Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting called Sachin Tendulkar technically the best batter he has ever played with or against and also added that people should wait for Virat Kohli’s career to get over before comparing him to the master blaster.
Ponting also lauded Sachin Tendulkar in a brilliant tribute to the great batter, who will celebrate his 50th birthday on April 24. He said that the legendary Indian cricketer always found a way to combat anything the bowlers threw at him.
“I’ve said forever, Sachin’s technically the best batter that I’ve ever seen, and played with or against. Whatever plan that we came up with as a bowling group, he found a way to combat it, whether it was in India or Australia. It’s hard to rank and judge players as everyone is different and everyone plays the game differently. But certainly, through the generation that I played, he was technically the best player that I saw,” Ponting said on ‘ICC Review’.
However, he refused to be drawn into the conversation of comparing Tendulkar and Kohli just yet.
“Trying to compare the times and I know Virat played a little bit in the back end of when Sachin played, but it is a bit of a different game now. There are different rules, for instance, around 50-over cricket, with fewer fielders outside the circle, and two new balls, it makes it a lot easier now for batting than probably ever before.
There’s no doubt that the bats have got better. Field restrictions and new balls are a big part of it as well,” opined Ponting.
He indicated that during Tendulkar’s era, facing the old ball, which was reverse swinging, was indeed a tough task.
“When Sachin was playing ODIs, the ball at the end of a 50-over game was very hard to see. It was very soft. It was very hard to hit, it reverse swing. You don’t see that at all in the modern 50-over game,” said Ponting.
The three-time World Cup-winning Australian player, Ponting then added that a fair comparison between Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli can only be made once Kohli retires.
“Virat’s got all that (time) ahead of him just yet. He’s an unbelievably good player, there’s no doubt about that. He’s got over 70-odd international hundreds now. Sachin made a 100 (centuries), didn’t he? Let’s wait until Virat’s career’s over and then I think it’ll a much fairer comparison,” he added.
Ponting also said that longevity is also a big parameter to judge a player and Tendulkar playing for 24 years, 200 Tests, and 463 ODIs during the period, puts him very high on the pecking order.
Ponting said: “I always like to judge the quality of players on their longevity in the game. I think that’s the best way to judge players because maintaining such a higher level of excellence for so long is the hardest thing to do. Some players can come in and do it for three or four years and look like the best players in the world, but the very, very best sustain it for long periods and Sachin sustained it for more than 20 years at the international level.”
Recalling Tendulkar’s 241* against Australia at the SCG Test in the 2003-04 series, Ponting said it was awe-inspiring watching the Indian player’s straight drives.
“I think his straight driving was his best shot. Whether it be on the front foot or even back foot — because he was short in stature, he won’t mind me saying that — he was able to sort of stand up on top of the bounce of the ball and punch it back down the ground, off the front foot or back foot,” Ponting said.
“The trademark things you think about with Tendulkar was just seeing the full face of that bat coming straight back down the line of the ball and straight back past the bowler. So I think that’d be his trademark for sure,” he signed off.
(PTI inputs)
