Sachin steady, Punter falters

Ricky Ponting seems to be losing out to Sachin Tendulkar in their battle to become the greatest Test batsman of the modern era!
The older and more experienced of modern cricket’s batting giants has, over the past 18 months, increased his cushion even as his Australian rival has had a torrid time.

While Tendulkar has been steady, Ponting’s form was in tailspin

before he resurrected it with the double hundred at Hobart last week. Tendulkar replied with his unbeaten 105 against Bangladesh on Monday — his 44th in Tests. Tendulkar, now, has five more centuries than Ponting. Overall, Tendulkar has now scored 44 tons in 266 innings, while Ponting has 39 in 240. That translates to a century every 6.05 innings for Tendulkar, while Ponting reaches the three-figure mark after 6.15 innings. Hardly anything separates them then! However, over the past year-and-a-half and in the last 25 Tests, it has been a different story. The Indian maestro has gained at the expense of Ponting’s lack of form. Tendulkar has hit five centuries in 24 innings over the past one-and-a-half years, but Ponting has managed just four in 41. That means Tendulkar scored a century every 4.80 innings while Ponting has reached three-figures after every 10.25 innings. Tendulkar also is way ahead if one glances at their figures over the last 25 Tests. Tendulkar hit seven centuries in 44 innings (6.82 innings per hundred), while Ponting has just four in 45 (11.25 innings per hundred). Ponting has felt the strain of becoming the first Australian skipper to lose two Ashes series in England. He also has had to nurture a squad which is in a transitional phase. Ponting went without scoring a century in nine Test matches and 16 innings before he made his double hundred last week. Before his 209 on Thursday, Ponting had last made a century (150) against England at Cardiff on July 8. After decimating England with a masterful century in the Champions Trophy semifinal in October, Ricky Ponting, who entered the 12,000-run club in ODIs was asked what he thought of Sachin Tendulkar’s records. “He has set benchmarks for guys like me to chase him and get as close as we can. If I had to last 20 years, I would probably be batting in a wheelchair,” Ponting said jokingly. It could well be a stark reality. However, the good news for Ponting is that if it is presumed that both of them play 200 Tests each and continue to score centuries at their career rate (Tendulkar 6.05/Ponting 6.15) then Ponting will end up with 58 just pipping Tendulkar who will have 56.