Sachin is the best of all time: Akram

Cricket legend Wasim Akram has rated Sachin Tendulkar as the top cricketer ahead of Brian Lara and Sunil Gavaskar.

Speaking to Mobile ESPN after Tendulkar went past Lara's record as the highest run-getter in Test cricket history, Akram said: "Sachin is definitely at the top of my list.

"Just look at his average, it is more than 50 in over 150 Tests and that is amazing consistency."

The former Pakistan skipper said Sachin "has played under pressure for a lot of time. He started playing when the Indian team was going through the phase of seniors moving out and he led the team through even though he was inexperienced. I remember his knocks in England in 1991-92."

"Sachin was not a cricketer who played well in patches, he is evergreen."

The Sultan of Swing said he agreed with Indian chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth's comments that the Master Blaster had a couple of more years of cricket left in him.

"This is the first time that someone has spoken sense, otherwise everyone has been after the senior players.

Players like Sachin give the team a lot of confidence and he still has the passion."

Asked whether Tendulkar should play all forms of the game, he said it depended on his "frame of mind".

"He is fit, he trains hard, he works hard on his batting and barring the injuries, which is not being unfit, he can easily play all forms of the game for the next year and a half quite easily," remarked Akram.

Asked about Sourav Ganguly's performance in the two Tests in this series, Akram said: "He is playing without any pressure now. He must have told himself 'This is my last series, I might as well enjoy it'. I always knew he would perform, but only the media and critics were after him."