Former England cricketer Monty Panesar recently picked the best players from across the globe he was fortunate enough to watch. Even though Panesar got the Indian batting legend, Sachin Tendulkar, out 4 times in 11 Test matches, he though Tendulkar was the best batsman he played against.

“Sachin was just ruthless. Once he got in, he would look to score big. But like any other batsman, he was vulnerable. He was on a different wavelength once set. With him, you were always like which gear he is going to take but you had to be competitive. Having said that, I backed myself to get him out,” Monty said.

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The 37-year-old then told the media that he felt Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag were also the two Indians who stood out.

“Dravid was another great, like the wall they used to say. That was the period you had batters who would just bat long. Just ruthless. And Sehwag was simply amazing, the most destructive batsman at that time,” the left-arm spinner said.

The Englishman then went on to agree with former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh’s comment of not having enough role models in the current team as compared to his playing days.

“The way these guys (Sachin, Dravid, Laxman) conducted themselves was a lesson for all of us on how we need to be off the field. It was like 'this is how we need to behave'.

“You look at the talent and what you do on the field but the biggest thing that struck me about Sachin was the way he conducted himself as a human being. It was like 'his family has taught him well,” the spinner with more than 150 Test wickets told PTI.

(With PTI inputs)