The veteran Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting has poked fun at the ongoing beef between Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli as the Master Blaster celebrates his 50th birthday on Monday. Fans revere Tendulkar as the “God of Cricket,” but former Indian captain Kohli has earned the title of “Great of the Modern Era” by dominating the batting rankings in all game formats. It’s interesting to note that legendary batsman Kohli concurs that no player should be compared to the Little Master.
Tendulkar was acknowledged by Ponting as the greatest player of his generation (Getty Images – AP)
Before turning 50, Tendulkar reflected on his tremendous career and former Australia captain Ponting decided to put an end to the argument over who was the finest batsman by making some very remarkable claims. The former Indian captain Tendulkar is regarded as the best batsman in the history of the sport by the head coach of Delhi Capitals (DC). The best player of his generation, according to Ponting in a chat with Sanjana Ganesan for the icc review, was Tendulkar.
After a scorching performance against KKR in the IPL 2023, Ajinkya Rahane mentions MS Dhoni, saying, “I have played under Mahi bhai.”
“I’ve consistently referred to Sachin as the most technically proficient batter I’ve ever played with or against. It is challenging to rank and evaluate bowlers because each one is unique and approaches the game in a different way. Regardless of the strategy our bowling group devised, he always found a way to defeat it.
The former Australian cricketer said it is nothing short of a “amazing achievement” that Tendulkar has played in 200 Test matches for Team India. Ponting also addressed the Kohli analogy, saying that when Kohli’s international career is over, the two sporting greats can be compared.
“It’s great to be physically strong and have the talent to stand up and play 200 Test matches, regardless of how many runs or hundreds you score. There is no denying that he is an incredibly talented player. More than 70 international hundreds have been scored by him. I believe Sachin received a score of 100. That would be a better comparison, but let’s wait until Virat’s career is complete, Ponting added.
At six World Cups, batting legend Tendulkar competed for Team India. Along with run-machine Kohli, the former Indian captain was a member of India’s 2011 World Cup-winning squad. Just the 50-year-old cricketer has amassed 100 hundreds in international competition. In One Day International (ODI) cricket, The Master Blaster amassed 18,426 runs. Tendulkar scored 15,921 runs at an average of 53.79 in 200 Test matches for the Asian powerhouses. In the Indian Premier League, Tendulkar also participated in 78 games with the Mumbai Indians (MI) (IPL).