Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli make it to Michael Clarke’s top seven batsmen

Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke has revealed his top-seven batsmen that he has played alongside or against during his time with the Australian team. While it was a shocking sign to see the name of a solitary Australian batsman, the list had two Indians in the form of Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. The list also had the name of the West Indian great Brian Lara and Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara. 

During his 12-year career, he has played alongside some of the best players in Australian history - Matthew Hayden, Shane Warne, Steve Smith, and Ricky Ponting. 

“Probably technically the best batsman I ever saw. The hardest batsman to get out. I think Sachin, technically, didn’t have a weakness. Part of you hoped that he made a mistake,” he said, reported Fox Sports. 

“I think right now the best batsman across all three formats. His one day and twenty twenty records are phenomenal and he’s also found a way to dominate Test cricket. What Kohli and Tendulkar have in common is they love making big hundreds.” he added about Kohli. 

On the other hand, he added two South African names amongst the mix - Jacques Kallis and AB de Villiers. While Kallis has haunted the Australians during the early part of the 2000s, the latter dominated the 2010s including several memorable knocks against the Australian side. 

“The greatest all-rounder that I played against. The impact he had against Australia, the way he was able score runs against our attack was extraordinary,” he said. 

“I was lucky enough to play with some great batsman — Matthew Hayden, Steve Smith, David Warner, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn who was a genius. What separates Ricky is the era that he played. Just about every attack had two or three top-line, world-class bowlers and he was able to dominate them,” he concluded.