Sachin Tendulkar: How much has the Master Blaster’s ODI retirement really affected India?

Sachin Tendulkar has scored 18, 426 runs for India between 1989 to 2012.

Sachin Tendulkar won the World Cup in 2011, which happened to be his last World Cup for India © Getty Images

Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement from One-Day Internationals (ODIs) on December 23, 2012. Since then, a lot has changed in Indian cricket, from the team composition to the batting order. But how much has Tendulkar’s retirement affected India’s ODI performances? Shiamak Unwalla finds out.

To say that Sachin Tendulkar carried Indian cricket on his shoulders for the better part of the ‘90s would not be too much of an exaggeration. The team depended heavily on their talismanic little master, and on the occasions when he fell early, India usually rolled over without much fight. Tendulkar’s opening partnerships with Ganguly and Sehwag among the best in ODI

This trend began to change with the advent of the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in the late ‘90s, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh in the early 2000s, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, and Gautam Gambhir in the late 2000s, and Virat Kohli in the 2010s. By the time Tendulkar hung up his boots, India were a successful ODI side, full of talented youngsters and experienced pros — a World Cup winning side. Sachin Tendulkar – Not just talent, but immaculate work ethic

So how much has India truly missed Tendulkar?

Here are Tendulkar’s overall stats in ODI cricket:

Period	M	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100s	50s
1989-2012	463	18426	200*	44.83	86.2	49	96

To call these numbers intimidating would be an understatement of gross magnitude. Instead, let us look at the numbers of India’s top five run-scorers since Tendulkar announced his retirement in December 2014:

Name	Period	M	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100s	50s
Virat Kohli	2012-2014	56	2322	139*	54	98.26	8	12
Shikhar Dhawan	2013-2014	44	1977	119	49.4	92.86	6	10
Rohit Sharma	2012-2014	41	1778	264	50.8	84.38	3	11
Suresh Raina	2012-2014	52	1352	100	36.5	92.03	1	8
MS Dhoni	2012-2014	39	1284	139*	64.2	94.2	2	10

Shockingly, since Tendulkar’s retirement, the top five Indian batsmen have actually enjoyed a record that is comparable with that of Tendulkar’s. Virat Kohli is of course at the top. In many ways, Kohli is the Tendulkar of India’s current generation, with the exception being that Kohli doesn’t need to carry the team on his shoulders; the others can carry themselves. Sachin Tendulkar’s savage attack that became the defining moment in India’s ODI

With the exception of Suresh Raina, each Indian batsman in the top five enjoy a higher average since December 2012 than Tendulkar’s career average. And barring Rohit Sharma, each of them have a better strike rate as well. As for Tendulkar’s highest score of 200 not out, Rohit has surpassed it twice over.

However, since Tendulkar spent most of his time as an opener, it would be prudent to check his numbers at the very top of the order; a record that is more impressive than his overall career stats:

Period	M	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100s	50s
1994-2012	344	15,310	200*	48.29	88.1	45	75

Let us compare his record against that of India’s top five opening batsmen since December 2012:

Name	Period	M	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100s	50s
Shikhar Dhawan	2011-2014	48	2046	119	46.5	90.93	6	11
Rohit Sharma	2011-2014	42	1785	264	48.2	83.88	3	11
Ajinkya Rahane	2011-2014	31	962	111	31	79.7	2	5
Virender Sehwag	2011-2013	23	893	219	38.8	114	2	2
Gautam Gambhir	2011-2013	24	881	102	36.7	80.23	2	6

This is where the contrast becomes start; Tendulkar outshines his opening competition by a long way. That said, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit have not done too badly. The duo — who are at this point India’s first-choice ODI openers —enjoy averages north of 46 each, while also boasting of excellent strike rates and the proven ability to hit big hundreds. Sachin Tendulkar – Miles ahead of the other greats in ODIs

What about the team’s overall performance? Of the 463 matches India played which featured Tendulkar, India won 234 and lost 200 for a win/loss ratio of a meagre 1.170.

Period	M	W	L	T	NR	W/L
1990-2012	463	234	200	5	24	1.170

Since Tendulkar’s retirement, the scenario becomes rather different. Due to a number of reasons — most notably a far stronger overall ODI side — India’s record has drastically bettered since Tendulkar’s retirement:

Period	M	W	L	T	NR	W/L
2012-2014	64	40	20	1	3	2

India after Tendulkar has not fallen apart. On the contrary, statistics say that India have not done too badly in the post-Tendulkar days; if anything the fact that there would be no familiar No. 10 shirt to bail the team out of trouble seems to have galvanised the young team into a dominating force. Two years after his retirement, Tendulkar can rest easy knowing that there are young players holding up his mantle and serving Indian cricket with distinction. Sachin Tendulkar – the man who changed ODIs and Indian cricket forever

(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek and cricket fanatic. You can follow him on Twitter @ShiamakUnwalla)