[1/50] I've been asked to compare the stats of 7 of the best Test batsmen of the last 30-yrs in 2 sets:

| Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting |
| Kallis, Dravid, Sangakkara, Younis Khan |

I'll combine both sets into 1 for general summary charts to save some time. https://twitter.com/desi_robelinda/status/1252270498202783744?s=20

[2/50] Intro

I compiled dozens of tables & figures; but will only tweet a few. I'll minimise explanation if pictures attached.

If a statement doesn't sound real, pls ask for supporting figures.

Hopefully, no errors. This involved hours of digging; not everything is presented.

[3/50] Overall career averages:

Ponting's teammates batting in the top 7 avgd 45+ (only ~6.5 below RTP).

Lara's teammates avgd 21+ runs fewer than Lara.

Others' teammates in top 7 managed ±1 from 40 (except Younis' 37.9).

SA tail (8-11) performed marginally better than Aus'.

[4/50] Centuries:

Sanga, YK, SRT & Kallis scored about 1 in every four 100s by their team in the top 7.

Dravid's (slightly lower) 21% is the direct result of having SRT (& other strong batsmen) in the same team.

Ponting's teammates in the top 7 made 190 tons to support his 41.

[5/50] % of Team Runs & Opposition:

Lara is the only one with more than 1/5th of team runs (~30% of top 7 runs).

Ponting & Kallis obviously had stronger bowling units.

While others' opposition XI avgd 32.5±1, Sanga's opposition struggled a bit on good batting tracks (Murali!).

[6/50] Similar charts on tour:

5-run drop for Lara & Ponting; 3.3 for Sanga, ~1.5 for Kallis & Younis. SRT & RD went up.

Kallis' top 7 traveled marginally better than Ponting's top 7! But, RTP's bowlers were ruthless.

Lara made 17 tons & rest of WI top 7 made only 24 on tour!

[7/50] Minnows: BD & Zim

Total exclusion of the 2 makes it less complicated; & it's fairly reasonable.

Overall, smallest drops (<1) observed by Lara & Ponting. Largest: Sanga 4.8 & SRT 2.8.

Similar trends continue on tour with Younis & Kallis observing 3/3.5+ drops on tours.

[8/50] Minnows excluded, outside of home continent:

This naturally has a big impact on Asian batsmen. Ponting also unfortunately loses his 60+ avg in NZ ('Oceania').

Change in Lara's avg is negligible 0.27. Interestingly, Dravid's avg only dropped by 0.7 (when it's non-Asia).

[9/50] Two largest avg drops (no minnows & outside home continent) seen by Sanga (9.5) & Younis (11.5).

SL & Pak toured outside Asia less than India. But, that's too big a drop to ignore.

Rest of the bars follow similar trends.

Dravid's overseas feats now brought to the fore.

[10/50] Series performance

Out of the 7 batsmen, Tendulkar's the only one w/o a single 500+ run series (or 3 tons in a series for that matter). SRT's teammates have crossed 500+ fives times (opposition 17 times).

Lara had done it 7 times (teammates thrice & opposition 6 times).

[11/50] Series

Sanga never played >3 Tests in a series; also holds the unique record of making 500+ in a neutral venue series.

Even taking into account the frequency of 3/4/5/6-Test series for all, Lara truly stands out.

Highest:
3T Lara 688
4T Kallis 712 (RTP 706)
5T Lara 798

[12/50] Calendar year (Top 3)

Naturally, Ponting's expected to dominate the calendar runs aggregate. He also happened to pull off incredible avgs.

There've only been 4 instances of 1000+ runs in a calendar year with 100+ avg.

Bradman 1948
Sobers 1958
PONTING 2003
Clarke 2012

[13/50] Streaks

It's labour intensive & difficult to identify/define streaks.

Lara had the tendency to score a huge 100 before/after string of low scores. On the contrary, SRT scored well consistently without massive peaks/troughs.

Let's assess all of them individually now.

