Scyld Berry ranks Sachin Tendulkar 6th in the list of greatest cricketers

One of the most venerated cricket writers the world has ever seen, Scyld Berry has rated Sachin Tendulkar the 6th greatest player to have played the game in the last 40 years. This summer has marked 40 years of covering the sport for Berry, who works for the Sunday Telegraph in England. The great Sir Vivian Richards top the list which has 10 esteemed names.

Tendulkar had a long career, representing India in 663 games across 24 years of international cricket. He finished the game reaching unprecedented heights, retiring with over 34,000 international runs and 100 centuries across formats. His records will take some beating and some of them, like Bradman’s average of 99.94, will never be broken. He is placed at No. 6 by Berry in the list which might invite criticism of the esteemed writer by a few Indians.

Berry praises the great Viv

Richards was a great batsman known to be very intimidating for the opponents with his presence. He took on the bowlers despite having been struck on the face the previous ball. The legend captained his country in 50 Test games but never lost a single Test series. Berry was in awe of the former West Indian.

“King Viv,” Berry wrote. “The king who subjected every opponent to his will. The Unvanquished king who never lost a Test series as captain.”

“Intuitively he understood Sun Tsu’s Art of War – defeat an opponent mentally then victory will surely follow – and if opponents were not demoralised by the time he had strolled out nonchalantly, never deigning to wear a helmet, they were when he whipped his first ball through mid-wicket for four.”

Imran and Wasim, the other two Asians in the list

The second spot in the list, surprisingly, has gone to Pakistan’s inspirational former captain Imran Khan. The all-rounder came out of retirement to lead an average team to victory in the 1992 World Cup. Imran Khan has fellow Pakistani and former teammate Wasim Akram for company, who is ranked 10th in the list. Akram made the ball talk despite bowling on flat tracks of the sub-continent and is arguably the best left-hand bowler to have ever played cricket.

There are two Australian’s on the list: Shane Warne at 3 and Adam Gilchrist at 7. Ian Botham is the lone English player at No. 5. Apart from Richards, Malcom Marshall at 4 and Brian Lara at 9 are the other West Indians in the list. One of the finest all-rounders to have ever played the game, Jacques Kallis is at No. 8, the lone Proteas cricketer to feature on the list.

Berry’s top 10 in the last 40 years:

1) Viv Richards

2) Imran Khan

3) Shane Warne

4) Malcom Marshall

5) Ian Botham

6) Sachin Tendulkar

7) Adam Gilchrist

8) Jacques Kallis

9) Brian Lara

19) Wasim Akram