Sunday 15th November 2009
"Lara was better than Tendulkar"
Sri Lanka skipper Kumar Sangakkara finds Brian Lara a better batsman than Indian maestro Sachin Tendulkar.
By Prateek Srivastava
Speaking at a press conference in Ahmedabad on Saturday, before the first Test between India and Sri Lanka begins on Monday at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, Sangakkara said: "Sachin Tendulkar is a great batsman. Can anyone doubt it? Whoever plays international cricket for 20 years has to be a special player. It's been a privilege playing against him. His records will tell you that he is a phenomenal player, but in my opinion Lara was a better batsman."
"It is true Tendulkar has a better technique than Lara. But watching Lara bat was a sheer joy and nobody played Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) as well as he did. He scored a lot of runs against us, which the other batsmen have not been able to do," said the wicketkeeper-batsman.
Reacting to former Australian great Ian Chappell's recent comments that Tendulkar was no more the world's best batsman and Ricky Ponting is the new king, Sangakkara said, "Did he say so? Well, if he did, then it is entirely his opinion. That is not discounting the amount of runs and centuries Tendulkar has made."
Sangakkara also praised Ponting and tipped him to overtake Tendulkar's Test centuries. "The way Ponting has been playing, it is very likely that he will overtake Tendulkar in Test centuries," he said.
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