[14/50] Streaks

SRT once started a streak as a teenager that brought 1158 runs (avg 89) in 12 Tests (15 inn, 3 n.o.).

His absolute best over many yrs happened b/w 97 & 02, 4252 runs at 68.6 in 40 Tests.

Another streak started at (aged) ~36, fetching 2263 runs at 78 (21 Tests).

[15/50] Streaks

Lara was a 'mercurial' genius. His 1st 4 tons were ~30 innings apart; then he made 3 in 4 inn.

He went 27 inn w/o a ton before the epic 213 in that iconic series v Aus.

On paper, his best was b/w aged 31½ & 36½: 4671 runs at 65.8 in 41 Tests (nine 175+ scores).

[16/50] Streaks

Easy to define Ponting's streaks. More or less started with permanent move to #3.

From Warne's 100th Test at Newlands to Martyn's retirement at 'Amazing Adelaide', RTP made 6k runs at 75+ in 53 Tests (24 tons in 94 inn). Only quiet year was captaincy debut year.

[17/50] Streaks

Kallis' 2009-11 was excellent, but late 2001 to early 2006 was his best long period: 4661 runs at 76.4 in 46 Tests.

Dravid was exceptional in mid 2002 to 04; it extended to mid 06: 4200+ runs at 70+ in 43 Tests.

It wasn't all avg-based, so there may be better.

[18/50] Streaks

Sanga was amazing from mid 2006 to end 2007 & mid 2012 to 14. Combining both, he had a crazy long streak of 63 Tests for 6900+ runs at 69.7.

Younis didn't play Tests as frequently as others did; but made 4k runs at 66+ in 39 Tests b/w early 2005 & end of 2011.

[19/50] Intermediate Summary
(Apologies for the small/blurry text)

Kallis (after a slow start), Dravid, Sanga & YK kept their avgs reasonably steady through to the end. SRT was bound to have few ups & downs in 24 yrs. Lara had an unusual dip & Ponting had a textbook peak midway.

[20/50] Head to Head

It's labour intensive (& only partial data available) to include most bowlers. I picked a few greats & some others to fill in gaps.

Table shows Tendulkar's stats against and/or involving certain bowlers; also how those bowlers performed in the same Tests.

[21/50] SRT

Overall excellent records; covered 3 generations of great bowlers. Points not in table:

After Murali's bowling avg permanently dropped below 30, SRT avgd 35.8 v SL in 10 Tests (H2H 196 runs / 6 outs v Murali).

When Vettori didn't play, he avgd 29.2 v NZ in 9 Tests.

[22/50] H2H

Lara avgd 27.6 v SL when Murali's bowling avg was 30+. But, during Murali's prime, he avgd 123+ v SL. Yet, he was troubled by Raju (& Kumble). How do you measure this guy?

He made 225 runs v Ntini alone for 1 dismissal post-2001; but struggled against Nehra & Munaf.

[23/50] Lara was out to Nel 8 times (185 runs); but avgd 76.7 v SA when Nel played.

It's hard to constrain greats to stats; but none more difficult than Lara. He was out to Donald 5 times in 1998/99 cheaply. But, 2 months later, produced the most iconic series performance v Aus.

[24/50] H2H
Many youngsters would look at Angus Fraser's stats & be indifferent. Lara avgd 80+ in matches involving Fraser. More importantly, Fraser's bowling avg was 25.4 in matches involving Lara. Similarly, Caddick avgd 25.6, Flintoff 24.7 while Lara avgd 50+ when they played.

[25/50] H2H

Ponting enjoyed playing Murali; but as we all know struggled v Harbhajan (out all 5 times for virtually no runs in 2001). Interestingly, since then, 227 runs / 5 outs H2H v Harbhajan (did better in India: 148/2).

Ponting produced the most magnificent records v pace.

[26/50] Actual ball-by-ball data:

Ponting against the pacers he played a lot.

