What made Tendulkar the greatest one-day batsman ever

That Sachin Tendulkar was the greatest one-day batsman brooks little dispute. Where Test cricket is concerned Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis — even Rahul Dravid and Inzamamul Haq at certain points in their careers — would find strong votaries. But in ODIs, Tendulkar is on a pedestal all his own.

But reaching this verdict wasn’t easy either. Indeed, the competition gets stiffer in ODIs for apart from the wonderful batsmen mentioned above — all of whom were outstanding limited overs batsmen too — there are a host of others who could qualify for the accolade.

Among those who I merit is the power-packed Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd of the high-backlift and sizzling strokes, Zaheer Abbas of the silken toiuch and tensile wrists, Javed Miandad whose cunning improvisations put him in a league of his own, the daredevil Sanath Jayasuriya, the explosive Adam Gilchrist.

But all things considered, the batsman sitting on top of this heap would still be Tendulkar. There are a few telling reasons why I have reached such decision, the most obvious one being that Tendulkar (apart from perhaps Jayasuriya) has had to face the more difficult bowlers.

Richards never played his own devastating attack, neither did Zaheer and Miandad have to play Imran, Akram, Qadir and Sarfraz at their best. Ponting didn’t have to challenge his own bowlers — particularly McGrath and Warne — since he himself was part of the world’s best team for more than a decade. Kallis too has been under no threat from Donald, Pollock, Steyn and Morkel.

It could be argued, justifiably, that this is also true of Test cricket so what’s the difference? This brings into play other aspects of Tendulkar’s batsmanship in ODIs that sets him apart.

For instance, while improvisation is essential in this format, Tendulkar’s efforts were not only novel, but also immaculately delivered: so much so that some have come into the lexicon of cricket as legitimate strokes even in the longer format e.g. the “upper cut’.

The turning point of his career in ODIs, as is well known, was when he was asked to open the innings after having played 70 matches in the middle order.

Tendulkar’s gusto and derring-do, supported by his intrinsic technical brilliance produced a batsman of such wondrous strokeplay that it transformed India’s image and fortunes in ODIs dramatically.

This was not a slam-bang pinch-hitter, but a genius at work. And he exhibited this year after year, everywhere. Tendulkar’s career strike rate of 86+ puts him ahead of all players who have scored 10,000+ plus runs in ODIs barring Jayasuriya.

Of other major players with 6,000+ runs, only Sehwag, Gilchrist, Richards and Dhoni have a higher strike rate. But Tendulkar zooms ahead for sheer consistency of high run-getting over an astonishingly long period.

His 49 centuries and 96 half centuries — scattered all over the world — are testimony to not just his ambition for getting into three figures, but more importantly how much time he spent in the middle. It takes any- where between 30-45 overs to score a ton, and he did it more times than anybody by a wide margin.

Finally, the hallmark of Tendulkar’s batting was the manner in which he would hammer the most dangerous bowlers in the opposition into submission. This was psychological oneupmanship in which he was eminently successful. Opponents knew that if they got Tendulkar early, they could beat India. But how to get him was the issue.

Now, of course, he is gone from the Indian dressing room, leaving behind a legacy that is to be cherished and emulated, but also a void that may be almost impossible to fill.