Hyderabad: Whenever we talk of modern era cricket first name to strike our mind is Sachin Tendulkar. The Indian batting maestro has smashed every batting record in the book into oblivion, while breaking some of the records created by Sachin is still a distant dream for many players.
Tendulkar's greatness can be measured by the names he has been compared to, with the key one being Don Bradman. Apart from Bradman, the ‘Master Blaster’ has been compared to some of the cricketing legends like George Headley, Dudley Nourse, Everton Weekes, Graeme Pollock, Javed Miandad, Viv Richards, Allan Border etc.
However, it is next to impossible to compare all these players with Sachin because of the difference between the eras they played in. But, when you put focus on the career of South Africa’s Jacques Kallis and put it side by side with Tendulkar, then the difference in the two is very hard to split.
Kallis, one of the greatest all-rounders of the game, have often been compared to Tendulkar and some are of the opinion that Kallis didn’t get due recognition as he is not only a better player than Sachin but also the best cricketer in modern era.
Interestingly, in 2014 former Indian batsman Gautam Gambhir said that Kallis’ statistics and records make him a better player than Tendulkar.
“I think statistically if you see from the records point of view, he (Kallis) is the greatest player this world has seen. And, record-wise, he is the best player who has played this game,” said Gambhir when asked who is the better player between Kallis and Sachin.
Also, Mickey Arthur, who is currently the head coach of Sri Lanka cricket team, had in past branded Kallis the best cricketer the world has ever witnessed after Sir Donald Bradman.
“Can you imagine putting Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee into the one player? That is the sort of thing you get with Jacques”, said Arthur on one of the most under-rated cricketers in the modern era.
NUMBERS GAME
Tendulkar’s genius and brilliance for over 20 years in the game has unmistakably cast a magical spell on the cricketing world but Kallis’ stats are nothing less than incredible.
Sachin Tendulkar: 200 Tests, 329 innings, 15921 runs, Average 53.78, 51 centuries, 68- 50′s
Jacques Kallis: 166 Tests, 280 innings, 13289 runs, Average 55.37, 45 centuries, 58- 50′s
For Test cricket, both Sachin and Kallis have great records so it’s hard to differentiate between them.
Tendulkar has batted in 34 more innings than Kallis and has 6 more centuries. However, one can argue that Tendulkar has scored 33 of his 51 Test centuries on the sub-continent where the tracks are batting-friendly, whereas Kallis has scored 22 of his 45 centuries on lively pitches in South Africa.
Also, Kallis averages higher than Sachin and is a much better bowler with a record as good as a front-line pacer. The all-rounder picked 292 wickets, while Sachin has only 46 Test wickets to his name.
When it comes to ODI cricket, Tendulkar holds a much better record than Kallis in the 50-over format.
Sachin Tendulkar: 463 ODIs, 452 innings, 18426 runs, Average 44.83, 49 centuries, 96- 50′s
Jacques Kallis: 328 ODIs, 314 innings, 11579 runs, Average 44.36, 17 centuries, 86- 50′s
Although their averages are very close but Sachin has a much superior strike rate and many more match-winning innings. Kallis didn't influence the results of as many matches as Tendulkar did. Also, Kallis has quite a few more not-outs that may have increased his average and he did not have a strike rate anywhere near SRT, even being a middle order batsman, and not having to face the new ball.
But Kallis once again triumphed Sachin in bowling department as Tendulkar, who is known for a few good spells, clinched 154 ODI wickets but Kallis (273 ODI wickets) has a much better record as he wasn't one of those average bowlers used to complete the 50 overs.
OTHER FACTORS
Former Australian great Ian Chappell has once said, “You always rate a cricketer based on the quality of opposition he plays against.”
Going by this logic, Tendulkar faced much tougher opposition than Kallis as South Africa have always remained one of the finest pace attacks with the likes of Allan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Ntini, Dale Steyn, Mornie Morkel, Philander, Kallis himself, and Sachin piled up his runs against those oppositions whereas same can’t be said in the might of India’s bowlers that Kallis had to deal with.
Also, Sachin, for most of his early career, was the lone ranger for India especially away from home while Kallis had the advantage to play for the one of the best side of his times, a South African team lead by Hansie Cronje.
The likes of Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman arrived in the mid 90′s and Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir in the early 00′s to strengthen Team India, however, Sachin already played first 10–12 years of his career by then, which is supposedly his peak.
Hence, it won’t be wrong to say that Sachin played under tremendous pressure and carried whole weight of the India team on his shoulders for most part of his career and yet he performed exceptionally well, while it wasn’t the case with Kallis who had better than average batsmen supporting him in the line-up.
FINAL VERDICT
The debate over who is the best can rage on and there's no end to it, after all it's about the perspective which may differ from person to person.
Sachin has influenced a lot of matches individually with his unparalleled batting skills, made plethora of records and cemented his name in the list of ‘All-time Great Batsmen’, where Kallis is nowhere near to him.
Kallis, on the other hand, is like two players in one and in terms of how much value a player adds to a team, the South Africa’s favourite cricketing son is way ahead of Tendulkar as his all-round ability is simply unmatched.