Runs / Outs
v Harmison 290/5
v Flintoff 226/5
v Anderson 233/4

v Ishant 251/7

v Ntini 336+/6 (only runs missing from '01)

v Steyn 144/4 (115/1 at SR of 79 before his last year with massive decline)

[27/50] H2H

Ponting never got out to Donald (only 5 Tests). Avgd 64 when Pollock played.

Enjoyed playing Pak; avgd 75+ when Akhtar played; 62+ when Asif played.

Avgd 107 in only 2 Tests Bond played (whereas Bond owned Ponting in ODIs at the time).

Roach troubled post-prime.

[28/50] H2H

Kallis played very well against Ind, NZ, WI & minnows; but had his share of troubles against quite a few from other nations.

Never made a 100 when Murali played (10 Tests). Avgd ~38 v Aus when McGrath or Clark (37 runs / 4 outs) or Johnson (88 runs / 5 outs) played.

[29/50] H2H

Kallis v Eng is telling. Ball-by-ball data:

v Hoggard 109/3 (only played in SA)
v Sidebottom 27/3
v Anderson 177/7 (97/5 in Eng)

Avgd 43.8 v Eng when Flintoff played; but sub-25 avg in Eng with a HS of 66 (came to crease at 2/290) in 15 inn.

Better on tour v Pak.

[30/50] H2H

Dravid was excellent v Eng (Anderson H2H 197/5).

Did well in 1997 tour of WI (except Rose).

Troubled by Mendis a bit, but played Murali well after 2001 (H2H data, 222 runs / 2 outs).

Did well v NZ.

Avgd 55+ when Akhtar played (10T); only 2-3 Tests v Ws or Asif.

[31/50] H2H

Dravid's major share of troubles came v Aus & SA, especially when McGrath (5), Warne (8), Lee (7), Pollock (6) etc. played. Complete ball-by-ball data is unavailable.

Donald avgd 16 v Ind in Tests involving Dravid; but Dravid only got out once to Donald in 7 Tests.

[32/50] H2H

Unfortunately, Sanga & Younis didn't get to play most of the great bowlers much. But, they were good against most of whom they faced.

Neither enjoyed touring SA (or WI surprisingly).

Good thing is most of ball-by-ball data available for both to compare v bowlers.

[33/50] Sanga's actual H2H

v Anderson 197/7 (98/6 after 2010)
v Flintoff 86/3 (70/3 in Eng)
v Swann 34/3

v Steyn 160/2 (96 runs coming in 2006 alone)
v Morkel 52/2
v Philander 38/2 (6/2 in SA)

v Kumble 101/3
v Ashwin 23/4 (his last series to be fair)

v Boult 64/4
v Bond 138/2

[34/50] Sanga absolutely loved playing Pak.

v Ajmal 531/4 (crazy!)
v Akhtar 81/2

He played a great inn in Hobart (unfairly given out) & helped to save a Test in Cairns. Not much else v Aus.

v Warne 127/4
v Gillespie 35/2
v McGrath 16 runs, no out, 48 balls, 39 dots, one FOUR.

[35/50] Younis' true H2H data:

It was no secret YK loved playing Ind (SL to an extent, Aus in 2010s)

v Kumble 331/5
v Harbhajan 332/2
v Pathan 238/1
v Zaheer 88/2

v Herath 334+/8 (missing runs from his innings of 116 in 2000)
v Murali runs in 2000 (3 outs) missing, 176/2 since

[36/50] Younis' H2H

v Anderson 102/3 (39/2 in Eng)
v Flintoff 14/2
v Swann 50, never out

v Vettori 45/3 (rare success for a spinner)

v Warne 83/2
v Gillespie 105/1
v McGrath 51/5 (10/4 in 33 balls in UAE, crazy nightmare)

v Lyon 252/3

WI bowlers generally did well v Younis.

[37/50] Set 2 Conclusion

Hard to separate Kallis & Dravid based on stats.

JK enjoyed playing v Ind; RD didn't v SA (superior bowling).

