Sport - Cricket

‘Tendulkar an extraordinary batsman’

NEW DELHI: Former India opener Sunil Gavaskar on Saturday led a galaxy of cricketing greats in praising record-smashing Sachin Tendulkar, saying his compatriot had always been an extraordinary batsman.

Tendulkar became the leading scorer in Tests on Friday when he shattered retired West Indies captain Brian Lara’s record of 11,953 runs during his innings (88) against Australia in the second Test in Mohali.

Gavaskar, the first batsman to complete 10,000 Test runs, said he was convinced that Tendulkar would achieve greatness when he first saw him bat in the nets two decades ago.

“I stood hidden in the players’ enclosure and had my first glimpse of the genius of Sachin Tendulkar,” Gavaskar wrote in his column under the headline ‘A talent designed by God himself’.

“He played a couple of forcing shots to midwicket off the backfoot off (former India paceman) Raju Kulkarni, and that was enough to convince me that he was a special talent.

“There wasn’t the slightest of doubt that he was destined to bag all batting records.”

The 35-year-old Tendulkar also holds three more world marks — most runs in One-Day Internationals (16,361) and highest number of centuries in Tests (39) and One-Dayers (42). “It is hard to imagine any player in the history of the game who combines classical technique with raw aggression like the little champion does,” said Gavaskar. “There is not a single shot he cannot play. The batting records couldn’t be in better hands, for here is a player with special talent who has been a role model for a generation.” — Agencies

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