The Hindu : Sport / Cricket : Tendulkar tops Warne’s top 10

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Tendulkar tops Warne’s top 10

LONDON: India batsman Sachin Tendulkar has topped leg-spin great Shane Warne’s list of the best ten cricketers he has played with or against.

Tendulkar just edged out now retired West Indies batting star Brian Lara.

Warne, writing in Britain’s Times newspaper, said: “You have to watch India in India truly to appreciate the pressure that Sachin is under every time he bats...This is cricket as Sachin has known it since the age of 16. I place him very slightly ahead of Lara because I found him slightly tougher mentally.”

Close call

Time and again Australia has been a mute spectator to Tendulkar’s prowess and Test cricket’s highest wicket-taker recalled those moments.

“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.” As for Lara, Warne says, “Whether you played with him or against him, you were in awe of Brian Charles Lara. I loved his strut, his swagger and his ability to hit four after four with his high backlift and incredible placement.

“At times I felt as though we could bowl 100mph or spin it 14 feet and he still would not get out.”

Murali seventh

Also included in Warne’s list, in seventh place, was Sri Lanka off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, just nine short of overhauling the Australian’s world record of 708 Test wickets.

“No matter what anybody thinks about his action, he is wonderful to bat against for the experience of facing a ball that turns so much,” Warne said.

The top ten: