Tendulkar's highs and lows against Australia

Australia always brought out the finest in Sachin Tendulkar in one-day internationals. His 141 off 128 balls knocked them out of the 1998 Champions Trophy and boosted his average against Australia to an eye-popping 60. The two innings before that are fondly remembered by Indian fans as 'Desert Storm'. Since then he's brought the punishment down a notch but still maintained an average that fluctuated closely around 50. However, Australia has written the script for Tendulkar in their last six games by dismissing him for 5, 8, 27, 12, 4 and 10. The last ten was especially painful to watch and it brought his average against the world's best team down to 46.44, the lowest since April 1998. This week, the List looks at players who've struggled and done particularly well against specific opposition in ODIs.

Tendulkar's poorest record is against South Africa against whom he has only three hundreds, five half-centuries and an average of 30.26 after 45 games. He just hasn't been able to convert his starts against them for he's been dismissed for scores between 20 and 50 on 17 occasions. The difference of 14.04 between his career average and against South Africa is ranked 17th in our table.

Saeed Anwar, the second-highest century maker when he retired, also had a woeful record against South Africa. He played 24 matches, averages 17.30 and didn't score any of his 20 hundreds or 43 fifties against them. His highest score of 42 came at home where he averages 20.20. His record in South Africa is worse, an average of 11.77 in ten innings.

Biggest difference of batting average against a team and in career - ODIs (qualification: 15 innings v team)

Player	Span	Mat	Runs	Ave		Opposition	Mat	Runs	Ave		Diff
Saeed Anwar (Pak)	1989-2003	247	8823	39.21		v SA	24	398	17.30		-21.905
DM Jones (Aus)	1984-1994	164	6068	44.61		v WI	41	855	23.75		-20.869
G Kirsten (SA)	1993-2003	185	6798	40.95		v Eng	17	381	22.41		-18.538
SC Ganguly (India)	1992-2005	279	10123	40.65		v Aus	30	647	22.31		-18.339
Yuvraj Singh (India)	2000-2006	159	4286	34.84		v NZ	18	265	17.66		-17.183
PA de Silva (SL)	1984-2003	308	9284	34.90		v WI	28	480	17.77		-17.122
GS Chappell (Aus)	1971-1983	74	2331	40.18		v WI	16	356	23.73		-16.456
IVA Richards (WI)	1975-1991	187	6721	47.00		v Pak	41	1079	30.82		-16.171
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)	1998-2006	226	7580	41.19		v SA	23	582	25.30		-15.895
Rameez Raja (Pak)	1985-1997	198	5841	32.09		v Aus	18	278	16.35		-15.737

India have struggled against West Indies in recent months, losing six of their eight matches. As it turns out, their coach Greg Chappell also had a poor batting record against them in ODIs. He averaged only 23.73 his lowest against any country. In his last series against West Indies - the Benson and Hedges Cup in 1981-82 - Chappell aggregated just 136 runs in nine innings.

Ramnaresh Sarwan has played a large part in West Indies' recent successes against India. He was the Man of the Series for his 98, 115 and 52 on India's tour in May and contributed a crucial 53 to West Indies Champions Trophy triumph against them. His overall average against India now stands at 69.7 with one century and seven fifties in 20 innings.

Biggest difference of batting average against a team and in career - ODIs (qualification: 15 innings v team)

Player	Span	Mat	Runs	Ave		Opposition	Mat	Runs	Ave		Diff
DM Jones (Aus)	1984-1994	164	6068	44.61		v SL	17	879	109.87		65.254
Mohammad Yousuf (Pak)	1998-2006	226	7580	41.19		v Zimb	19	807	73.36		32.163
M Azharuddin (India)	1985-2000	334	9378	36.92		v Eng	24	911	65.07		28.151
A Jadeja (India)	1992-2000	196	5359	37.47		v Zimb	19	656	65.59		28.119
PA de Silva (SL)	1984-2003	308	9284	34.90		v Zimb	16	797	61.30		26.407
AB Agarkar (India)	1998-2006	171	1180	15.52		v Zimb	26	246	41.00		25.469
RR Sarwan (WI)	2000-2006	113	3690	45.00		v India	20	906	69.69		24.692
DR Martyn (Aus)	1992-2006	206	5273	40.56		v Eng	25	913	65.21		24.654
CD McMillan (NZ)	1997-2005	175	4148	27.47		v Pak	20	744	49.60		22.130
G Kirsten (SA)	1993-2003	185	6798	40.95		v India	26	1377	62.59		21.640

