Considering that the Indian cricket season is about to start, this would be a great topic…who has been more valuable to the Indian cricket team in his career?

On one hand, when Tendulkar started, he was young and he showed the signs of never-say-die from the get go. He has been the pillar of the Indian side for 15 years now. Of course, in the past few years, he’s had some other pillars to help him, but in the first 10 years of his career, he’s been the one who has scored the runs for India. In fact, he has also been instrumental in Indian wins with the ball (Hero cup against South Africa - the last over). There is of course no question about his winning matches for India with his bat.

And on the other hand, there is the rock solid Dravid. He came late to the team, at least in comparison to Sachin, but he is now almost indispensible. I would hate to woof him before the season starts, but that is what he is. The Wall. Dependable. Classic. Whatever you say. But, he has struggled a lot in one dayers. And he has started blossoming only in the past few years. He was good in general from the start. But he has started becoming all the solid stuff only in the past few years. I would not hesitate to agree with the tags he has got today, but only looking at the most recent form. Not for his career. And once again, the knock that Sachin gets for India not winning much, should apply to Dravid too. India just didn’t win much in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Right?

Of course, this is not to say that one is bad and the other is good. Both are GREAT. Both are needed for India to succeed. But to score 13,000 runs in one day matches and almost 10,000 in test matches is no mean feat.

My opinion is that today both are too valuable to the team. But over a career, Sachin has been more valuable to the Indian team than Dravid has been.