During the current ODI series between India and Pakistan, an "expert" panel on TV was discussing the current form of Tendulkar. Though everyone agreed that he was India's best player on current form, one of them questioned his performance compared to Ponting. He opined that Tendulkar has scored heavily through 50s and 90s, but is not as consistent as Ponting. I was curious about the validity of his remarks and checked out the ODI batting statistics for Tendulkar and Ponting in the last 2 years (from 1/1/2006 - 11/18/2007).
| Matches | Runs | Highest | Average | 100 | 50 | |
| Tendulkar | 49 | 2053 | 141* | 46.65 | 3 | 16 |
| Ponting | 47 | 1981 | 164 | 49.52 | 5 | 14 |
courtesy - www.cricinfo.com
As one can see, there is literally nothing that separates the two. This has been the story of Tendulkar the last few seasons. There are few critics out there who speak with a stubborn attitude that he is past his prime and try to justify their views by ignoring the facts. Shouldn't these "experts" be held accountable for their statements?
