Is Sachin Tendulkar greater than Sir Donald Bradman?

Is Sachin Tendulkar greater than Sir Donald Bradman, the great Australian who confided in his wife that the Mumbaikar was a mirror image of himself?

Brian Lara, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Azharuddin, Rameez Raja and Gautam Gambhir none of whom ever saw ‘The Don’ bat said as much at the ‘Salaam Sachin’ conclave, organised by the India Today Group, here on Tuesday.

It’s a never-ending debate. One hoped there was, say, a Steve Waugh or a Shane Warne, to lend perspective from Down Under. But the panelists were more or less convinced that Tendulkar is the greatest of them all.

Bradman retired with a batting average of 99.94. Tendulkar never came even close. The Aussie was a great skipper. Tendulkar wasn’t. But go beyond numbers and history tells you that Bradman never played a Test match in the subcontinent. Also, Bradman never played ODI or Twenty20 cricket. Nor did he have to shoulder the burden of the hopes and dreams of a billion people.

Cricket was never the biggest sport in Australia. Let’s not even talk about the media scrutiny.

“Sachin scored runs in the toughest era in world cricket. The period from 1990 to 2005 was the most challenging,” Akhtar said. “Pakistan had Akram, Waqar, Saqlain; Australia had McGrath and Warne; South Africa had Donald; the West Indies had Walsh and Ambrose; Sri Lanka had Muralitharan; New Zealand had Sir Richard Hadlee. Add to that the burden of expectations he has had to bear and it’s clear to me that he is among the greatest.”

Lara lauded Tendulkar for embracing one challenge after another. “He had scripted the greatest career ever,” he said. Akhtar clubbed Tendulkar with the five greatest batsmen of all time. Azhar rated his former teammate the best alongside Sunil Gavaskar. Raja was struggling to pick between Viv Richards for the fear he induced in batsmen and Tendulkar.

And Gambhir chose Lara and Tendulkar.