"He plays in a similar manner. It is
just his compactness and his stroke production that make me feel
that I must have played in much the same manner. I saw
him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I
asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play,
but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to
play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is
a similarity between the two...hi compactness, technique, stroke
production... it all seemed to gel !!! ".
Sir Don Bradman
"Hell, if he stayed, even at 11 an
over he would have got it."
Allan Border (after India won the Coca-Cola cup in
Sharjah)
"Techincally he stands out as the best
because of his ability to increase the pace at will".
David Boon.
“If I had to bowl to Sachin I would
bowl with a helmet on. He hits the ball so hard. Sachin’s
the best player I've seen in 10 years.”
Dennis Lillie
"He's better than Lara,he scores so
fast".
Geoff Marsh.
"I'm amazed at the way Sachin bats. The
power of Sachin is unbelievable (whew !). Its exciting to have
the chance of bowling at Sachin. He is a perfectly
balanced batsman and knows perfectly well when to attack and when
to play defensive cricket. He has developed the ability to treat
bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any
attack with utmost ease. I'd like to see him go out and bat one
day with a stump. I tell you he'd do okay."
Greg Chappell.
"I made a prediction on the eve of the
Kenya match that he will make a hundred in memory of his father.
I knew he would make it a special day."
Greg Chappel
"Harder he works, the luckier he
gets".
Ian Chappel.
“Don Bradman says that Sachin’s
the one batsman who bats like he used to. It’s been a
privilege to watch his innings in Chennai and Bangalore.”
Ian Chappell.
"Despite any and all the facts, some
cynics will still class India as a one-man batting team. That is
one of the crosses sachin has to bear as a great player and any
statement to that effect should be looked upon as a tribute to
tendulkar. When he is at his brilliant best he is so dominant
that no other Indian player needs to attack and so they settle
down to play a ‘team knock’"
Ian Chappell.
"Tendulkar is the most complete batsman
I have stood behind. I saw the hundred in Perth on a bouncy pitch
with Hughes, McDermott and Whitney gunning for him - he only had
60-odd when No 11 came in. I`ve seen him against Warne,
too."
Ian Healy, the unforgiving Australian wicketkeeper's thoughts
"Sachin is an attacker. He has
much more power than Sunny. He wants to be the one to set
the pace. He has to be on top. That's the buzz about
him."
Jeff Thompson.
"Australia,we have a problem ; the
first time an Australian attack featuring Warne has been put away
with masterly precision. If Tendulkar can repeat in the Tests the
type of innings he played,the Australians can say goodbye to
their hopes of winning the series and turn their thoughts to
saving it. The question of how to dismiss him must be shuffled
backwards.The immediate concern is how to contain him."
Malcom Knox in The Melbourne Age after Sachin's 204* for
Mumbai against Australia.
"In all my years of fascination with
the game no one player has so enthralled me and no personality
has so impressed me. Few people have cricket running through
their veins in the way of India`s prodigal son: Barry and Vivian
Richards, a Cowdrey and a Graveney possibly, Garfield Sobers for
certain; few people appear to have their bat as an extension of
their body; few people have 'the great leveller' as their
oyster."
Mark Nicholas.
"He's a phenomenon. We have to be
switched on when he plays, allow him no boundaries, for then he
doesn't stop"
Mark Taylor.
"Sachin's better; Lara is more risky
outside the off stump."
Mark Waugh.
"Batting is like a stroll to him. Just
go out and do it"
Mark Waugh - after Sachin's 3rd consecutive hundred
against Australia at the mini-world cup in Dhaka, 1998.
"Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the
good ones for fours."
Micheal Kasprowicz.
“Sachin’s the best. I’ve had
this view since I saw him score that hundred in Sydney in 1992.
He’s the most composed batsmen I’ve ever seen.”
Mike Coward.
“Tendulkar is the supreme right-hander
on the planet, a focused technician who offers a counterpoint to
Brian Lara’s more eye-catching destruction.”
Mike Selvey.
"He's bigger than Ben Hur,"
Paul Wilson.
“Sometime back I had written a piece
that said Sachin is the master and Lara a genuis with his head
high up somewhere. That’s it.”
Peter Roebuck.
"They bowled him short-pitched stuff
and bouncers. Umpire Holder even warned Wasim Akram. Sachin, they
tell me, never took a backward step."
Richie Banaud
"I'll be going to bed having nightmares
of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over
the head for six.He was unstoppable.I don't think anyone besides
Don bradman is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar, he is just
an amazing player.It really is such a challenge to bowl to him.
