Sachin Tendulkar technically the best I ever played against, says Allan Donald

Donald feels Tendulkar could adapt his technique to South African conditions.

Former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar is one of the best batsmen the country has ever produced and is rated among the greatest batsmen to have played the game. While the Mumbai-based batsman has scored runs all over the world, his stats in South Africa indicate that Tendulkar loved batting in the country.

Tendulkar scored five Test hundreds in South Africa, where batting was always challenging against the high quality pace attack the hosts possessed during his career.

Thus, while talking about the most technically sound batsman, the former Proteas pacer Allan Donald picked Master Blaster first.

“There were undoubtedly three players that I categorise in different ways. It's like a pub quiz this one.”

“I get this question a lot. The guy I played who was technically the best I ever played against was Sachin Tendulkar because I found out in South Africa that he could adapt his technique to conditions in South Africa better than any other Indian in those days,” Donald said in a video uploaded on Cricket Life Stories Youtube channel.

“He played the ball much later, he left the ball later. You know that if after an hour he is on 20s or 30s, it could be a long day for you. So, technically, Tendulkar was the no. 1,” he added.

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The legendary fast bowler then explained how Brian Lara and Steve Waugh were two of his other toughest opponents during his playing days.

“No. 2 was Brian Lara. Absolute genius. For me, Brian, on any surface - he was the best stroke maker I have ever played against. You know you have to take him on, you knew you have to be very, very aggressive,” the 54-year-old said.

“The toughest and most resilient - the guy really made it look ugly and hard but wanted to battle was Steve Waugh. I am sure he will forgive me for saying, he did not play anything sort of amazing to look at. But boy, did he put his value, his number after you to come after him. He loved it so much to be involved in that battle,” he further said.

As far as Tendulkar is concerned, in 15 Tests, he scored 1161 runs at an average of 46.44 in South Africa in his career. If that was not all, Sachin also scored 1453 runs in South Africa in 40 ODIs, at an average of 38.23 throughout his career.