Benaud vs Van Niekerk
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Van Niekerk wins: Longevity, Statistics
Benaud wins: Dominance, Honours
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Showing full careers. Pick a window to recalculate the selected period.
Category radar
Verdict
Van Niekerk leads in 3 of 5 weighted categories. Long-serving South Africa captain and a leg-spinning all-rounder with a 4 for 0 T20I spell.
Category breakdown
Season form · Centuries per year
Career timeline · Centuries per year
Cumulative output season by season — the shape of each career against the other.
GOAT pace tracker
Career stage · GOAT pace
Through year 5 · Centuries per year| Ghost race · career day | 30 | 100 | 365 | 1000 | 1825 | 3650 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺 Benaud | 0 | 0 | 35 | 78 | 186 | 590 |
| 🇿🇦 Van Niekerk | 0 | 0 | 12 | 30 | 108 | 252 |
Careers are aligned at debut, so a rookie's first 5 years are measured against the same window in a legend's career — Yamal against Messi at the same age-stage, a tour rookie against Tiger Woods in 1996.
| Metric | BenaudRetired | Van NiekerkRetired |
|---|---|---|
| Test wickets | 248 | — |
| Test runs | 2,201 | — |
| Tests as captain | 28 | — |
| Series lost as captain | 0 | — |
| Five-wicket hauls | 16 | — |
| ODI wickets | — | 100 |
| T20I wickets | — | 68 |
| ODI runs | — | 2,000 |
| Matches as captain | — | 100 |
| Best T20I figures | — | 4 |
| Dominance w25% | 84 | 82 |
| Peak w20% | 92 | 92 |
| Longevity w20% | 80 | 84 |
| Honours w20% | 86 | 82 |
| Statistics w15% | 88 | 92 |
Fan vote — data vs the people
What do you think?
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