Sachin Tendulkar names Imran Khan as one of his favourite all-rounders

Sachin Tendulkar, the former Indian cricketer, recently named his top five all-rounders. To start with, he named Kapil Dev, who helped the national team to victory in the 1983 World Cup. Back then, India beat a more fancied West Indies unit in the final at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, defying all the odds. The Haryana Hurricane led from the front with both bat and ball.

Second in Sachin’s list was Imran Khan, the current Honourable Prime Minister of Pakistan. In 1992, Imran also captained the Men in Green to their maiden World Cup championship in Australia. In the final versus England at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Pakistan skipper scored 72 runs, batting at number three. It also happened to be his last international match.

Sachin Tendulkar makes his pick

“I grew up watching the top five all-rounders of the world. I played with one of them which is Kapil Dev. Second would be when I had gone on to my first tour to Pakistan and played against Imran Khan,” Sachin, who turned 47 on April 24, was quoted as saying on Star Sport’s Cricket Connected Show on Saturday, April 25.

Next in Sachin’s list was the New Zealand’s Sir Richard Hadlee. In his 17-year-old career, Hadlee churned out over 4,800 runs apart from picking up 580 wickets. Tendulkar also went for the legendary Malcolm Marshall and Ian Botham in his list.

“The third was playing against Sir Richard Hadlee on my second tour to New Zealand. Then in Australia, I played against Malcolm Marshall and Ian Botham. So, these are my top five all-rounders whom I grew up watching play and later, had the opportunity to play against them,” he added.

Botham finished his career with over 7,300 runs and 528 wickets for the England team. He was the fastest to the double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets. Marshall, on the other hand, was a fast bowling all-rounder. In his career, the West Indies speedster got over 2,700 runs and over 530 wickets.

Tendulkar scored over 34,000 runs for Team India in a career that spanned 24 years from 1983 to 2013. Not only was he the first to score a double century in ODIs, he also is the sole owner of the 100-ton landmark at the highest level.