1. THOSE UNSUNG HEROES
Cricket fans have always expressed their fanaticism when it comes to naming the world's best
batsman. The Little Master has always been popular than his counterparts and in a country like
India where cricket is more like a religion, his fan following has multiplied with time. However,
there are certain facts which in spite of remaining disclosed does not change the way we think.
Other contemporary players in spite of having a good run fail to get the appreciation they
deserve.
There are different schools of thought who feel Ricky Ponting and Brian Lara having been there
for around two decades should be given due respect.
Sachin statistically remains an undisputed
champ of his age with more than hundred first class hundreds under his belt and an overall
unchallenged career where he triumphed over the cricketing arena. He has been awarded a status
which no other sports personality can just desire to achieve . Whether its BCCI's weakness
towards its worthiest son when it comes to asking for his retirement or its the nation's voice
which stands beside him when he is deprived of "Bharat Ratna", Sachin has always been a
favourite .
Lara scored 11,953 runs at 52.88 in 131 Tests,
while Tendulkar has 15,562 runs at 54.60 in 192 Tests.
With Sachin insisting on carrying on his test career, he has gained immense criticism from his
fans.

2. Lara has been regarded as a better finisher in the second innings by many cricket pundits. Ten of
Tendulkar's top scores in the last ten years came in the second innings. In those scores India won
three matches, lost six and drew once. While Sachin has been unsuccessful in his short tenure
as a captain, these two have carried on the burden of captaincy while shaping their career.
For a while, excess weight and hamstring problems hampered Lara's once-lightning footwork,
and the torrent of runs became an occasional spurt. But after Garry Sobers suggested a tweak to
his flourishing backlift, Lara returned to his best.
In 2001 Lara was named the Man of the Carlton Series in Australia with an average of 46.50, the
highest average by an West Indian in that series, scoring two half centuries and one century, 116
against Australia. That same year Lara amassed 688 runs in the three match away Test series
against Sri Lanka making three centuries, and one fifty – including the double century and a
century in the first and second innings of the 3rd Test Match at the Sinhalese Sports Ground,
equating to 42% of the team's runs in that series. These extraordinary performances led Muttiah
Muralitharan to state that Lara was the most dangerous batsman he had ever faced.
Lara's heroics were not highlighted during his tenure as his team failed to perform inspite of him
scoring 6 tons in thirty wins (excluding Zimbabwe and Bangladesh) as against Sachin who
managed 14 such tons in 58 matches.
The most important point of this entire discussion is if Sachin is "The God of Cricket" ,then after
playing 400+ one dayers ,he is still not among the top five players who have won the
maximum Man of the Match awards.
Ponting is one of the most successful captains of all time, with 48 victories in 77 Tests between
2004 and 31 December 2010, while as a player he is also the only cricketer in history to be
involved in 100 Test victories. Giving two World Cups to Australia, Ponting still faced criticism
after they lost their first Ashes series after 1987. However Aussies regained a 5-0 win when they
faced England at home.
Former Aussie captain Allan Border praised him when he surpassed his record of maximum runs
saying "It takes three ingredients to make a great player – determination, courage and skill – and
he's got all three in abundance. He's also developed into a great leader. Players really enjoy
playing for him and that's sometimes a difficult trait to bring out in people. You can tell by the
way the team responds to him that his leadership skills are among the finest. Combine this with
his batting skill and that's a pretty intimidating package." But Ponting's career were in doldrums
when they lost Ashes again in 2009.
Ponting nominated fellow 37-year-old Jacques Kallis as his favourite.Kallis has scored 12,980
runs at 56.92 and taken 282 wickets at 32.57 in his 158 Tests.
"You have to put Kallis in that bracket as well, you put his wickets on top of what he has done
with the bat," Ponting said.
"The way I judge players is their ability to win games by themselves, and Lara could
certainly do that and probably did it more than what Sachin did for India."
Tendulkar who still stands firm like a Colossus has got the others hid by the shroud of his
laurels. While the master resumes play, the others plan their post retirement life.
Note: This article was written when Sachin was continuing to play in spite of his poor form after
winning the World Cup when senior cricketers passed scornful remarks on his presence.