Cricket is one the most competitive sports around but greats of the game never shy away from acknowledging each other’s prowess. As Sachin Tendulkar turns 46 today, here is a look at what predecessors and contemporaries thought of the man who set pulses racing every time he went to bat for India during his over two-decade-long career.
"I see myself when I see Sachin batting,” thus spoke Sir Donald Bradman, legendary Australian batsman and widely held to be the greatest of ‘em all, about the little master Sachin Tendulkar. The original ‘Don’ of cricket was so impressed with Sachin Tendulkar’s batting that he invited him alongside Aussie great Shane Warne to his Adelaide home for his 90th birthday on 27 August 1998.
Tendulkar has carried the burden of the nation for 21 years. It is time we carried him on our shoulders— Current Indian Captain and ‘heir’ to Sachin throne, Virat Kohli.
When you bowl at him, you are not just trying to get him out; you are trying to impress him. I want him to walk off thinking' that Flintoff, he's all right, isn't he? I feel privileged to have played against him — Andrew Flintoff, former England all-rounder.
Even if my grandchildren don't remember the fact that I scored 10,000 runs in One Day and Test Cricket, they will surely talk about the fact that I was a team mate of Sachin Tendulkar - Rahul Dravid, former Indian batting great and Sachin’s teammate.
I have seen God. He bats for India at number 4 in Tests— Matthew Hayden, former swashbuckling Australian opener and Sachin rival.
Tendulkar is to Cricket what Michael Jordon is to Basketball and Muhammad Ali is to Boxing."- Brian Lara
We didn't lose to a team called India, we lost to a man called Sachin — Mark Taylor, former Australian captain.
The only regret that me and Waqar (Younis) had in our careers is that we never got to play Sachin in Tests when he was at his peak and we were also on top of our game— Wasim Akram, former Pakistan captain and bowling great and Sachin’s rival.
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—Shane Warne, former Aussie leggie and part of many great cricketing battles with Sachin.
I didn't see Don but to me, in all my years associated with the game, I haven't seen a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar— Sir Viv Richards, West Indies great who made bowlers cower with his aggressive batting.
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