Pakistan’s skipper and the world’s top-ranked ODI batter, Babar Azam recently took over Indian batting legend, Sachin Tendulkar, in ICC All-Time ODI Rankings. Babar Azam is currently at 15th spot among the all-time great ODI batters while Sachin Tendulkar lies at the 16th position.
Sachin Tendulkar was the greatest of his time and still remains as one of the most talented players the world cricket has ever produced. On the other hand, Babar Azam has impressed the cricket fraternity with his classic batting style, rising to the top in no time.
A comparison between India’s greatest ODI batter and Pakistan’s modern day star seems unjust as Babar Azam is just in the initial phase of his career contrary to Sachin Tendulkar’s long run to glory. However, a comparison can be made between the two taking into account their first 86 ODI matches.
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar’s magnificent ODI career comprised 463 matches in which he amassed 18,426 runs. Averaging 44.83 in the 50-over game, the Indian legend smashed 49 of his 100 international centuries in this format. He also enjoyed a brilliant strike rate of 86.23.
Taking a look at the early days of Sachin’s career, he made his debut in 1989 and marked 86th ODI appearance in 1994. In this period, he had scored 2,455 runs with an average of 33.63 and a strike rate of 78.93 including two centuries to his name while he had also recorded 18 fifties.
As the stats show, Sachin Tendulkar had a moderate start to his career despite showing brilliance, but it was his class, consistence and longevity that helped him end up among the greats of the game.
Babar Azam
Babar Azam, who has now completed a year as the top ranked ODI batter, is 86 matches into his fifty-over career. Babar Azam has stunned the world with his extraordinary batting skills in a relatively short career.
Babar Azam first featured in an ODI in 2015 and has currently played 86 matches. After 86 matches, Babar Azam smacked 4,261 runs, double the runs Sachin Tendulkar had scored at this stage of his career.
Babar Azam is also ahead of the Indian legend in terms of average and strike rate. Pakistan skipper has an outstanding average of 59.18 while his strike rate is 90.29, aligning well with the modern demands of fast-paced batting.
Bagging two consecutive centuries in the last two ODI matches against Australia, the star batter has now smashed 16 hundreds in the format, which is far ahead of Sachin Tendulkar’s 2 centuries at the same stage. Although it’s too premature to say if Babar Azam continues the momentum, he holds bright chances of surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s 49 tons in the next few years. Moreover, the stylish batter has recorded 18 fifties which is equal to Sachin’s record after 86 matches.
Comparing the current stats of Babar Azam with that of Sachin Tendulkar in his initial days, the Pakistan star seems to have a promising future. Since his 50-over stats seem superior than Sachin Tendulkar’s at the moment, the key to glory for Babar Azam lies in persistence.
Considering Babar Azam’s strong technique and consistency, the star batter is bound to finish near Sachin Tendulkar’s level of greatness. However, his form in upcoming years holds a crucial role in deciding the in the league where Babar Azam belongs.
Here’s the statistical comparison between Babar Azam and Sachin Tendulkar after 86 ODI matches:
| Babar Azam | Sachin Tendulkar | |
| Matches | 86 | 86 |
| Runs | 4,261 | 2455 |
| Average | 59.18 | 33.63 |
| Strike Rate | 90.29 | 78.93 |
| 100s | 16 | 2 |
| 50s | 18 | 18 |
| Highest Score | 158 | 115 |
Mashallah Babar
Very nice, but comparing Virat Kohli and Babar Azam would be a fair and better comparison
Congratulations Babar u such a great plyer your strike, hitting power is super
Indians r loughing at this article.Have some sense 😅😂 writers.
Is sachin a god who can not be defeated? Didn’t sachin break someone else’s records? records are made to break but you indians love to make human gods
Illetrate it’s a fact you can watch it on any article babar is far superior then sachin but I would say that sachin was a legend to and he made unbelievable records but records are meant to be broken
Not a fit comparison because Sachin started his career facing the greats like waseem, waqar, MacGrat and westIndies bowlers, and cricket now a days is too easy in comparison to the old days.
In his times he faced some great blowers that like he got that runs legend is legend if break or not he stay same
U knw the names at that time
Wasim waqar imran
Ambrose walsh etc.
Only one ball.
Pakistan don’t play that matches compare to India so the Babar can brake most of the records if they play regularly like India