If we had three reviews during our time, Sachin Tendulkar would've scored 1 lakh runs: Shoaib Akhtar

Sachin Tendulkar is arguably the best batter to have played the game and in his 24-year illustrious career, he registered the most number of centuries (100) in international cricket. At the same time, he also holds the record of having amassed the most runs in ODI and Tests. Sachin also has numerous cricketing records to his name, however, his long-time on-field rival Shoaib Akhtar reckons that the legendary opener would have easily scored 1 lakh runs if he had three reviews during his playing days.

Giving further clarification on his statement, Akhtar has said that the game is currently dominated by the batters a little too much while the bowlers hardly have any advantage. During his conversation with the former Team India head coach Ravi Shastri, the pace icon also mentioned that two new balls in ODIs have made things tough for the bowlers and also is not supposedly convinced with the format of three reviews in Test cricket.

“You have two new balls. You have made the rules stricter. You give so much leverage to batsmen nowadays. You now allow three reviews. If we had three reviews during the time of Sachin, he would have made 1 lakh runs”, said Shoaib Akhtar while interacting on his official YouTube channel.

Shoaib Akhtar explains what makes Sachin Tendulkar a very tough batter

At the same time, the ‘Rawalpindi’ Express’ also said that Sachin Tendulkar faced the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, etc. before he took on the next generation of speedsters and that is why he is a very tough batter according to the tearaway fast bowler.

“I really pity him. The reason I pity Sachin is he initially played against Wasim (Akram) and Waqar (Younis), he played against Shane Warne, then he faced (Brett) Lee and Shoaib (Akhtar), and later he played the next generation of fast bowlers. That’s why I call him a very tough batter,” he said.

The number of runs scored by the batting legend at the highest level is indeed a dream for any cricketer. Tendulkar scored 51 Test tons while 49 of them came in the ODIs. He bid adieu to the game in November 2013 having amassed 15,921 runs in 200 Test matches at an average of 54.04 and 18,426 runs in 463 One Day Internationals averaging 44.83.