Not much to separate v Pak & NZ.

RD far better v Eng on tour.

JK hammered WI at home (sub-30 tour when Walsh around), RD toured WI better.

[38/50] Kallis played Aus better on tour; Dravid played SL at home better.

Their stats are similar in many ways.

Notable differences: Kallis' 100-scoring was better; Dravid had better team contribution on tours; particularly stood out from his teammates in overseas continents.

[39/50] Purely on some parameters that I value, I might give the slightest edge to Dravid over Kallis as batsman alone. Obviously, as an allround package, Kallis is miles ahead.

Away continent stats & opposition strength were two main reasons for my placing Sanga & Younis below.

[40/50] Sanga's exceptional stats against minnows & Younis' own team place Sanga way ahead overall. However, once appropriate filters are in place, YK narrows the gap a bit.

Collectively, Sanga trumps Younis in almost every category; except against India & when touring England.

[41/50] H2H v individuals made an interesting read. Sanga dominated Ajmal; but was troubled by most good spinners. Younis dominated almost every spinner (except a few: Vettori, Bishoo).

Younis was troubled by McGrath & Pollock (true ATGs) the most. It's nothing to be ashamed of.

[42/50] Sanga's individual H2H was neither poor nor great in most cases. Did well v Steyn (60% runs in 2006 at home). Steyn didn't prefer lefties. Whereas, Boult did well v Sanga.

Despite all that, Sanga's heavy scoring is too good to ignore; thus I'd place him ahead of Younis.

[43/50] Set 1 Summary

There is no real chink in Tendulkar's stats (just like his immaculate technique).

Some NZ pacers, Bishop, Collins did surprisingly well v SRT. It was cricket's loss there weren't as many contests v Pak & WI greats.

He was troubled by McGrath (& SA a bit).

[44/50] SRT's (late 30s) batting v Steyn was a message to the younger generation of his true calibre.

Anderson often comes up; but it might've been a different story if their peaks were aligned.

Of the 7 tons by Indians in Test wins involving SRT outside Asia; he made 3 of 'em!

[45/50] Brian Lara's genius was obvious when one watched him bat. The extent of lack of batting support for him is still surprising to even someone who watched every Test he played.

Nothing demonstrated Lara's one man show better than his insane records in Chanderpaul's absence.

[46/50] In Tests w/o Chanderpaul, Lara made >5k runs at 61.8. Even better after C'paul's debut; >4k runs at 66.6 in 35 Tests (14 tons). Avgd 51 even in losses. In wins & draws, >2k runs at 92+.

Most magnificent as Captain (w/o Chanderpaul): 1659 runs at 138+ (7 tons in 15 inn).

[47/50] It was silly to not have Ponting permanently at #3 for Australia as early as 1999. Yet, his knack for averting crisis was generally on display. All of RTP's 100s at #6:
4/50 Leeds
4/77 MCG (SA)
4/144 Barbados
4/183 Kandy
4/54 WACA (Pak)
4/52 Adelaide (Ind)
4/267 SCG (Ind)

[48/50] A 'chink' often advertised in RTP's case is record in India. It's ordinary for sure, but requires some perspective. After becoming regular #3, when played full series, he avgd 44.5 in Ind.

Avgd 61+ in Asia (outside Ind); excl. BD, still made 1000+ runs at an avg of 57+.

[49/50] If I had to pick one highlight of Ponting, it'd be the 'wounded tiger' performance after 2005 Ashes loss. Post-ICC XI Test, he made 1830 runs at 91.5 in only 13 Tests (10 tons).

I'll place him in the mesosphere, just below the thermosphere occupied by Tendulkar & Lara.

[50/50] Set 1 Conclusion

If watching 300+ Tests involving them was not enough to rank one above the other, no amount of stat-digging would be.

For a Test career, I'd pick Tendulkar's mastery.

For a Test series of a lifetime, I'd choose Lara's best.

Happy to share more charts.