He had one of those series where he couldn't do anything wrong
and everything he tried worked. When it comes to judging
the best among these fabulous band of batsmen, my vote goes to
Tendulkar. He has an uncanny ability to come out on top under
different circumstances and under different conditions, whether
it is Test cricket or one-day internationals. And more
importantly, he has done this so young. Nothing affects
Sachin whereas Brian lets things bother him.".
Shane Warne - the greatest spinner of all times after the
Australian tour od India in 1998.
"You have to decide for yourself
whether you are bowling well or not. He's going to hit you for
fours and sixes anyway."
Shane Warne
"It was one of the greatest innings I
have ever seen. There is no shame being beaten by such a great
player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don. In history he
will go down as second to Bradman.".
Steve Waugh (after being defeated in the Coca-Cola Cup
finals in Sharjah)
"You take Bradman away and he is next
up I reckon.What sets Tendulkar apart from other batsmen is that
he picks up the ball so early.He is such a sweet timer of the
ball.He's got a great eye and great foot movement and he very
rarely gets into the wrong position.".
Steve Waugh
"I bowled a perfect yorker. He somehow
got under it and scooped it one bounce into the fence. I thought
I can’t bowl much better than that. It’s time to give
someone else a chance."
Steve Waugh
"Thers no doubt about it.He's the
best. He is cool, has magnificient temperament, and is so mature
you tend to forget his age. I can't think of any other example of
a player who has so dominated the world before the age of
25."
Tony Greig.
"The most exciting batsman of his time
because he finds the right balance between reason and passion,
techinque and power, nerves and placement and judgement that
applies to all tastes."
The Australian media.
"In an over I can bowl six different
balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle
arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl me another
one?' "
Adam Hollioke to a friend.
"Sachin Tendulkar is the best batsman
in the world for style, domination and changing the course of
matches. He is relatively close to being the most complete
batsman."
David Gower
"He batted like a magician, bowled
hand grenades and beat the Aussies single-handed. "
Geoff Boycott .
"Everytime I see him he gets better.
His concentration reminds me of Sunny."
Ian Botham
"To the average Australian it may seem
like blasphemy to say so, but I believe Sachin Tendulkar, now 25
and the best batsman in the world, is already as good a player as
bradman was. He has a very fine method, unlimited courage, great
versatility and also tremendous strength."
John Woodcock, the writer of Times - London, who is
believed to have seen more tests than any other.
"Tendulkar's gun. An absolute
gun," says Michael Atherton, captain of England till last
year and one of that country's top batsmen.
Mike Atherton
" In the year ahead, when those who
were present at lord’s recollect the events of Saturday,
they will not think of Diana…or W.G. Grace the contest
staged as a tribute to both developed from lethargic beginnings
into a celebration of the gifts of one man."
Richard Hobson of the Sunday Times, London after the
Grace & Diana memorial match.
"This year (1998) Tendulkar has been
the batsman nobody wanted to bowl at. He took Shane Warne apart
in India, which illustrates his genius."
Ted Dexter (who chaired the panel, the Coopers &
Lybrand award as the International Test player of the year)
"We had heard reports after the recent
test series between India and Australia that the batting of
Sachin Tendulkar had reached a new plane, that he was
unquestionably the bast batsman in world cricket. Well the little
master used the stage…to confirm that those reports are
true,"
Vic Marks of the Observer after the princess Diana match.
"Sachin's wicket means the most to me.
I used to abuse him right and left but during the Sahara Cup,
Sachin - on the non striker's end said to me 'Itni
gali kyon deta hai re?' Since then I dont abuse
him,only glare..."
Aaqib Javed
"He has given a new dimension to
batting. Such dominance can break the heart of the best of
bowlers.I was never tired of watching this wonderful
batsman."
Asif Iqbal.
"He has so much time to play fast and
slow bowlers. Not only Warne but I think most of the bowlers must
should be ready for a tough time ahead. I see him breaking Allan
Border's tally of Test runs and in one-dayers he will go far
beyong anyone else."
Hanif Mohammad.
"Well, I think Rahul Dravid is a
brilliant, world class batsman, especially in Tests. Saurav
Ganguly and Mohammad Azharuddin are top quality, class players,
no doubt about that either. But excepting very rarely, they don't
dominate, they don't take a game away from the other side. That
is why the Indian team remains Sachin-centric. When I was leading
Pakistan, there was no batsman in the world who worried me as I
led the team into the field -- except Sachin. You see, with
everyone else you can think okay, I have runs on the board, I
have good bowlers, both pace and spin, I can attack and even if
one of these world class batsmen gets settled, I can change gear,
contain, go for a holding operation and force the mistakes. With
Sachin, there really is nothing you can do. If he is in the mood,
then nothing matters. Not the size of the score you have put up,
not the bowling line-up you are leading, not the pitch
conditions, nothing. If he decides to get into top gear, he
simply takes the game away from you and you can only stand there,
tossing the ball to one bowler after another, shuffling the field
this way and that, and knowing that whatever you are doing is
futile anyway. He is one batsman, the only batsman today, against
whom gameplans and theorising in the dressing room and all that
stuff is pointless"
Rameez Raja
"There is no doubt that Tendulkar is a
cut above other batsmen in world cricket."
