An honorary or symbolic title known as “god of cricket” is given only to a renowned cricketer who has smashed world records. This cricketer’s name is Sachin Tendulkar. He is called not only the god of World cricket but also the god of Cricket in India. He was given this name not only because he has exceptional cricket records but also because he has a larger fan base in India than only a few cricketers have in Cricket. This was the main reason behind releasing the film name “God of cricket,” which was released in 2021. The main objective of this biopic film was to pay tribute to the 24 years life long services of Sachin Tendulkar to India.
Read More: Who is the Father of Cricket?
Indian cricket supporters are searching for a new God of Cricket after Sachin Tendulkar’s retirement. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have both been called the new god of Cricket. The majority of cricket fans called Virat Kohli the second Goat of Cricket while Rohit Sharm as the third god of Cricket. Now, We will deeply analyze Why all of these stars are given the Goat of cricket title.
Who gave Sachin the title of God of Cricket?
Mathew Hayden was the first cricketer who gave Sachin the title of god of Cricket. Later, Indian fans and Bollywood celebrities called him the Goat of Cricket in India. Mathew Hayden’s words for Sachin were;
“If cricket is a religion, then Sachin is a god.”
Mathew Hayden said this because of his popularity and the emotional connection between Sachin and his fans.
On his retirement in 2013, Mathew Hayden once again said this quote about Sachin Tendulkar.
“I have seen god; he bats at no. 4 for India”
God Of Cricket – Sachin Tendulkar
We will go through some reasons why Sachin is called the “God of Cricket.” These are the emotional and statistical reasons which led people to call him the God of cricket.
- Firstly, he was the first batsman on the planet earth to score 20th ODI hundreds in ODI. At that time, Saeed Anwar was the only batter with the highest hundreds (19) in International cricket. Therefore, Sachin was the first batter to cross this mark by scoring in the 20th century. After accomplishing this, he gained national attention and received considerable media coverage. This was merely the beginning until his last international cricket match.
- Secondly, whenever something new happens in sports, that moment creates an altogether different impact in the mind of the audience and experts. The same thing happened with Sachin Tendulkar’s majority of records that he hit for the first time in cricket. Explaining further, he was the first person to score 49 ODI hundreds. This was an achievement never achieved previously by any cricketer. Therefore, he received a lot of attention, leading to people calling God of Cricket.
- Thirdly, Sachin’s rise to the rank of Goat was gradual rather than sudden. He gradually rose through the ranks with every landmark achieved with each passing year in his career. Here are some of his Top records:
| First Batsman to Score | Double Century in ODI |
| First Batsman to Score | 10,000 Runs in ODI Cricket |
| First Batsman to Score | 11000,12000,13000,14000,15000,16000,17000 & 18000 runs in ODI |
| First Batsman to Score | 50 Test Hundreds |
| First Batsman to Score | 100 International centuries (Most by Any Batter) |
| First Batsman to Score | 09 Hundreds in ODI Calendar year (1998) |
| First Batsman to Score | More than 2000 fours in ODI Career |
| First Batsman to Score | 15000 runs in Test cricket |
| First Batsman to Score | Most ODI Runs in a Calendar Year (1998) |
| First Batsman to Score | Most Man of the Series Awards (20) |
| Fastest to Score | 13000,14000 and 15000 Test Runs. |
| Fastest to Score | 13000,14000,15000,16000,1700 and 18000 ODI Runs. |
| 1st Position Combined Record List (All Formats) | Most Runs in Career (34357) |
| 1st Position Combined Record List (All Formats) | Most 100s in Career(100) |
| 1st Position Combined Record List (All Formats) | Most 100s in Calendar Year (12) |
| 1st Position Combined Record List (All Formats) | Most fifties in Career (264) |
| 1st Position Combined Record List (All Formats) | Most Fours in Career (4000+) |
| 1st Position Combined Record List (All Formats) | Most Matches in Career (664) |
| 1st Position Combined Record List (All Formats) | Most Man of the Match Awards (76) |
| 1st Position Combined Record List (All Formats) | Most Consecutive Matches for Indian Team (239) |
| 1st Position Combined Record List (All Formats) | Most Runs in ODI World Cup (2003) |
These are the few top records that helped Sachin to register himself as one of the finest and best batters in cricket history.
