Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest after Don Bradman: Ricky Ponting
Sachin Tendulkar, who retired from International cricket in 2014, has been rated as the greatest all-time batsman after Sir Don Bradman by Ricky Ponting in his foreword to a book titled ‘Tendulkar in Wisden: An anthology’ saying that the “Little Master” truly deserves to be called as “great.”
“For me, he’s (Sachin) the greatest batsman after Don Bradman. While I hold Brian Lara in high regard because of his match-winning ability, I don’t think any batsman can achieve more out of the game than Sachin has,” Ponting wrote.
The former Australian skipper, who is currently the head coach of the Indian Premier League side Mumbai Indians, also wrote in his foreword that Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman that he ever played with or against.
“Sachin is the greatest batsman I ever played with or
Ponting also chose five words to describe the iconic cricketer – “competitive, passionate, driven, composed, complete”.
According to the Aussie legend, the tag of a “great” player is “bandied” to every young player nowadays, but Sachin achieved it by playing for a long period of time.
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“The word great is often bandied about, but great is something that’s achieved over a long period of time. Sachin played 200 Tests and 463 ODIs (and one Twenty20 International), scored 34,357 runs and 100 international hundreds — that is great.
“Younger players may reach No.1 over a period of 12 or 18 months — that’s not great. That’s having a good year. If you can do it as long as Sachin did, only then you be considered great,” he further stated.
Ponting also wrote that the opportunity to open the batting with Sachin Tendulkar during his time in the Mumbai Indians is one of his “most cherished moments.”
“It was good to talk to him about his batting philosophy, to get an insight into his mindset and fundamentals. I was also fortunate to get a real sense of his approach to batting — the intricate attention paid to every detail about equipment, preparation, technique — and it was unlike anything I had ever seen.”
“Over the last couple of years — during my association with the Mumbai Indians — I’ve got to know him better. …it was a delight to get to know him away from the publicity’s glare and over a glass of wine — Sachin and I have done a lot of that over the last couple of years, and I think we’ve both been able to appreciate each other a lot more as a result,” Ponting wrote.
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