Shane Warne had an unceremonious Test debut against India and he's struggled in ODIs too against them. Apart from England, against whom he averages 33.13, Warne takes wickets at less than 30 apiece but against India his average is a poor 56.26. He's managed only 15 wickets from 18 games and gone wicketless eight times. His economy also shoots up from 4.25 to 5.19 against them.

Waqar Younis had a torrid time against Australia taking only 29 wickets in 30 games at 40.75 apiece. The comparison with his career average - 23.84 - worsens if you look at his performance against Australia in Australia where his average bloats to 49.07. However, he has excelled when playing other nations in Australia. In 15 games down under against West Indies, Sri Lanka and India, Waqar averaged just 19 for his 24 wickets and conceded only 3.98 runs an over.

Biggest difference of bowling average against a team and in career - ODIs (qualification: 750 balls v team)

Player	Span	Mat	Wkts	Ave		Opposition	Mat	Wkts	Ave		Diff
RR Singh (India)	1989-2001	136	69	43.26		v Pak	29	8	84.12		40.865
IVA Richards (WI)	1975-1991	187	118	35.83		v Eng	36	8	74.12		38.295
RM Hogg (Aus)	1979-1985	71	85	28.44		v WI	23	15	66.26		37.816
SK Warne (Aus)	1993-2005	194	293	25.73		v India	18	15	56.26		30.526
AB Agarkar (India)	1998-2006	171	260	27.18		v SA	19	13	56.38		29.204
GR Larsen (NZ)	1990-1999	121	113	35.39		v Aus	21	11	64.54		29.145
J Srinath (India)	1991-2003	229	315	28.08		v SA	33	28	50.25		22.160
SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-2006	370	142	43.61		v SA	45	14	65.57		21.951
HDPK Dharmasena (SL)	1994-2004	141	138	36.21		v India	28	17	57.70		21.485
DN Patel (NZ)	1987-1997	75	45	50.24		v Pak	18	9	71.66		21.426

Chaminda Vaas's analysis of 6-2-6-2 against West Indies in the Champions Trophy at Mumbai was consistent with his overall record against them. In 16 matches against West Indies , Vaas has a miserly economy-rate of 2.93, a strike rate of 33.9 and 23 wickets in 16 matches.

Biggest difference of bowling average against a team and in career - ODIs (qualification: 750 balls v team)

Player	Span	Mat	Wkts	Ave		Opposition	Mat	Wkts	Ave		Diff
IVA Richards (WI)	1975-1991	187	118	35.83		v India	31	36	21.97		-13.857
GP Wickramasinghe (SL)	1990-2002	134	109	39.64		v India	20	24	27.00		-12.640
ME Waugh (Aus)	1988-2002	244	85	34.56		v WI	47	28	22.21		-12.345
UDU Chandana (SL)	1994-2005	146	151	31.72		v Zimb	17	28	19.67		-12.041
JH Kallis (SA)	1996-2006	237	211	31.58		v WI	27	35	20.74		-10.837
WPUJC Vaas (SL)	1994-2006	286	363	27.18		v WI	16	23	16.56		-10.614
A Ranatunga (SL)	1982-1999	269	79	47.55		v NZ	35	19	36.94		-10.612
L Klusener (SA)	1996-2004	171	192	29.95		v Pak	19	33	19.42		-10.525
Z Khan (India)	2000-2006	107	155	27.96		v Zimb	15	32	17.46		-10.501
DL Vettori (NZ)	1997-2006	176	169	33.84		v WI	18	22	24.09		-9.759