Who played the most without playing Tendulkar?

Which cricketer played the most Tests since Sachin Tendulkar's debut in 1989 without playing against the India batsman? We've found out in this week's column, which is about players who played the most matches during the careers of the most-capped cricketers without playing against them.

Darren Gough, the former England fast bowler, never played a Test against Tendulkar. He didn't play one against Rahul Dravid either. England played India three times during Gough's career (1994-2003) - in 1996, 2001-02 and 2002 - twice at home and once away. Gough was dropped on form for the home series against India in 1996, after a poor tour of South Africa the previous winter, when he struggled with a leg injury. He pulled out of the Tests in India in the winter of 2001-02 because of personal reasons. In 2002, Gough missed the first Test and eventually the entire Test series against India because of a knee injury. So he ended a 58-Test career without playing India at all.

Three players played 43 Tests during Jacques Kallis' career without playing against the South Africa allrounder: former West Indies batsman Sherwin Campbell, former Australia opener Michael Slater, and Sri Lanka wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene, who made his debut in 2000. Jayawardene could have played Kallis for the first time during Sri Lanka's Tests in South Africa next week, but he was ruled out of the trip because of an injury.

Graham Gooch played 118 Tests between 1975 and 1995. Imran Khan's career spanned 1971-1992 but he played 84 of his 88 Tests during Gooch's career. They didn't play a Test against each other, even though England and Pakistan contested six series during the time their careers overlapped.

Neither played in England's series in Pakistan in 1977-78: Gooch hadn't been recalled after he was dropped following his first two Tests in 1975, and Imran was participating in Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket in Australia. Gooch was part of the home series against Pakistan in the summer of 1978, but Imran did not tour England, again because of his involvement in WSC. Imran did tour England in 1982, but Gooch was banned for having gone on a rebel tour to apartheid South Africa. Gooch was still banned when England went to Pakistan in 1983-84.

In 1987, Gooch was left out of the home series against Pakistan, which Imran played. Gooch did face Imran in a tour game before the Tests began, though, and was bowled for a duck. (He fell for another duck, to Wasim Akram, in the second innings.) When England toured Pakistan later that year, Gooch went, but Imran had retired. He would come out of retirement and lead Pakistan in a drawn Test series in West Indies and to World Cup glory in Australia. Imran was once again retired, this time permanently, when Pakistan toured England in 1992.

VVS Laxman has played 130 Tests. Sanath Jayasuriya played 110, 91 of them after Laxman began his career in 1996. They too never played each other. India and Sri Lanka played four bilateral series during the common period, and one match as part of the Asian Test Championship in 1999.

Jayasuriya played the home and away series against India in 1997. Laxman didn't. He wasn't a regular in India's Test team at the time. Laxman played the Asian Test Championship match in 1999; Jayasuriya had a hand injury. When India toured Sri Lanka in 2001, Laxman was injured but Jayasuriya wasn't. In 2005, Jayasuriya, who had just completed 100 Tests, was left out of the tour of India, while Laxman played the series.

The most-capped Test players and the player who played the most within their career without playing them

Player	Span	Mat			Player	Span	Mat	Overlap	Mat
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-2011	184			D Gough (Eng)	1994-2003	58	1994-2003	58
SR Waugh (Aus)	1985-2004	168			SV Manjrekar (India)	1987-1996	37	1987-1996	37
SR Waugh (Aus)	1985-2004	168			M Prabhakar (India)	1984-1995	39	1989-1995	37
R Dravid (ICC/India)	1996-2011	160			D Gough (Eng)	1994-2003	58	1996-2003	46
RT Ponting (Aus)	1995-2011	157			Mushfiqur Rahim (Ban)	2005-2011	26	2005-2011	26
AR Border (Aus)	1978-1994	156			AD Gaekwad (India)	1974-1985	40	1978-1985	25
JH Kallis (ICC/SA)	1995-2011	147			SL Campbell (WI)	1995-2002	52	1996-2002	43
JH Kallis (ICC/SA)	1995-2011	147			HAPW Jayawardene (SL)	2000-2011	43	2000-2011	43
JH Kallis (ICC/SA)	1995-2011	147			MJ Slater (Aus)	1993-2001	74	1995-2001	43
SK Warne (Aus)	1992-2007	145			D Ganga (WI)	1998-2008	48	1998-2006	41
MV Boucher (ICC/SA)	1997-2011	141			MJ Slater (Aus)	1993-2001	74	1998-2001	40
S Chanderpaul (WI)	1994-2011	137			DR Martyn (Aus)	1992-2006	67	2000-2006	60
S Chanderpaul (WI)	1994-2011	137			HP Tillakaratne (SL)	1989-2004	83	1994-2004	60
M Muralitharan (ICC/SL)	1992-2010	133			JC Adams (WI)	1992-2001	54	1992-2001	53
AJ Stewart (Eng)	1990-2003	133			M Dillon (WI)	1997-2004	38	1997-2003	34
A Kumble (India)	1990-2008	132			DC Boon (Aus)	1984-1996	107	1990-1996	59
CA Walsh (WI)	1984-2001	132			WPUJC Vaas (SL)	1994-2009	111	1994-2001	48
N Kapil Dev (India)	1978-1994	131			GF Lawson (Aus)	1980-1989	46	1980-1989	46
BC Lara (ICC/WI)	1990-2006	131			GW Flower (Zim)	1992-2004	67	1992-2004	67
VVS Laxman (India)	1996-2011	130			ST Jayasuriya (SL)	1991-2007	110	1997-2007	91
ME Waugh (Aus)	1991-2002	128			RC Russell (Eng)	1988-1998	54	1991-1998	34
SM Gavaskar (India)	1971-1987	125			IM Chappell (Aus)	1964-1980	75	1972-1980	38
DPMD Jayawardene (SL)	1997-2011	125			CA Walsh (WI)	1984-2001	132	1997-2001	39
Javed Miandad (Pak)	1976-1993	124			CJ McDermott (Aus)	1984-1996	71	1984-1993	52
GD McGrath (Aus)	1993-2007	124			SV Carlisle (Zim)	1995-2005	37	1995-2005	37
IVA Richards (WI)	1974-1991	121			RW Taylor (Eng)	1971-1984	57	1977-1984	56
Inzamam-ul-Haq (ICC/Pak)	1992-2007	120			MA Butcher (Eng)	1997-2004	71	1997-2004	71
IA Healy (Aus)	1988-1999	119			DJ Nash (NZ)	1992-2001	32	1992-1999	26
GA Gooch (Eng)	1975-1995	118			Imran Khan (Pak)	1971-1992	88	1976-1992	84
DI Gower (Eng)	1978-1992	117			DK Morrison (NZ)	1987-1997	48	1987-1992	25
DL Haynes (WI)	1978-1994	116			RW Taylor (Eng)	1971-1984	57	1978-1984	51
DB Vengsarkar (India)	1976-1992	116			GF Lawson (Aus)	1980-1989	46	1980-1989	46
MA Atherton (Eng)	1989-2001	115			RS Kaluwitharana (SL)	1992-2004	49	1992-2001	40
MA Atherton (Eng)	1989-2001	115			GP Wickramasinghe (SL)	1991-2001	40	1991-2001	40
MC Cowdrey (Eng)	1954-1975	114			FM Engineer (India)	1961-1975	46	1961-1975	46

Kapil Goyal, a reader, sent in the question that led to the idea for this column.