10 Greatest Test cricketers of all-time
This sport has witnessed so many iconic individuals over the last 100 years and here's a small tribute to the ten greatest among all those.
1. Sachin Tendulkar and Sir Donald Bradman
As diplomatic as it might appear, this is probably the finest way, to sum it up. The “Greatest ever” debate is another eternity away from culminating, but rationally thinking, both these cricketers had a surreal impact which literally changed the dynamics of the game in their respective eras.
In a career that spanned over 20 years, Sir Don never stood way ahead of anyone from his generation, in fact, was a country mile ahead in terms of scoring runs and contributing to the game’s popularity. His average of 99.94 can easily be considered as one of the greatest achievements in sporting history overall.
Tendulkar, on the other hand, became the face of Indian cricket in the 90s and made this sport a religion in the country with a billion people. He became a demigod for the masses in a very short span of time and also carried the burden of Indian cricket solely on his shoulders for over two decades. Tendulkar reinvented the game with his jaw-dropping improvisation and out of box strokeplay.
The most capped player in Test history, most runs scored in Test cricket, most centuries registered in Test cricket – there’s a good chance that all these records owned by the Master Blaster might never be broken.
On Sir Don’s 90th birthday in 1998, he met two of his favourite cricketers, Tendulkar and Warne. The Aussie immortal famously said that he never missed out on watching Tendulkar bat and the respect has always been mutual.
These two no-nonsense, respectable and legendary individuals were the flag-bearers of this sport. Sir Don passed away in February 2001 and Tendulkar last played an International game in November 2013, but somewhere around the cricketing world at every point in time, the whispers of their names will always keep echoing.
Career stats:
Sir Donald Bradman: Matches – 52 | Runs scored – 6,992 | Batting Average – 99.94 | 100s/50s – 29/13 | Best score – 334
Career stats:
Sachin Tendulkar: Matches – 200 | Runs scored – 15,921 | Batting Average – 53.78 | 100s/50s – 51/68 | Best score – 248*
Honourable Mentions – Sir Jack Hobbs, Walter Reginald Hammond, Brian Lara, Wasim Akram, Sir Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Adam Gilchrist, Sir Richard Hadlee, Glenn McGrath
Many might have strong objections – either to the ranking or the names excluded – Do feel free to list out your names in the comments.
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