Sir Richard Hadlee believes there is no doubt that Sachin Tendulkar is by far the best batsman of the modern generation.

By Shreyas Sharma

In his capacity as the brand ambassador for the Delhi Half Marathon, the New Zealander said that though Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting were all greats, the Indian maestro was better than anyone else. "Sachin is magic for the game of cricket," said Hadlee, going on to add: "He is the one who can even be mentioned in the same league as Sir Don."

Former India captains Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly had said on Thursday that Indian cricket was destined for great things under new captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Hadlee echoes similar sentiment.

The New Zealand cricket officials hate it, but the Kiwi all-rounder partly thanked the Indian Premier League for exposing several young players to the international arena. "Young players are coming through. Their depth and ability are there for all to see. With them, India could well be No. 1 very soon," Hadlee said.

Hadlee said a win in the ongoing Test series against Australia could see India go a long way in bridging the gap with the world champions. Then, he cheekily added, "I hope your guys soften up the Aussies, so that our guys (New Zealand) can do something that hasn't been done for 23 years - win a Test match in Australia."

The legendary all-rounder said Twenty20, ODIs and Test cricket could definitely co-exist, but he also hates to think that the shorter versions could compromise Tests.

When asked about the exodus of New Zealand players to the Indian Cricket League, Hadlee agreed that the Kiwis were worse-hit than most other countries. "You can't blame them for choosing financial security over their international careers. But it was sad to see people like Shane Bond, Craig McMillan and Daryl Tuffey, who had some cricket left in them, go away."

The 57-year-old, who played international cricket till the age of 39, had one final thing to say, about whether age should be an issue for a cricketer. He said: "There's no age limit, whatsoever. Players themselves know when they can or can't mentally cope with the daily grind of international sport."