WELLINGTON: Sachin Tendulkar may not boast of a Bradmanesque average but his ability to adjust to all formats of the game makes him the greatest


batsman ever, legendary New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee said on Friday. ( Watch )



Hadlee, who was inducted into the International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame on Friday, was in absolute awe of the Indian run-machine and said he had no doubt that he was the greatest batsman ever to grace the game.



"I played against Sachin on his tour here in 1990 when he got that 80 or 90-odd at the McLean Park in Napier. You could see then as a youngster he was a player of immense ability and talent.



"We didn't see at that time and you cannot visualise 20 years down the track what the player is likely to do in the context of the history of the game. He clearly he has been phenomenal," said the 57-year-old, arguably one of the finest all-rounders of all time.



Justifying his high regard for the Indian, Hadlee said, "When you score as many runs as he has in Test and one-day cricket and score as many centuries and half centuries as he has done, it makes him arguably the greatest player ever in the history of the game. Statistics speak volumes of his contribution to Indian and world cricket. He is a phenomenal player."



Asked if it meant Tendulkar was greater than even Don Bradman, Hadlee said, "Well, Sir Donald Bradman has been regarded as the greatest player ever. He played just Test cricket. He hasn't played any other forms of the game. Clearly that is understandable.



"But to see Sachin and other players actually adjust to different forms of the game and different conditions all around the world, even though the average is fractionally more than half of the Don's is in itself incredible. You got to respect it and write those performances," he explained.



Hadlee also felt comparisons should drive a player. "At the end of the day it doesn't matter who are compared with. It is what you actually do yourself. I don't think anyone can dispute the contributions that Sachin and (Rahul) Dravid have made. The contributions of these players have made to Indian cricket are outstanding."

WELLINGTON: Sachin Tendulkar may not boast of a Bradmanesque average but his ability to adjust to all formats of the game makes him the greatest


batsman ever, legendary New Zealand all-rounder Richard Hadlee said on Friday. ( Watch )



Hadlee, who was inducted into the International Cricket Council's Hall of Fame on Friday, was in absolute awe of the Indian run-machine and said he had no doubt that he was the greatest batsman ever to grace the game.



"I played against Sachin on his tour here in 1990 when he got that 80 or 90-odd at the McLean Park in Napier. You could see then as a youngster he was a player of immense ability and talent.



"We didn't see at that time and you cannot visualise 20 years down the track what the player is likely to do in the context of the history of the game. He clearly he has been phenomenal," said the 57-year-old, arguably one of the finest all-rounders of all time.



Justifying his high regard for the Indian, Hadlee said, "When you score as many runs as he has in Test and one-day cricket and score as many centuries and half centuries as he has done, it makes him arguably the greatest player ever in the history of the game. Statistics speak volumes of his contribution to Indian and world cricket. He is a phenomenal player."



Asked if it meant Tendulkar was greater than even Don Bradman, Hadlee said, "Well, Sir Donald Bradman has been regarded as the greatest player ever. He played just Test cricket. He hasn't played any other forms of the game. Clearly that is understandable.



"But to see Sachin and other players actually adjust to different forms of the game and different conditions all around the world, even though the average is fractionally more than half of the Don's is in itself incredible. You got to respect it and write those performances," he explained.



Hadlee also felt comparisons should drive a player. "At the end of the day it doesn't matter who are compared with. It is what you actually do yourself. I don't think anyone can dispute the contributions that Sachin and (Rahul) Dravid have made. The contributions of these players have made to Indian cricket are outstanding."

MUMBAI: Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan took a dig at former India captain Sunil Gavaskar for ridiculing John Buchanan's multiple-captain


theory saying he bought the team and would run it the way he wants. ( Watch )



Former Australia World Cup winning coach Buchanan, who is now manager of Kolkata Knight Riders, had suggested the four captain theory for the second season of the Indian Premier League that has ruffled a few feathers, including that of former India skipper Sourav Ganguly.



"I have great respect for Mr Gavaskar. I have grown up enjoying his performance as well as KR Vishwanath and Kapil's. We all respect him too much but having said that I would like to say that please give it (the multiple-captain theory) a breathing space to try now. If we fail we can always go back to the traditional way," Shah Rukh said at a media conference in Mumbai on Sunday to announce new initiatives with Team sponsors Nokia.



The Bollywood star said he has spent a lot of money in buying the team and would like to run it as he deems fit.



"I have spent lot of money on my team. If you have a problem then you buy your own team and run it the way you want," he said, in an obvious response to Gavaskar's comments.



India's batting legend Gavaskar, in a newspaper column, had criticised Buchanan's theory saying too much importance is being accorded to the Australian, who is a failed first-class cricketer and is only trying to get lucrative jobs for "his Queensland pals".



"To comment on his multiple skipper theory is to give it the importance it doesn't deserve but what does require comment is how he has got his Queensland pals lucrative jobs with KKR.



"They have a very big support staff which includes his son and most of them are from Queensland. The owners - poor souls - have little idea that they are being milked," Gavaskar had written.



Shah Rukh, meanwhile, said he would rather try the multiple captain idea and fail than not giving it a chance at all.



"Twenty20 cricket is a new format and last time we did not do well after going by the traditional way (one captain). This time Buchanan will try multiple captaincy in the practice game before the IPL starts in South Africa and see whether he succeeds or not," the Bollywood star said.



Buchanan's concept has generated lot of controversy ahead of the April 18 to May 24 IPL to be held in eight cities of South Africa.



Sourav Ganguly, who led the team last year, had expressed resentment to the multiple captain idea.



The former India captain and Buchanan have had lengthy discussions with Shah Rukh at his residence to thrash out the issues.



Shah Rukh on Sunday pointed out that the concept had been tried out last year itself by Kings XI Punjab.



"It was tried out last year itself by the Mohali team which had a fielding captain (Kumar Sangakkara), a batting captain, a bowling captain and an overall captain Yuvraj Singh," he said.



The Bollywood star gave the example of cricket's cousin baseball which has coaches giving instructions from outside the field to the pitchers, batters and others.



Shah Rukh also expressed hope that his team would perform much better than last year.



"All our players like Chris Gayle, Brendon McCullum, Sourav Ganguly, Brad Hodge, Ajantha Mendis, Ishant Sharma, Mashrafe Mortaza are available," he said.



"Almost 97 to 98 per cent of the players are available and it's a strong line-up. I hope the team performs better than last year," Shah Rukh said.



QnA: Multiple Captain Theory: Stupid or sensible?