Sachin Tendulkar’s ODI career

Our expert analyses the Master Blaster’s achievements in different phases and tells you why there is only one Sachin Tendulkar.

There will never be a better ODI batsman than Sachin Tendulkar: 436 matches, 45 centuries, over 17000 runs, over 20000 balls faced … no one can scale those peaks!

But while it is easy to agree that Tendulkar is the best, a more interesting question would be: when was Tendulkar himself at his best?

We’re going to argue here that there have so far been six phases in Tendulkar’s ODI career.

The first phase (Dec 1989 - Mar 1994) was characterized by uncertainty – almost as if the team didn’t know what to do with this young bundle of talent. In 66 innings, he got 12 fifties, 13 sixes, but not a single century! His batting average was 30.8 and strike rate was 74.4. While that might have been better than Sanjay Manjrekar’s strike rate, it still wasn’t good enough.

The second phase (Mar 1994 - Dec 1997) – a phase of discovery – began with Tendulkar offering to open the innings against New Zealand at Auckland after Sidhu was injured. Taking advantage of field restrictions, and short square boundaries, Tendulkar scored a blistering 82 in 49 balls – and left everyone wondering why he hadn’t been asked to open before. In this break-free phase, Tendulkar’s average jumped to 43.4 in 101 innings and his strike rate climbed to an impressive 86.6. He also started scoring centuries – in fact 12 of them.

The third phase (Jan 1998 – Dec 1999) was explosive. Tendulkar was batting with the sort of aggression and authority never seen before in ODI cricket. In just 24 months, he scored 2737 runs in just 2805 balls. A strike rate close to 100 was considered beyond the reach of mere mortals those days. In 55 innings, Tendulkar averaged 55.9 and slammed 12 more centuries, including those two magical hundreds against Australia in the Sharjah desert storm.

Tendulkar was masterly during the fourth phase (Jan 2000 – Dec 2003) but always stayed a notch below his Mount Everest. He still averaged 50.8 over 90 innings, he again scored 12 centuries, he could still briefly climb the top peak – as he did when he scored 98 against Pakistan in that World Cup game – but the smallest of dips in form was now apparent. His strike rate dropped to 86.3 – unarguably excellent, but no longer superlative.

The fifth phase (Jan 2004 – Dec 2006) was the most trying in Tendulkar’s ODI career. As injuries hit him in quick succession, the great player was driven by doubt and ravaged by pain. For a small – and mercifully brief – period, Tendulkar batted like a mere mortal: he scored 1852 runs in 53 innings to average 37.8 with a strike rate of just 78.4 and with just 4 centuries. It was painful to watch – and when Ian Chappell suggested that the master’s time was up, we felt the aching grief that accompanies the impending departure of someone truly beloved.

The sixth phase (Jan 2007 – Nov 2009) has been magical – some might even call it miraculous. The real Sachin Tendulkar is back again! He may not be atop Mount Everest, but most would agree that he’s on Mount Kanchenjunga. In 60 innings, he has scored 2641 runs in 3018 balls for a strike rate of 87.5. His average is up to 47.2 and while he has 5 centuries, he has missed 7 more by falling in the 90s.

We hope there will be a seventh miraculous (?) phase, which will end with the maestro leading India to another World Cup victory in 2011.

The cutting edge with numbers: The return of Sachin Tendulkar

Interpretation: Sachin Tendulkar reached the peak of his powers in 1998-99. Even a decade later he continues to be very, very good. Genius never quite goes away.