Bradman vs Tendulkar: A Statistical Overview

Sir Don Bradman Stats

Check out here Don Bradman Records List

Sachin Tendulkar Stats

Check out here Sachin Tendulkar Records List 

Let’s look at different points of debate

The Power of the Average: Bradman’s Unmatched 99.94

This is one of those things that completely goes in the favour of Don Bradman. There has never been any cricketer that has had the average in any form of international cricket as Sir Don Bradman. Don Bradman played 52 Test Matches and he averaged 99.94. He was just 4 runs away from having an average of 100 in Test Cricket. He made 6996 runs and he averaged a hundred every 2.75 innings.

Sachin Tendulkar on the other hand has an average of 53.79 which is more than 46 points behind Don Bradman. He has played 200 Test Matches which is 148 more than Don Bradman. His average in ODI Cricket is 44.83. Australians use the average to say that Don Bradman is the greatest ever.

Making Runs in Different Conditions

This is an important factor to decide who is the best ever. Don Bradman was one of the greatest but he did not play well in all conditions. He did very well in Australia and England. Don Bradman scored 5028 of his runs against England only and he made 19 hundreds against England.

Sachin Tendulkar on the other hand was an expert in all sorts of conditions. He could make runs in any country and by it any kind of pitch. He scored runs in the swinging pitches of England, the bouncy pitches of Australia, the seaming conditions of South Africa or be it New Zealand, Sri Lanka . Sachin Tendulkar had the lowest average against Pakistan where he averaged 40 in 4 Test Matches. And Sachin Tendulkar faced the best bowlers in the world from each country. Be it Shane Warne or Glenn McGrath from Australia, James Anderson or Stuart Broad from England, Muttiah Muralidharan or Chaminda Vaas from Sri Lanka, Shaun Pollock, Allan Donald or Dale Steyn from South Africa.

The ODI Impact: Tendulkar’s Dominance in Limited-Overs Cricket

ODI Cricket has been around for more than 50 years so it has a very important place to determine who is the greatest ever. Here Don Bradman had no choice to play ODI Cricket because it was not present during his time. Don Bradman only played Test Cricket.

Sachin Tendulkar started playing in 1989 and by that time 4 ODI World Cups had been played and the format had gone from 60 overs to 50 overs. Sachin Tendulkar is one of the Top 3 greatest ODI batters of all time. Sachin Tendulkar played 463 ODIs and he scored more than 18,000 runs in ODI Cricket. He is the only batter to hit 100 centuries in international cricket. He won the 2011 ODI World Cup. Combined with his incredible records in Test Cricket, the Indian fans say that Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest of all time.

Completely Different Eras of Cricket

There can be no comparison whatsoever that the eras that these two batters played in could not have been more different. Don Bradman played in that era of cricket where the safety of the cricket players was not the top focus. The batters used to go out without helmets and there was no limit as to the number of bouncers in an over. The pitches were uncovered as well therefore how it would behave was not known as well. Don Bradman did so well in that era with all the difficulties that lead people to believe that If he played in the same era as Sachin Tendulkar then Don Bradman would have made many more runs.

Sachin Tendulkar played in an era where the bats were much heavier and the game was moving towards being a batters game. He had the facility of helmets and this was an important safety factor that was introduced in cricket. Sachin Tendulkar played on pitches which were covered and the players knew how it would play. The rules of the game were such that bouncers became less and less. The fans of cricket wonder how Sachin Tendulkar would have done if he was playing in the same era as Don Bradman.

Big Hundreds: Who Dominated the Art of Converting Scores?

Hitting Big Hundreds in cricket is an attraction that gets more fans to like a certain player because the fans know that the batter will not get out easily. Don Bradman was the greatest ever in this aspect. He made 12 Double Hundreds in 52 Test Matches and 2 Triple Hundreds with a highest score of 334. This means out of the 80 innings he has played in 14 have been over 200.

In contrast, Sachin Tendulkar has hit 6 double hundreds in Test Cricket in 329 innings in Test Cricket. He has also hit a double hundred in ODI Cricket as he was the first to do it in the 50 overs game. In this aspect Don Bradman is ahead of Sachin Tendulkar.

Impact of their Greatness: Bradman in Australia, Tendulkar in India

Don Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar were like God in India and Australia. There have been many players that have come in both these countries that look up to them for inspiration. Don Bradman has inspired every generation that followed him and all the great batters that Australia has seen have all been thanks to Don Bradman. The aura was such that most of the Australian batters did not want to get past the 334 that Don Bradman made. Don Bradman has a museum made in his honour in Sydney.

Sachin Tendulkar is a God to 1.4 billion Indians. When he was playing, the mood of the Indian fans depended on how he batted. They would turn off the TV when he got out. Sachin Tendulkar could not go alone anywhere without adoring fans rushing to him. The only time he was alone was at night when he used to go racing with his friends. It has been 11 years since his retirement but the love for him is still the same. Players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, VVS Laxman and many others have all gotten into cricket because of Sachin Tendulkar. The cultural and the cricketing impact of these 2 cannot be put into words.

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