Joe Root vs Sachin Tendulkar: Comparing the stats of the two after 151 Tests
With every Test that Joe Root plays, Sachin Tendulkar's imperious run tally loses its sheen of invincibility. The England batter's seemingly never-ending purple patch has been the biggest contributor to this, and his recent landmark of 150 Tests has shortened the gap between him and the Little Master.
Tendulkar has been the leading run-scorer in Tests ever since he breached Brian Lara's tally in 2008. The record has remained untouched and safe, with several players like Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara, and Rahul Dravid meandering by it but never threatening it.
Joe Root comes across as the first serious candidate who can realistically topple the record. The former England skipper has flourished in recent times, scoring runs at will, and at a pace that only few have managed to do in their prime. In his recent rampage, Root was able to surpass legends like Alastair Cook, Sangakkara, and Lara, and enter the top five in the all-time list.
With Root marking his 151st Test appearance with a ton against New Zealand, it feels like a good stopping point to compare Tendulkar's numbers at the same point in his career.
Joe Root vs Sachin Tendulkar: Comparing the stats of the two after 151 Tests
#1 Runs
Sachin Tendulkar marked his 151st Test appearance in the opener of the 2008 Border-Gavaskar series, the last match where he was not the leading run-scorer in Test cricket. By this point, the legendary batter had scored 11,939 runs at an average of 54.02.
In comparison, Root, who scored his 36th ton in his 151st appearance in Tests, has 12,886 runs at an average of 50.93.
This results in a difference of 947 runs in favor of Root, though Tendulkar boasted a higher average at this mark.
Sachin went on to add 3982 runs across the remaining 49 Tests he played in his career. Had Sachin maintained the same average in the final quarter of his career, his projected run tally would have been 16,423 at the end, marginally higher than the 15,921 he ended up with.
Assuming that Root maintains his existing average till the end of his career, he needs 60 more innings to score the remaining 3035 runs and overtake Tendulkar.
#2 Home vs Away
Joe Root boasts a solid record across home and away conditions. His prowess in English conditions in the middle order is well known, and so is his ability to play spin, providing him with a good track record in subcontinent conditions. While he has been uncomfortable in Australia, that record has not done much damage to his overall numbers.
The ace English batter has scored 6758 runs in 137 innings on home soil at an average of 54.94. As far as his way record is concerned, he has amassed 6128 runs in 139 innings at an average of 47.14.
Sachin Tendulkar had one of the most well-balanced home-away records, and in a rare instance, his away numbers are superior when compared to his exploits on home soil. After 151 Tests, the legendary batter had scored 6,821 runs in 87 away Tests at an average of 53.70. The average improved towards the end of the career, as he finished at 54.75 after 106 Tests in total.
#3 Fifties and Hundreds
In terms of milestones, Sachin's 51 Test hundreds remain one of the biggest flexes in red-ball history. After 151 appearances, Tendulkar had 39 hundreds to his name. He had already surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's iconic tally of 34 and was on course to set a new record. In terms of fifties, the Little Master had 49 of those to his name.
As mentioned earlier, Root slammed his 36th hundred on his 151st appearance, leaving him three short of what Sachin had after the same number of matches. Root is currently level on fifth place with Rahul Dravid, but has already surpassed some iconic names in the process. Along with 36 hundreds, Root has 64 fifties to his name, and oddly needs only five more to break Sachin's career record, and the all-time record, in the process.
The English batter needs 15 more hundreds to level Sachin's tally. He currently averages a Test hundred after every 7.6 innings. Although the frequency of hundreds has increased in recent times. Considering the current average of 7.6, he would need another 115 innings to reach 51 hundreds, which is highly unlikely.