"Sachin's technically the best batter that I've ever seen, and played with or against" - Ricky Ponting
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting observed that Sachin Tendulkar is technically the most astute batter he has seen and played against.
Ahead of his 50th birthday, the cricketing fraternity reflected deeply on Tendulkar's achievements. The former cricketing icon is the highest run-getter in ODIs and Tests and has the most centuries in both formats.
Speaking on the latest episode of the ICC Review, Ponting reflected that Tendulkar found a way to combat the bowlers, regardless of the conditions. He said:
"I've said forever Sachin's technically the best batter that I've ever seen, and played with or against. Whatever plan that we came up with as a bowling group, he found a way to combat it, whether it was in India or Australia. It's hard to rank and judge players as everyone is different and everyone plays the game differently. But certainly through the generation that I played, he was technically the best player that I saw."
The former Aussie great further stated that the straight drive was his best shot, explaining:
"I think his straight driving was his best shot. Whether it be on front foot or even back foot – because he was short in stature, he won't mind me saying that – he was able to sort of stand up on top of the bounce of the ball and punch it back down the ground, off the front foot or back foot."
Ponting has had several battles with Tendulkar, notably in the 2003 World Cup in Johannesburg when the former hit an enterprising 140 and fashioned a 125-run win for Australia.
"He's an unbelievably good player, there's no doubt about that" - Ricky Ponting on Virat Kohli
Ricky Ponting feels Sanchin Tendulkar's longevity is also worth looking at and that one must be unbelievably fit to last 200 Tests.
"To play 200 Test matches within itself is an unbelievable feat. Regardless of how many runs you make, how many hundreds you make, to be physically good enough and have a skillset set good enough to stand up and play 200 Test matches is amazing."
International 100’s by the fab 5:
Virat Kohli: 75 in 555 innings
Joe Root: 45 in 414 innings
Steve Smith: 42 in 346 innings
Kane Williamson: 41 in 402 innings
Babar Azam: 29 in 274 innings
#PAKvNZ #BabarAzam #ViratKohli
Weighing in on the comparisons between Tendulkar and Virat Kohli, the 47-year-old Australian World Cup-winning captain said he would wait until the end of Kohli's career to see where he stands in Tendulkar's comparison.
"Virat's got all that ahead of him just yet. He's an unbelievably good player, there's no doubt about that. He's got over 70-odd international hundreds now. Sachin made a 100, didn't he? Let's wait until Virat's career's over and then I think it'll a much fairer comparison."
Kohli's 75 international hundreds are currently second to Tendulkar's 100.