Sachin Tendulkar scored these records by batting at the number 04 position. Now, we will look at the overall stats of Sachin Tendulkar across all formats of cricket.
| Formats | Matches | Innings | Runs | Avg. | 100s | 50s | H/S | Not Out | Ducks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 200 | 329 | 15921 | 53 | 51 | 68 | 248* | 33 | 14 |
| ODI | 463 | 452 | 18426 | 44 | 49 | 96 | 200 | 41 | 20 |
| T20I | 01 | 01 | 10 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – |
| IPL | 78 | 78 | 2334 | 33 | 01 | 13 | 100 | 09 |
Second God of Cricket – Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli is the second God of Cricket because he is breaking records set by Sachin Tendulkar. After the entry of Virat Kohli into the Goat race, cricket fans are now more excited because they are having one of the best experiences of breaking records of one legend by another. In a short period of time, Virat Kohli smashed several records, and he is in line to break the most notable of which is the record for the most centuries across all formats.
Will Virat Kohli overtake the status of God Sachin? If we see the type and quality of bowlers Sachin faced, then we can see that Sachin will always be ahead in this race.
Why Virat Kohli is called the Second God of Cricket?
He is considered as second God of cricket because he helped India achieve the first position in the test ranking. Most of you would argue that Virat’s captaincy helped him achieve the title of second Gpat of cricket. But, in reality, he consistently performed both with the bat and captaincy roles. As a captain, he helped Australia’s first test series win with an outstanding batting average.
Here is the list of Virat Kohli’s top records that led his fans to call the second God of cricket in India.
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Player of the Series Awards All Formats (20) |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most 100s Vs one Team in ODI Cricket (10) |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Fastest to 12000 ODI Runs |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Player of the Series awards in T20I |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Runs in T20I |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Fifties in T20I |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Fastest to 3500 Runs in T20I |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Player of the Match Awards in T20I |
| Highest T20I career batting average |
Now, we will see Virat Kohli overall stats across all formats of cricket. All stats are subject to change.
| Format | Matches | Innings | Runs | Avg. | 100s | 50s | H/S | Not Out | Ducks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 104 | 177 | 8119 | 48 | 27 | 28 | 254* | 11 | 14 |
| ODI | 271 | 262 | 12809 | 57 | 46 | 64 | 183 | 40 | 15 |
| T20I | 115 | 107 | 4008 | 52 | 01 | 37 | 122* | 31 | 04 |
| IPL | 253 | 215 | 6624 | 33 | 01 | 13 | 113 | 32 | – |
We can conclude from the above stats that Virat Kohli is moving quickly to achieve more records in future.
3rd God or new God of Cricket – Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma is called the third or the new God of cricket. One of the main reasons for calling him is his memorable performance in ODI cricket for India. Therefore, he is also called as New Goat of ODI cricket.
Whether you are a fan of Virat Kohli or Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit’s ODI dominance with the bat will make you his fan, where Rohit has scored the most number of double centuries. After seeing him score these centuries, Indian fans started to call him the God of ODI cricket.
Why is Rohit Sharma Called the Third God or the new God of Cricket?
Rohit Sharma is one of the most consistent performers in ODI cricket. His habit of scoring double-centuries led Indian cricket fans to call him the new God of cricket. If we believe this term, he will definitely be the third Goat after Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar.
He is most joyful to watch too. His shot selection and pure cricket spirit are outstanding, which was why he was announced as captain of the Indian team.
Now, we will see the top records that helped him get the status of new God.
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Runs in an ODI Innings (264) |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Runs from Fours and Sixes in an ODI innings |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Matches in T20I career |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Sixes in T20I career |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Double Centuries in ODI cricket |
| 1st Position on Record List (All Formats) | Most Fours in an ODI inning (33) |
The way Rohit is leading team India, it is likely that he will break many other records in ODI cricket. But it is hard for him to break Sachin or Kohli’s records. Now, We will see How Rohit Sharma has performed across all the formats.
Rohit Sharma leads Mumbai Indians to become one of the most successful teams in franchise Cricket. Under his captaincy Mumbai Indian played six IPL finals and won five titles.
| Formats | Matches | Inns | Runs | Avg | 100s | 50s | H/S | Not Out | Duck |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Test | 45 | 77 | 3137 | 46 | 08 | 14 | 212 | 09 | 04 |
| ODI | 241 | 234 | 9782 | 48 | 30 | 48 | 264 | 34 | 14 |
| T20I | 148 | 140 | 3853 | 31 | 04 | 29 | 118 | 17 | 10 |
| IPL | 227 | 222 | 4526 | 30 | 01 | 29 | 109 | 28 | – |
