Will Sachin Tendulkar's record of 34357 International runs ever be broken?
We often look at the world records created or broken by cricketers. In all of those records, the frequently repeated name has to be Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the most prolific batsman ever. Among the several records created by Tendulkar, his record of 34357 runs in international cricket is the record most unlikely to be ever broken. Let us find out why:
Development of T20 cricket: Development of T20 cricket is one of the major reasons why Sachin may never be beaten. The T20 leagues all over the world keep the players busy for months, which doesn't support them in breaking Sachin's run tally. It took Sachin Tendulkar more than two decades to score over 30,000, without having to play much of T20 cricket. Moreover, T20 matches generally don't offer batsmen to score 100 runs consistently due to the limitation in the number of overs.
Consistency: The players of today's era would find it difficult to match the level of consistency of Tendulkar. Without proper consistency in all the formats of the game, a player can't even come close to 20,000 international runs. Even a consistent batsman like Virat Kohli may find it difficult to score over thirty-thousand runs, due to a comparatively shorter career.
Career span: Sachin Tendulkar had one of the longest cricket careers ever. Starting his career in 1989, Sachin finally retired in 2013. Playing in the toughest level of professional cricket, continuing for more than 20 years requires immense fitness and temperament. Moreover, Sachin started his international career at the age of just 16; that's realistically impossible in the present era.
Less number of Test matches: Without any doubt, Test cricket is declining in the current generation. The number of test matches played annually has reduced in today's time compared to the era of Sachin Tendulkar. Most teams prefer just 3-match Test series today, which prevents the players from scoring a bulk of runs.
One-format specialists: Most players today are specialists in just one format. For example, Cheteshwar Pujara is a Test format specialist, whereas Rohit Sharma can be called as limited overs specialists. Only a few batsmen such as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root, Kane Williamson, etc play in all the three formats; among which Virat has maintained a better consistency in all the formats of the game, compared to others.
Technique: To be able to score runs in all the formats, in all the conditions, and against any bowling attack, a batsman needs to have a solid technique and perfect temperament. In the name of attacking cricket, several players are uninterested in developing a textbook technique which would assist them in any situation. The newly innovated shots are hardly going to help when Anderson is swinging in English conditions at his best.
Due to these six major reasons, Sachin Tendulkar's record will most likely never be broken.