Sachin vs Ponting career comparison for MI

Sachin Tendulkar had a vastly more significant impact for the Mumbai Indians than Ricky Ponting, largely due to the different stages of their careers when they represented the franchise.

Tendulkar was the face of MI for its first six seasons (2008–2013), amassing 2,334 runs at a very solid average of 34.84. While his strike rate of 119.82 is slightly below modern T20 benchmarks, it was quite respectable for an anchor role during the early IPL era. He also won the Orange Cap in 2010.

Ricky Ponting, on the other hand, only played 5 matches for Mumbai Indians during the 2013 season. He struggled to find his rhythm, scoring just 52 runs at an average of 10.40 and a sluggish strike rate of 69.33. Recognizing his poor form, Ponting famously stepped down from both the captaincy and the playing XI mid-season, handing the reins to Rohit Sharma—a move that sparked MI's golden era and led to their first IPL title that very year.

Here is a radar chart comparing their Mumbai Indians careers across key batting metrics.

Because Sachin played vastly more matches for MI, the chart normalizes their stats to a 0–100 scale (where the higher value becomes 100) to show the relative difference. As the chart illustrates, Tendulkar completely eclipses Ponting in every category for the franchise, reflecting his six-season tenure as an anchor compared to Ponting's brief five-match stint.