achin Ramesh Tendulkar (born 24 April 1973 in Mumbai) is a small man at 5ft 5in but he is a cricketing colossus. Wisden rated Sachin Tendulkar as the second greatest Test Cricket and ODI batsman of all time after the legendary Sir Don Bradman and Sir Viv Richards respectively. The list was later revised to make him best ODI player of all time. I disagree, he is the best ever batsman of all time.
I have the most deepest and sincerest respects for what The Don achieved but you cannot compare those undemanding runs scored against amateurs in the 30's and 40's to Sachin's, scored against the modern era fast bowlers and real spinners.
The Don scored most of his runs against bumbling, clumsy, inept, limited, unfit, sometimes ageing upper class twits with speed on a par with today's club cricketers. There was no Marshall, Ambrose or Walsh. There was no Hadlee, McGrath or Lillee. There was no Akram or Waqar and there certainly was no Warne or Muralitharan to face so how can you measure his runs reasonably? You cannot!
Look at Graeme 'flat pitch bully' Hick's record in county cricket compared to Test cricket and you will understand what I mean. Watching videos of The Don I was struck by the amount of runs scored by the horizontal bat and Wisden noted that he never never truly mastered batting on sticky wickets. Wisden commented, "if there really is a blemish on his amazing record it is the absence of a significant innings on one of those 'sticky dogs' of old"
What you do know is that The Little Master has faced the finest bowlers ever, all over world in and all situations showing his indefinable excellence given only to geniuses. Don Bradman was in awe and confided to his wife that Tendulkar reminded him of himself, he knew who was best! Brian Lara admitted that the Indian was the greatest he had ever seen. "You know genius when you see it and let me tell you, Sachin is pure genius" he said. Shane Warne agreed. Matthew 'king of sledge' Hayden called him a God.
Sachin Tendulkar is the most worshipped cricketer in the world and the biggest cricket icon ever. His batting shows perfect and wonderful balance, economy of movement and precision in stroke-making. His batting is a delight on the eye and senses. He has all the shots in the textbook and has no weaknesses. He has made runs all over the world in all conditions. His century as a 19-year old on a lightning fast pitch at the WACA was considered the greatest innings ever to have been played in Australia.
He holds all the important batting records such as the leading Test century scorer, leading ODI century and half-century scorer, one of only three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in test cricket as well as being the first Indian to do so. He also has the most career ODI runs. He has scored 37 centuries and 46 fifties in Test cricket and 41 centuries and 87 fifties in ODIs (See cricinfo.com). The conversion rate of fifties to hundreds is unparalleled. All this after making his Test debut at 16 years old.
Famous for saying 'getting better never stops' has caught up with him. As with all great things there comes a time when the down slope sets in, not always steeply but down nonetheless. There is evidence of this now happening to The Little Master.
He can no longer play like the prince of his youth and it is indisputable that Father Time now has a hold on Tendulkar's genius. He has acknowledged that he is no longer the player he once was. He is playing to the limitations (a relative statement) imposed by the passage of time, the ravages of recent injuries, and nearly two decades carrying the weight of his nation. He is now adapting to new realties especially when bowlers adapt a bodyline strategy, giving him the chance to highlight his bravery. He has gone from artist to warrior whilst keeping himself reserved and modest. His fame, wealth and fortune has not affected his cricket one iota, he still hates to lose and is proudly patriotic!
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