Tendulkar second-best ever: Wisden

The Bible of cricket, Wisden, has rated batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar as the second greatest Test batsman ever, behind the legendary Don Bradman of Australia.

In the shorter version of the game he was behind West Indian legend Viv Richards, who was rated the best ever. Tendulkar was placed ahead of several cricketing idols, including Brian Lara of the West Indies, Mark Waugh of Australia and Saeed Anwar of Pakistan
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Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan and Pakistan's Wasim Akram were rated the best bowlers in Tests and one-dayers respectively.

While Muralitharan pipped many stalwarts like Richard Hadlee, Shane Warne, Dennis Lillee and Courtney Walsh, all of whom finished in the top ten, Akram was followed by Allan Donald, Waqar Younis, Glenn McGrath and Joel Garner.

Besides Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar (8) and Sourav Ganguly (6) were the other two Indian batsmen in the list for their exploits in the Test and one-day arena respectively.
However, no Indian bowler, including the legendary Kapil Dev, could find a place in the top-ten bowling list.

According to Wisden, while preparing the list the expected score for a top performer was around 1000 points and the Don, who had a batting average of 99.94, managed 1349.
Tendulkar got 921.5 points. Among the current players, only Lara got a place in the Test list with 881 points.

Similarly, in the one-dayers, Richards got 1132.5 points while Tendulkar 1119.3 points, almost 90 points more than the third-placed Lara (1036.8).

Amongst the current one-day players, Michael Bevan (5) managed 1016.7 points followed by Ganguly with 1012.6. Jacques Kallis (1001.2) and Anwar (997.7) took the last two spots in the top-ten list.

Test Batsmen:
Don Bradman
Sachin Tendulkar
Viv Richards
Garry Sobers
Allan Border
Jack HobbsK
Barrington
Sunil Gavaskar
Greg Chappel
Brian Lara

Test Bowlers:
Mutthiah Muralitharan
Richard Hadlee
S Barnes
Shane Warne
C Grimmett
Glen McGrath
Dennis Lillee
Malcolm Marshal
lImran Khan
Courtney Walsh

One-day Batsmen:
Viv Richards
Sachin Tendulkar
Brian Lara
Dean Jones
Michael Bevan
Sourav Ganguly
Mark Waugh
Zaheer Abbas
Jaques Kallis
Saeed Anwar

One-day Bowlers
Wasim Akram
Allan Donald
Waqar Younis
Glenn McGrath
Joel Garner
Saqlain Mushtaq
Mutthiah Muralitharan
Shaun Pollock
Shane Warne
Dennis Lillee

Personal life

Sachin Tendulkar married Anjali Mehta, the paediatrician daughter of Gujarati industrialist Anand Mehta, in 1995, some years after they were introduced by mutual friends. They have two children, Sara (born October 1997) and Arjun (born 23 September, 2000).

Tendulkar sponsors 200 under-privileged children every year through Apnalaya, a Mumbai-based NGO associated with his mother-in-law, Annabel Mehta. He is reluctant to speak about this, or other charitable activities, choosing to preserve the sanctity of his personal life despite the overwhelming media interest in him.

Tendulkar has been seen taking his Ferrari 360 Modena for late-night drives in Mumbai. (Gifted by Fiat through Michael Schumacher, the car became notorious when Tendulkar was given customs exemption; Fiat paid the dues to end the controversy.)

Sachin Tendulkar Is God Of Cricket




In terms of technique and compactness, Tendulkar is the best: Desmond Haynes.

I have watched a lot of Tendulkar and we have spoken to each other a lot. He has it in him to be among the very best: Sir Garfield Sobers.

He is 99.5 per cent perfect. I'd pay to see him: Viv Richards.

I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two... his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel:
Sir Donald Bradman.

Technically he stands out as the best because of his ability to increase the pace at will:
David Boon.

There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don: Steve Waugh.

Sachin is cricket's God: Barry Richards.

India's fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing: Sunil Gavaskar.

A complete batsman — he's the best in the business: Mohinder Amarnath.

Sachin is an attacker. He has much more power than Sunny. He wants to be the one to set the pace. He has to be on top. That's the buzz about him: Jeff Thompson.

If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard: Dennis Lillee.

You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon: Steve Waugh.

I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player: Shane Warne.

When it comes to judging the best among these fabulous band of batsmen, my vote goes to Tendulkar. He has an uncanny ability to come out on top under different circumstances and under different conditions, whether it is Test cricket or one-day internationals. And more importantly, he has done this so young: Shane Warne.

Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours: Michael Kasprowicz.

Hell, if he had stayed, even at 11 an over he would have got it: Allan Border (after India won the Coca-Cola cup in Sharjah).

He is a perfectly balanced batsman and knows perfectly well when to attack and when to play defensive cricket. He has developed the ability to treat bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any attack with utmost ease: Greg Chappell.

It's scary, where the hell do we bowl to him: Allan Border.

Yeah mate, but that's with all great players: Ian Chappell.

Imagine what he'll be like when he's 28: Allan Border.

I'd like to see him go out and bat one day with a stump. I tell you he'd do okay: Greg Chappell.

Sachin's better; Lara is more risky outside the off stump: Mark Waugh.

You have to decide for yourself whether you're bowling well or not. He's going to hit you for fours and sixes anyway. Kasprowicz has a superior story. During the Bangalore Test, frustrated, he went to Dennis Lillee and asked, "Mate, do you see any weaknesses?" Lillee replied, "No Michael, as long as you walk off with your pride that's all you can do: Shane Warne.

He's a phenomenon. We have to be switched on when he plays allow him no boundries, for then he doesn't stop: Mark Taylor.

Tendulkar is the most complete batsman I have stood behind. I saw the hundred in Perth on a bouncy pitch with Hughes, McDermott and Whitney gunning for him — he only had 60-odd when No 11 came in. I've seen him against Warne too: Ian Healy.

He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling: Richie Benaud.

Sachin's the best. I've had this view since I saw him score that hundred in Sydney in 1992. He's the most composed batsman I've ever seen: Mike Coward.

He's better than Ben Hur: Paul Wilson.

The pressure on me is nothing as compared to Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin, like God, must never fail. The crowd always expects him to succeed and it is too much pressure on him:
Mark Waugh.

I still think Tendulkar is the best batsmen in the world ahead of Steve Waugh and Lara:
Glenn McGrath.

He is currently the best batsman in the world: Sir Gary Sobers.

There's no doubt about it. He is the best: Tony Grieg.

Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow — nothing is a problem:
Geoffrey Boycott.

Sometime back I had written a piece that said that Sachin's the master and Lara a genius with his head high up somewhere. That's it: Peter Roebuck.

A little genius. Reminds me of Sunny Gavaskar: Keith Fletcher

He is Sachin Tendulkar. I hope he stays Sachin Tendulkar. We need a new player, a player in his own way. He has a technique which is the hallmark of a great player. Everything indicates that he will be a great player and I am sure he will prove me right. Reminds me of Barry Richards: Eddie Barlow.

Destined to be a great: Barry Richards.

What we (Zimbabwe) need is 10 Tendulkars: Paul Strang.

BRETT LEE: its really scary as a bowler because he hits the ball so hard and he waves his heavy bat as if it is a toothpick

Rahul Dravid: "Playing in the same team as sachin is an honour.His balance of mind,shrewd judgement,modesty and above all,his technical brilliance make him my all time hero."

Lara: "Sachin is a genious,Im a mere mortal".

Kambli: "If i had to reincarnate,would love to be born as Sachin".

Akram: "He is one of the 'unbowlable' batsmen of my era,along with Sunny and Niv Richards".

SOME FACTS ABOUT SACHIN TENDULKAR


1.Named after legendary music director Sachin Dev Burman by his father.

2. Grew his hair and tied a band around it to copy his idol John Mc Enroe. Was called McEnroe by his friends. Admires Boris Becker, Pete Sampras and Diego Maradona.

3. Wanted to be a tearing fast bowler and even went to the MRF Pace Academy but head coach Dennis Lillee asked him to concentrate on his batting.

4. Has scored big runs on Indian festivals like Gokulashtmi, Raksha Bandhan, Holi and Diwali.

5. Loved to have i-can-eat-more-vada-pavas-than-you competitions with cricket buddies Vinod Kambli and Salil Ankola.

6. A foodie who loves sea food. Co-owns a restaurant.

7. Sydney Cricket ground is his favourite ground.

8. Loves Kishore Kumar and rock group Dire Straits. Fusses over his personal stereo.

9. A Ganesh devotee, he visits Siddhi Vinayak temple in the early hours of the morning.

10. Wears his left pad first, has the tri-color pasted inside his kit bag.

11. Remembers every Test dismissal – especially the bowler who dismissed him.

12. Likes to dunk his glucose biscuits into his tea.

13. Ambidextrous: bats with his right hand, autographs and eats with his left

14. Used to sleep with his cricket gear during his junior days

15. Refused to shoot for a soft drink ad of him smashing cricket balls with a fly swatter. He reportedly told film-maker Prahlad Kakkar, " That would make me greater than the game." The ad was modified: he hit the balls with a stump

