Former England captain, Michael Vaughan this week told Gulf Times that he believes Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest cricketer of recent years, claiming that the ‘little master’s’ contribution to the modern game has been unsurpassed.
Vaughan placed the Indian icon ahead of former counterpart and Australian captain Ricky Ponting, who he said will be the most important member of the Australian team in the upcoming Ashes series.
Looking back on his incredibly successful career as a batsman and captain, Vaughan recalled some of his former teammates and opponents.
“I played with some very solid players, Pietersen’s a good player, Strauss, Collingwood, Thorpe. Hussain, Flintoff, Darren Gough for a period was excellent,” he said.
Vaughan stated that the best bowlers he ever faced were Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan in the spin department and seamers Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee.
“Batsmen - I always thought Ricky Ponting was a wonderful player – he might not be at his best, but I think he’s a wonderful player,” he added,
However Vaughan saved his highest praise for Indian legend, Tendulkar.
“I think for the reason that he has basically carried a nation in terms of expectation for near on 20 years I think he is the best player of this generation,”
“Because of the pressure he has had to take - yes you play on good wickets in India - but every time he goes out of his front door he gets mobbed, every time he goes to the crease the whole country stops, and for a guy to live up to that expectation and still do that at his age, he has to be up there with the best players of this generation,” he added.
On the other hand, Australian fast bowler, Jason Gillespie declared West Indian Brian Lara the best batsman he ever bowled at.“It’s difficult to split Lara and Tendulkar, but I think that Lara was a one man show, and could turn on another level in the blink of an eye – he was that sort of player,” he said.“That’s why I put him just slightly higher,” he added.
Talking about one of the least savoury aspects of their sport, Vaughan reaffirmed his belief that players involved in match-fixing should face a lifetime ban from cricket.
Vaughan said he was disappointed that something generally felt to be stamped out of cricket has “once again reared its ugly head.”
“There’s nothing worse than seeing a game when you think something’s on it and it’s suspicious - you want to watch a clean game,” he argued.
“If I was playing I would have been very angry,” he said, adding “if you felt that in any way your performance had been undermined by somebody else’s wrongdoing then I find that quite sad.”
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