Sachin Tendulkar (Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images) We don’t often see Sachin Tendulkar on the receiving end of selection debates, but a recent podcast moment turned that thought on its head and delivered a truly entertaining twist.During an episode of Stick to Cricket, the debate surrounding the all-time XI took an unexpected turn when former Australian batsman Mark Waugh left Tendulkar out of his side. For a name that almost automatically picks itself up on any all-time list, the omission immediately raised eyebrows.Across Tests and ODIs, Tendulkar remains the gold standard. He is international cricket’s leading run-scorer, the highest limit-scorer the game has seen and still the only batsman to reach 100 international centuries. Even more than a decade after retirement, he is usually one of the first names listed.That’s why the moment felt surreal.As the panel reacted, former England captain Michael Vaughan nudged David Lloyd into action. The proposal was simple. Call Tendulkar live on the show and see how he responds. Lloyd didn’t hesitate.He dialed the Indian legend on air and repeatedly introduced himself as “Bumble”. Before the conversation had even settled down, he abruptly cut off the call. Lloyd broke the silence with perfect timing when he said, “He’s gone,” prompting laughter from the studio.Comedy landed because numbers never lie.We all know that Tendulkar scored 34,357 international runs from 664 matches across formats and retired in 2013 after an emotional home Test against the West Indies at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.Among the active players, Virat Kohli is the closest challenger. He is currently second on the all-time list with 28,091 international runs, still over 6,000 behind him. The 2027 World Cup is widely tipped as his international swan song and the clock is ticking.In the recent ODI against New Zealand in Vadodara, Kohli moved past Kumar Sangakkar’s 28,016 runs to claim the second spot. Already during the 2023 World Cup, he surpassed Tendulkar’s ODI century record to reach 53 hundreds.England’s Joe Root is also coming up in Tests. Tendulkar is less than 2,000 runs behind but is still 11 centuries away, underscoring the scale of the challenge.
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