16. A fast car fiend who likes to tear down Mumbais roads at 4 am

17. Fell from a tree on Sunday evening during the summer vacation, when Guide was showing on national TV. His infuriated his brother ( and mentor ) Ajit packed him off to cricket coaching class as punishment

18. Came back from the four month tour of Australia after the 1992 World Cup and turned up to play from his college, Kirti College, in April 1992
19. Was without a bat contract during the 1996 world cup where he emerged as the highest run – getter. A famous tire company signed up after that.

20. His coach at Shardashram Ramakant Acherkar used to offer a one rupee coin as price to any bowler who dismissed him. If he remained not out, the coin belonged to Sachin. That he still has a good bunch of those coins tells the story.

21. Fielded for Pakistan as a substitute during a one day practice match against India at Brabourne Stadiumin 1988

22. Was a ball boy during the 1987 world cup semi-finals between India and England at Wankhende

23. The first ad he shot was for sticking plaster

24. In school he was once mistaken for a girl by good friend Atul Ranade because of his long curls

25. Amitabh Bachan became his biggest hero after watching Deewar and Zanjeer

26. Played tennis – ball cricket and darts during rain breaks

27. Sang and whistled with Vinod Kambli during their 664 run record stand in the Harris shield in 1988 to avoid eye contact with the coach's assistant, who wanted to declare while the duo wanted to bat on.

28. Teammate Praveen Amre brought him his first pair of international quality circket shoes

29. Was a bully at school but was kind to cats and dogs. His first captain, Sunil Harshe, said that he loved to pick a fight. Every time he was introduced to someone. His first reaction was, " Will I be able to beat him? "

30. Used to go fishing for tadpoles and guppy fishes in the stream that ran throught the compound of Sahitya Sahwas, his building in Bandra East

31. Made his mother once look for a frog bhaji recipe

32. The nanny who looked after him is now universally called Sachuchi bai

33. Colony watchman's son Ramesh Pradhe, was his playmate, said sachin would ask him to dip a rubber ball in water and hurl it at him. He wanted to see the wet marks left on the bat to know whether he had middled the ball correctly

34. A prankster, he once put a hose pipe into Sourav Ganguly's room and turned on the tap. Ganguly awoke to find his gear floating. Calls Ganguly Babu Moshai. Sourav cals him Chhota Babu.

35. Great spinner of yarns. If he had a cut on his finger it was because it had been chopped by a helicopter flying low.

After a making fabulous 145 at SCG,Australia. 1992, an old English journalist stood up and remarked "Gentlemen.. HE IS THE BEST CRICKTER I HAVE EVER SEEN. UNLIKE MOST OF YOU I HAVE SEEN DON BRADMAN PLAYING".

When almost the entire top order was ripped, Sachin Played a gem of 119 on fast paced bouncy track at Perth against the feary Australians. Richie Benaud, the former Aussie Captain mentioned "IT`A PITY THAT AN INNINGS THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN WATCHED BY A MILLIONS OF PEOPLE, IS WATCHED BY A VERY PEOPLE". sachin rates this particular innings as his very best.

After his maiden Test Hundred,.An English man remarked " HOW CAN A MAN AT A SUCH YOUNG AGE PLAY CRICKET OF SUCH CLASS".

Lastly..quote by Mark Taylor..."I HAVE SEEN GOD. HE OPENS BATTING FOR INDIA"

Sachin Tendulkar turns 33; and the legend continues

It's not so easy to make sense of Sachin. God's master-strokes are no mean craft for mere mortals.

One can probably think of brainwashing all the cricket fans on earth, but that's not enough to erase the legend of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

It's been 17 long years since the man first set foot on the international stage. And for a man who has spent more than half his life on the cricket field, it will be agonising not to be in the thick of things.

Tendulkar's 33rd may not be his most memorable birthday for sure. Not only has he been down with a major injury, he finds himself amid sharp criticism.

His best birthday to date must have been his 24th, when he scored back-to-back centuries against Australia in 1998 at Sharjah.

He was the highest run getter in the 1996 World Cup, but those 523 runs were not enough for critics who still said he couldn’t win matches.

