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Johannesburg: Beware Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting is snapping at your heels. The prolific Australian skipper, who has been in tremendous form, went past 12,000 ODI runs during the match-winning 28th ton in the Champions Trophy semi-final against England.
He followed it up by hinting he remained the only one to pose a serious threat to Sachin's records. "He (Sachin) has set a benchmark for guys like me to chase him and get as close as we can," said Ponting.
Top batsmen are fiercely possessive about personal milestones and Tendulkar, who will compete 20 years of international cricket next month, currently sits atop the Test and One-day International batting charts. Can Punter, who is already 34 and made his debut nearly six years after Sachin, shave off even one of these benchmarks?
In the ODI stakes, it looks impossible. Ponting is currently third in the list of all-time run-getters list and edging closer to No.2 spot.
Tendulkar, though, has left others far behind with 16,903 runs and 44 hundreds. Behind him lies Sanath Jayasuriya, with 13,377 runs and 28 tons.
Ponting can surely catch up with the maverick Sri Lankan opener: the Aussie skipper now has 28 tons, with 12,043 runs. Punter might go past Jayasuriya but is unlikely to give Sachin sleepless nights.
Interestingly, Ponting has played the least number of matches among all three, and is unlikely to play till 40 like Jayasuriya has.
It is in Test matches that Ponting could, theoretically, challenge Tendulkar. Here too he is third, behind Brian Lara. But Ponting has the highest average of the three: 55.88 compared to Sachin's 54.58 and Lara's 52.88.
Sachin has 42 tons and 12,773 runs and Ponting is likely to go past Lara's 11,953. He already has more centuries, 38 to Lara's 34. Sachin has given himself two more years, till the 2011 World Cup, and if Ponting outlasts him on the international stage he could easily breach the 42-ton barrier.
In Tests, will be allowed to bat on till he is, say, 37 or 38? If he isn't, the debate will shift gears to who was the more effective big-match player.
