"I'd probably be about 5,000 runs past Sachin Tendulkar.." Michael Hussey on if he had made his Australia debut earlier

Michael Hussey made his Australia debut at the age of 29.

Former Australian cricketer Michael Hussey humorously stated that he could have finished with 5,000 more runs than Indian great Sachin Tendulkar if he had started playing for his national team at a young age.

Hussey, considered to be one of the best batters in Australia, waited a decade to make his Australian debut in 2004. He went on to play 79 tests, 185 ODIs, and 38 T20Is for Australia, winning the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2007 and two ICC Champions Trophy wins with the Australian team.

He scored 6235 runs in tests with 19 centuries at an average of 51.52, scored 5442 runs in ODIs at an average of 48.15 with three centuries, and also made 721 T20I runs with four fifties.

I would have loved an opportunity earlier: Mike Hussey on his late debut for Australia

With nearly 23,000 runs at an average of over 52, including 61 hundreds, in 273 games, Hussey had an amazing First-Class (FC) record. However, the former left-hander was unable to establish himself in the team because of a powerful Australian lineup in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Talking about how his career may have turned out if he had begun playing for Australia as a youngster, Hussey said on The Grade Cricketer YouTube channel.

“I’ve thought about it a lot. I’d probably be about 5,000 runs past Sachin Tendulkar, the leading run-scorer in the game. Most centuries, most wins, most Ashes wins, and the most World Cup wins—probably all those things. And then, unfortunately, I wake up in the morning, and it’s just a dream. I would have loved an opportunity earlier, but the good thing for me was that when I got picked, I had a great understanding of my game,” he said.

Notably, Sachin Tendulkar holds the record for most matches played and most runs scored in both tests and ODIs. He made 15921 runs in 200 tests with 51 centuries, while he scored 18426 runs in 463 ODIs, with 49 centuries to his name. He was the first male cricketer to score an ODI double hundred and was part of India’s ICC Cricket World Cup win in 2011.

In the longest format, Hussey finished nearly 10,000 runs behind Tendulkar with 6,235 test runs. He trailed the Indian Little Master by almost 13,000 runs with 5,442 ODIs.

In T20Is, however, the Australian great outscored the Indian icon with 721 runs to Tendulkar’s 10 (who only played in one T20I). In terms of overall international cricket, Hussey finished 78 centuries behind Tendulkar (22 to 100).

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