The two centuries, one to propel India to the final and the second, on his birthday, to beat Australia in the Sharjah Cup did manage to shut their mouths for a while. But not for long.
His injury-ridden 136 against Pakistan in Chennai in 1998-99, which cricketing pundits hail as his best knock ever, unfortunately wasn’t enough for the team to win the match.

And there began another assault, this time suggesting he can’t win Test matches. But didn’t the rest of the side score less than half of what he did?

Not many cricketers have survived three career-threatening injuries, besides three minor ones. From a broken back to a tennis elbow to the current one on his shoulder, Sachin has been through it all.

There is another significant achievement that escapes most people's attention. That he has been a member of the Indian side in its darkest era and also a member during its years of glory is itself an achievement of sorts.

It's ridiculous to see a cricketer of his stature, a veteran of 35 Test and 39 ODI centuries, still learning the game 17 years on.

It is perhaps not possible for him to play the game with as much freedom as he used to years ago, but to match those levels of brilliance with curbed instincts, even better.

And as ever, his return to the pitch will only lower the raised eyebrows.

Tendulkar is better than Lara: Akram

This Monday, Sachin Tendulkar will be all of 33 years. Most cricketers can have nine lives and still wouldn't go beyond the foothills of his achievements. Yet, there is a call for his head. The Gulliver of our times is being held down by the Lilliputs. Liberate him and you would still enjoy the genius of this man who has been one of the greatest cricketers ever to walk on this earth.

I have no time for all these tales coming out of India. Tendulkar is finished; he can't face up to short-pitched bowling; he is being "carried" in the team; he should choose between two forms of the game; his injured frame is somehow being held together and horror of horrors, the time has come to look beyond him. From being toast of the nation for a decade and a half, it would now appear as if he stands between the team and the golden future. Shame on all!

I sometimes wonder if all this affects Tendulkar. Beyond the profile of equanimity in public, he is after-all a human and it must hurt. But I am equally certain that he would use this wave of cricketing bigotry to rise and inundate the ignorants. It usually stirs champions to life.

It always did to me; I would swear under the breath - and sometimes audibly - to spark myself to life. So those who are writing off Tendulkar, must do it at their own peril. They shouldn't have any qualms in eating their own words.

Tendulkar has clearly been one of the three best batsmen I have ever seen on a cricket field. I would rate him alongwith Viv Richards and Sunny Gavaskar as the "unbowlable" batsmen of my era.

I remember there was a time when I would put my ability to question only because Gavaskar was still not in my bag. Finally I had him in Hyderabad -- caught in the second slip! The memory of it is still so refreshing. With Tendulkar too we always went to the field thinking if we get him, we would be through. And so it was most of the times!

I would even rate Tendulkar as better than Brian Lara. The world can swoon over the records and mercurial ability of the West Indian but for me Tendulkar brings infinite value to the dressing room. You judge a man by the respect he gets within his own set of men. Tendulkar is beyond reproach on this issue; Lara would only set the tongues wagging.

Too much is being made of his injuries. It is not unnatural for a long-serving sportsman to fall foul with fitness. I too was beset with scores of injuries in my career; if it was not groin, then hamstring; if it wasn't shoulder, then knees. But I kept rousing myself from the surgeon's table and doing my stuff on the field. Tendulkar would do likewise.

I mean he is only 33 which is not autumn for a top class batsman and he certainly has more years of cricket left in him. He doesn't have to choose between one-day or Test cricket: if Inzamam-ul Haq can do so at the age of 36, Tendulkar, who is fitter and more agile, can surely do no worse.

Tendulkar's passion on the field is so palpable: it's not the sight of a cricketer who is on his last legs. It is also utter nonsense to suggest he is no longer up to the short pitched bowling. Piece of cake that is what it is to him.

Tendulkar is out of touch, his footwork may not be the best at the moment but it doesn't bring to question his ability. He is just one innings away from good form. I have sensed so in all those little knocks he has played in the recent season.

Still, I would advise him to go out and enjoy his one-day cricket. He has imposed too many shackles on himself. At the moment if I have to choose between Virender Sehwag, Shahid Afridi and Tendulkar as my set of openers, I would go for the first two names and that is an indictment in itself for the little genius.

Tendulkar appears too concerned with the proper shot and staying till the end rather than flow with the mood and the spirit of limited overs cricket.

In a way, this is the time he should do it. There is no dearth of daredevils in the Indian team and the pressure is off him. He no longer needs to get weighed down by the burden of his team.

Tendulkar can return to his roots which was all breathless audacity in its basis. The bowlers would have nowhere to run; as it would be the case with these hopeless critics!