On Saturday, Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar named five of his most favourite all-rounders. It is a list that includes Prime Minister Imran Khan but surprisingly missing is Wasim Akram, against whom the master blaster batsmen played much of his cricket and had many battles.
The all-time legendary batsman picked the former Indian skipper Kapil Dev as the first all-rounder he has ever played with. Then, he named Imran Khan of Pakistan, whom he played against in his first-ever Pakistan tour.
I grew up watching Kapil Dev – Sachin Tendulkar
Kapil Dev has played 131 Tests and 225 ODIs amassing 5248 and 3783 runs in the two formats respectively. He also picked up 687 wickets across formats and is India’s second-highest wicket-taker of all time in Test cricket with 434 scalps.
Sachin Tendulkar recalled his second International series when he locked horns with New Zealand. He chose Sir Richard Hadlee as the third-best all-rounder he has played with and then met Malcolm Marshall and Ian Botham in his next tour to Australia.
“I grew up watching the top five all-rounders of the world. I played with one of them which is Kapil Dev. Second would be when I had gone on to my first tour to Pakistan and played against Imran Khan,” said Sachin on Star Sports.
“The third was playing against Sir Richard Hadlee on my second tour to New Zealand. Then in Australia, I played against Malcolm Marshall and Ian Botham. So, these are my top five all-rounders whom I grew up watching the play and later, had the opportunity to play against them,” said Sachin.
Later, the game of cricket has witnessed the likes of Jacques Kallis, Shane Watson and several other all-rounders across the world. However, Sachin Tendulkar sticks to the players, whom he met during the early stages of his career.
