England’s white-ball captain If buttleralongside former cricketing great Stuart Broadhas sparked fresh debate in the cricketing world by weighing in on one of the sport’s most enduring comparisons, Sachin Tendulkar vs Jacques Kallis.

Sachin Tendulkar and Jacques Kallis’ international career in numbers

Kallis’ international career is a statistical marvel and arguably the most balanced record the game has ever seen. In Test cricket, Kallis featured in 166 matches and amassed an astonishing 13,289 runs at an average of 55.37, including 45 centuries and 58 half-centuries. In One Day Internationals (ODIs), he continued his dominance by scoring 11,579 runs in 328 matches at an average of 44.36, hitting 17 centuries and also capturing 273 wickets. Combined across formats, Kallis tallied nearly 25,000 international runs and over 550 wickets.

While Kallis’ all-round numbers are beyond comparison, Tendulkar’s career stood for something much more than just runs, it stood for resilience, consistency, and national emotion. Tendulkar remains the most prolific run-scorer in international cricket, with 15,921 runs in 200 Tests at an average of 53.78, including a record 51 centuries. In ODIs, he tallied 18,426 runs across 463 matches at an average of 44.83, including 49 centuries and 96 fifties, records that are still untouched except the hundreds.

Jos Buttler’s bold verdict on cricket’s greatest cricketer

Speaking on the popular podcast ‘For The Love Of Cricket,’ Buttler did not hesitate to tip the scales in favour of Kallis. Citing a statement by legendary Australian captain Ricky Pontingwho himself considered Kallis the best cricketer hands down, Buttler emphasized that when a player’s cumulative contributions with both bat and ball are taken into account, it becomes extremely difficult to ignore the South African stalwart.

Buttler compared Kallis’ batting achievements to those of Tendulkar, and his bowling impact to someone like Zaheer Khanessentially summarizing that Kallis brought the value of two elite cricketers in one. He stated that when selecting an all-time playing XI, Kallis’ dual-skill versatility offers unmatched team balance, which is why the South African all-rounder edges past the Indian icon in his books.

“I’m going to say Kallis just because I saw Ricky Ponting say hands down Kallis is the best cricketer. His numbers, when put together are equivalent of Tendulkar with the bat and Zaheer Khan with the ball in one cricketer. It’s pretty hard to look past that if you are trying to pick a team,” Buttler said.

Stuart Broad picks his favoruite between Sachin and Kallis

Adding further weight to the debate, former England pacer Broad also gave his perspective during the same podcast. While Broad too leaned towards Kallis for the sheer balance he brings to a cricket team, nearly 300 wickets and an average of 55 with the bat,  he made a compelling case about Tendulkar’s ability to thrive under pressure.

Broad highlighted that while Kallis quietly went about his business in the South African setup, Tendulkar played with an entire nation on his shoulders, particularly through the 90s and early 2000s when India’s cricketing success was largely dependent on his performances. He cited Tendulkar’s crowning glory, winning the 2011 ODI World Cup in front of a home crowd in Mumbai as a career-defining moment that showcased not only his cricketing class but also his emotional importance to Indian cricket. Broad concluded that Tendulkar’s longevity and mental toughness in such a pressure cooker environment were incomparable, even though from a team balance perspective, Kallis might be the better all-round pick.

“I think you have to go, in your team, for balance, Kallis for 300 Test wickets (292), averaged 58 (55.37) with the bat. He’s probably in my opinion the greatest all-round cricketer of all time. But then you talk about winning, Sachin winning the 2011 ODI World Cup in Mumbai, for someone that carried a nation. The pressure he played under, compared to Kallis, what Sachin dealt with and coped with, and kept the standard, 200 Test matches,” Broad said.