Rashid Latif.
"I haven’t seen as much of him as
of Bradman. Bradman played every ball to its merit. No risk
involved. Pulls and hooks were on the ground. You noticed nothing
particular yet he scored at a fast rate. He was seldom beaten.
Sachin is more classical. Nearer to Hutton. I like the classical
mould bats. The Greg Chappels, Sunny, and Barry Richards. Sunny
has played so many classic knocks on turning wickets. Sachin has
to go some distance. Some years ago you could have said Lara
would be the three-four all-time greats. But look where he is
now. After Sachin finished with Yorkshire nobody talked of him as
a great player. The tragedy is that so much of Sachin is wasted
on one-day cricket. Great cricketers are cheapening their skills
playing one-dayers. Playing bowlers like Malik, Chris Harris and
Larsen. They are not bowlers"
Shaharyar Khan
"He has everything a top batsman
needs. Tendulkar is a classic example of the player being so good
that his age is irrelevant. He could end up as the most
successful batsman of the 90’s. At the start of the decade
he was just short of his seventeenth b’day, but I’d
already seen enough to be certain he was set to be a star. He had
just made his Test debut for India in the most testing of
situations, on a tour to Pakistan, and he didn't look fazed at
any stage. He batted at number 6 at difficult situations against
Imran, Waqar, Abdul Qadir and myself and looked very much at
home. At Sialkot, I tired to ruffle him with a barrage of
bouncers. He wasn’t put out at all by the assault and I
ended up wasting a lot of energy and being warned by umpire John
Holder. Tendulkar’s model correctness and calm strokeplay
have made him one of the world cricket’s best batsman and
probably its wealthiest and good luck to him. It’s
remarkable he has remained so balanced and modest with all the
adulation heaped on him in his home country, and the fact that he
has continued to bat so prolifically, and attractively confirms a
steely temperament."
Wasim Akram in his autobiography in a chapter titled
"great players of his time".
“Sachin’s the greatest batting
arsenal. You just can't keep him quiet. I'm amazed at the range
of strokes he can produce with remarkable ease.”
Wasim Akram.
"Tendulkar can rightly claim to be the
world's best batsman after his run-making feats against the
Australians."
Zaheer Abbas.
"He is currently the best
batsman in the world".
Sir Gary Sobers as a commemtator in 1997.
"Tendulkar reminds me of
my own batting style. he is certainly the best batsman at the
moment. There is something in his batting that reminds me of my
own. I will pay any money to watch him play."
Viv Richards.
"He’s special. The
sky is the limit for him."
Viv Richards
"What can I say about
Tendulkar? He is a class act."
Gordon Greenidge
"Sachin is a genius. I am
a normal human being"
Brain Lara.
"Sachin is vital..."
Chris Harris
"Sachin looks like the man who will be
closest to bradman, he’s probably 3-4 years away from his
peak. He has no real weaknesses, he’s superbly balanced, and
he is so good he has 2 shots for every ball. Sachin has developed
a lot over the last year. He plays like a god. He was born to
bat. He was making big scores when he was a schoolboy he loves
the game and has a superb cricketing brain. He’ll be a great
captain one day."
Martin Crowe
"He’s a little genius. He’s
in a class of his own among the current players, and that
includes Brian Lara. He’ll break all the test and one-day
international records apart from Bradman’s test average of
99.94."
Sir Richard Hadlee
"If Sachin bats the way
he can, India should be through..."
Ali Bacher on India's chances in the '99 World Cup
"He can do anything,
anytime, anywhere! That’s how high I rate him. But Sachin
won’t be able to dominate the teams they are to play now as
much as he did Kenya."
Barry Richards
"Other players might keep
you in business in England but victory to India shall largely
come only through Sachin's bat"
Dave Houghton on India's chances in the '99 World
Cup.
"What we (Zimbabwe) need
is 10 Tendulkars."
Paul Strang.
"This guy has got something that has
been given from upstairs."
Mark Mascarenhas.
"It's one thing for Thackeray to
unleash verbal broadsides against the Pakistanis, but anybody who
messes with Tendulkar messes with 18 million Bombayites."
TIME on the Pak tour of India in Feb 1999
"Is he a doctor ???"
Cindy Crawford on being shown Sachin's photograph
(..... well Cindy, you're quite close... his wife sure is one!!!)