Shane Warne, the finest legspinner of all time, has just compiled his list of the 50 greatest cricketers for The Times, London, and at the very top of the pile, at No. 1, is Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar ahead of Brian Lara, who is No. 2.
There are five other Indians on the list: Dilip Vengsarkar (46), Ravi Shastri (42), Kapil Dev (40), Rahul Dravid (14) and Anil Kumble (13).
“You have to watch India in India truly to appreciate the pressure that Sachin Tendulkar is under every time he bats. Outside grounds, people wait until he goes in before paying to enter. They seem to want a wicket to fall even though it is their own side that will suffer. This is cricket as Sachin has known it since the age of 16. He grew up under incredible weight of expectation and never buckled once – not under poor umpiring decisions or anything else. I place him very slightly ahead of Brian Lara because I found him slightly tougher mentally.
“It is such a close call, but here is an example of what I mean: in Australia in 2003-04 he was worried about getting out cover driving so he decided to cut out the shot. I saw the wagon wheel for his next innings: he scored 248 without a single cover drive. Like Lara, he has scored runs all over the world. I have seen him run down the pitch and hit Glenn McGrath over the top for six, and I have seen him hit me for six against the spin going around the wicket. I have been lucky to get to know him off the field as well. He is quiet and humble. A great player and a great man.”
Read the entire Warne list: Shane Warne’s 50 greatest cricketers
Steve Waugh at # 26?????????
Even great cricketers have prejudices, right?
’nuff said!!!
We see things as we are but not as they are. It is his list. Let him have his list. If somebody doesn’t find a name in the list doesn’t mean that they don’t exist of did not play. Great men are great for ever.
Probably Warne feels that Tendulkar is one batsman he fears bowling to, but Tendulkar is not the best. All his scores have been towards personal gains. He has never played well when his team requires him to do so. He playes for records and commercials. How many test matches has India won or saved because of his good batting. Probably very few. Take Waugh brothers, they have won so many matches for Australia single handed!
See this Tube this will tell it all!
The only reason I can think of for Ravi Shastri to be on that list is that he scored a double century in Warnie’s debut test, in which he famously went for 150 runs with just one wicket to show.
Maybe Warnie is not aware of the small town headline
“Great ray of hope for Indian cricket as Shastri retires.”
The comment on Sachin is most uncharitable. The video is a handy work of an unscrupulous cynic who wants to show the greatest player in a very bad light. The present one day series in England once again reveal the real sports person in Sachin to the world.