Sachin Tendulkar vs Shane Warne: Who Won The Greatest Ever Cricket Battle?

Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne during an exhibition match after their retirement [X]Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne during an exhibition match after their retirement [X]

Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne are two of the greatest names to have ever graced the game of cricket. In the 1990s, it was these two players who were redefining their respective arts and setting new standards for the nest generation. 

Sachin vs Warne - A look at the respective careers

Sachin Tendulkar played 664 international matches in his career of 24 years. In these matches he scored 34,357 runs along with 100 centuries. When he hung up his boots, he had most of the batting records under his belt and till now many of them stay unbroken. 

On the other hand, after an average start to his career, Shane Warne turned his eyes with his dream delivery to Mike Gatting in the 1993 Manchester Test. Shane Warne played a total of 339 international matches, in which he took 1001 wickets. At the time of his retirement, Warne had the highest wickets by a bowler in Test cricket, which was later broken by Muttiah Muralitharan. 


Sachin vs Warne - What do the Numbers say?

Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne faced each other 29 times in international cricket. Out of these occasions, Warne was able to dismiss the Indian batter only four times. This is a testament of the fact, that while Warne was a nightmare for many bowlers, Sachin managed to dominate the spin wizard. 

Sachin vs Warne - The Beginning of the rivalry

It was the famous face-off between this legends in the 1998 Chennai Test when the rivalry became the talk of the town. There was a lot of hype regarding the anticipated face-off between these two talented players ahead of the series. 

In the first innings of the match, Warne got the better of Tendulkar. However, Sachin came out with a different approach in the second innings and not only dominated Warne but destroyed the whole Australian bowling to score 155 unbeaten runs off 191 deliveries. This innings of Tendulkar helped India win the match by a massive 179 runs margin. 

While this Test gave the birth to a new rivalry, Sachin's antics in the Coco-cola Cup later that year established his dominance over Warne. During the last two games of the tournament, Sachin activated 'God Mode' and unleashed fury on the Australian bowling unit comprising of Shane Warne. Years later referring to these two famous knocks by Tendulkar, Warne was heard saying figuratively -' I had nightmares of Sachin Tendulkar'.