on their shoulders. While Tendulkar's strike rates remained unaffected by captaincy, he became a batter whose average dropped from the mid-40s to the higher 30s when he took over the captaincy mantle.

As for Buttler, he suffered considerably in terms of average and strike rate when captaining England over the past few years.

It is safe to conclude that Tendulkar and Buttler's batting suffered from leading their respective sides in ODIs.