Who’s the greatest cricketer ever to play cricket?

This debate has been around ever since cricket was invented.  But this debate becomes a street-talk when a new cricket star is born and when a cricketer takes the cricket world by storm.

Every era had its own legendary cricketer. But last few eras of the modern cricket chapter had one undisputed legend, Sir Don Bradman.  Don was the greatest batsman, any cricket expert would ever think of, with an enviable Test average of 99!(In his last Test innings Bradman got out for duck. At least a four in his last inning would have taken his average to 100!) But the entry of Sachin Tendulkar brought back the greatest cricketer debate.  There were few more batsmen in Sachin’s era who also staked their claim for the coveted position.  Stylish Caribbean left hand batsman Brian Lara and consistent and competitive Australian Ricky Ponting. Both of them played during the same era as Sachin and both played cricket like Sachin did, fierce, forceful and completely natural game.

Brian Lara had a great style which was more like poetry. His strokes were sublime and pleasure to watch. And no match was over till Brian Lara was at the crease. He would bat with tail enders to form a huge partnerships and take the West Indies team to victories. He was the most-feared batsman of his era. On the other hand, the Aussie Ricky Ponting, who is also called ‘punter’ is never-say-die cricketer who would take away matches from opponents. He was consistent, was fluent on his day and would lead his side by example.

What makes Sachin Tendulkar so different from these two cricketers is his Indian roots. He belongs to a cricket team, where every batsman would look up to Sachin to perform and take charge of the batting burden. He belongs to a nation where millions of cricket fans would expect him to score a century every time and all the time. Every time he takes batting guard, there’s a huge burden already waiting for him at the crease. And he hails from a nation which produced a great cricketer like Sunil Gavaskar, who had an iconic stature in India’s cricket history. Not to forget , he has also been a big reason for today’s massive interest in cricket betting.

For the last two decades, Sachin has been successful in growing as a greatest batsman in spite of all the expectations.  He not only became India’s greatest batsman surpassing Sunil Gavaskar, but managed to become the greatest batsman of the modern era. Sachin is a natural and impulsive batsman. Legend has it that he has got half a dozen shots in his armor for each delivery! He could destroy any bowling attack on  any pitch. And to top it all, he’s got the best compliment from the greatest cricketer, Don Bradman himself.

After watching Sachin Tendulkar playing on tv, Sir Don Bradman told his wife that Sachin reminded him of his own style of batting during his best days. That compliment decides the debate in Sachin Tendulkar’s favour, though there will be cricket pundits who still want to keep the debate alive. But when you glance at his cricket records, his cricket career and his passion for the game you realize that being a legend is not just about playing good cricket. It’s also about creating more passionate followers, it’s also about making the game proud.  Sachin did that in style and closed the debate forever!     Content partner - Punters Realm