Sachin Tendulkar's records are unsurpassable - the career of Alastair Cook proves it
When Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar started playing test cricket in 1989, West Indies were still the most feared cricket team, the supremacy of Australia hadn't been witnessed as yet and the T20 was still an unthinkable format. The century changed, Australia rose to be world beaters and many of his contemporaries of the 1990s had long given up the game and expected Tendulkar to follow suit soon.
It was said that the 16-year-old teenager who made his debut in Pakistan would soon get satiated with his cricketing career, but the man refused to budge and carried on, silencing all who had termed his tryst with cricket nothing but a "teenagers fantasy which wouldn't last long”.
Over a career spanning 24 long years, the Indian made a monument of runs, 15,921 runs in 200 Test matches to be precise. Currently, there is no one who is even near touching distance of this record with the now retired Australian Ricky Ponting comes a distant second with 13,378 runs- and even if a very talented player does get to the feat, playing 200 matches however seem a distant figure.
The emergence of Alastair Cook
When Kevin Pietersen stated that English captain Alastair Cook "is on target to go for Tendulkar’s record", it set tongues wagging that the opening batsman was soon seen as a worthy successor to match Tendulkar’s colossal feats. The left-hander has been a prolific Test batsman for England since 2006, when he made his debut against India at Nagpur, notching up consistent performances with his stats vouching his ability for his greatness.
The 29-year-old has scored 8344 runs at an average of 45.85 in 108 matches in a career spanning 9 years as the Essex player looks to attain greater heights.
Cook’s brilliant start to his international career
Cooky, as he is known, became only the 5th player to score a century and a fifty on debut, as he started his career with a 60 and 104* against a strong Indian line-up.
Next came the home series against Pakistan, which was seen as a turning point in his career, scoring 403 runs with two consecutive centuries. The same year he was also awarded the ICC Emerging Player of the Year and this determined him to scale new levels.
He churned out performances at will scoring 12 centuries in three years and it earned him the nickname "the left-handed Bradman", a huge compliment for a player playing in only his 4th year at the international level.
However, the 2010/11 Ashes series was the series which brought him to the limelight and made people sit up and take notice with scores of 235*, 189, 148, 82 and 67. Three centuries in 4 matches followed in the home series versus India in 2011 where he scored his career best 294 and he finally got the test captaincy when England toured India in 2012.
This was going to be a watershed moment for the talisman as often players from England and South Africa see their career slipping away in the sub continent due to slow bounce and turn offered, but Cook took this as an opportunity to repay the hopes bestowed on him. He became the first English captain in 28 years to win a series in India as captain and became the first captain to score five certitude in his first five matches. He also surpassed 7000 runs making him the youngest player to do so.
So can Cook break Tendulkar’s record?
Cook is almost 8000 runs behind the Indian, but scoring 4147 runs since 2010 would give given him hope and another 5-6 years at the top could see him own the numbers.
2014 however hasn't been his best on the cricket circuit with only 280 runs to his credit in 5 matches. This year also saw England being decimated 0-5 by Australia in the Ashes down under and he became the first England captain to lose a series to Sri Lanka at home as talks of his removal started doing the rounds.
He however doesn't put much emphasis on numbers and said: “I am aware of the constant comparisons with the greatest batsman of this era and I take it as a huge compliment. I am not thinking far ahead and putting undue pressure. I look to enjoy my batting and win as many matches for the 3 lions.”
The challenges Cook faces
Cook will have to ward off injuries and the constant pressure from England Cricket Board's authorities if he is to prolong his career. He will be aware of the ECB's tendency to sack players after a string of under par scores as he looks ahead to a gruelling year.
With England playing around a dozen Test matches every year due to the board’s preference for the 5-day match, balancing the three formats will be the biggest challenge for Cook. Performance wise, he will have to look no further than his Indian opponents Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir.
Gambhir was the peak of his career from 2009-2011 but is now struggling to find a place in the Indian team. Kohli, despite a brilliant run in the last few years, has had an average series against England and talks of replacing him have started doing the rounds. Cook then should be aware that past performances don't count for much and focus instead on the task at hand.
The grills of modern day cricket and the intense scrutiny, which saw Jonathan Trott take a sabbatical from the game, will be fresh on Cook’s mind. With a bunch of talented cricketers at his heels, he will constantly need to be on his toes and coping up with the pressure is what he should perfect.
Perks of being Tendulkar
Tendulkar here has an advantage as he almost seemed to be irreplaceable - dropping 'God' was considered a 'sin' for the selectors - and lack of good bench strength meant he continued playing even after just averaging around 25 in the last few years of his career.
Cook doesn't have that luxury, he isn't considered a demi-God in his country and the selectors won't think twice before sacking him. Also, he will be aware that Sachin achieved what he did in a career lasting over two decades and to be as consistent as him for so long is almost impossible.
All said and done, if Cook does indeed achieve that feat, the master blaster’s contribution won't reduce in any way. His legacy will still continue forever.
In a country where cricket is considered a religion, Sachin carried the expectations of the people on his shoulders and very soon the Bharat Ratna became India's treasure. For 24 years, the nation wanted him to score a century every time he walked in and an entire country sighed when he got out on 99. 1.2 billion were united as they waited in anticipation for his hundredth hundred. He alone was synonymous with their happiness and tears.
Cook, in many ways, should find the going easier. Cricket isn't a religion or even a way of life in Britain. He however has his own demons to conquer first.