Sachin beats Sir Don in a poll for best batsman of all time

Melbourne (PTI) Iconic Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who on Sunday became the only cricketer in history to have scored 50 Test tons, emerged runaway winner over Don Bradman in a poll commissioned by an Australian newspaper on who is the best batsman of all time.

In an online poll conducted by the ‘’Sydney Morning Herald’’ asking readers to vote for ‘’The greatest batsman ever: Bradman or Tendulkar?’’,Tendulkar secured 67 per cent of the votes as against Bradman’’s 33 per cent. 20768 cricket fans voted.

Tendulkar seemed to have got votes from those who took into account that he played in three formats of the game and against 10 countries while Bradman played in only Test matches and primarily in Australia and England only.

“Tendulkar is better than Bradman. Tendulkar has played three forms of the game to Bradman’’s one. Tendulkar has played around in many different pitches, against a variety of bowlers, and is the highest run getter in Tests and one dayers. Undisputedly, the BEST EVER,” one comment said.

“Bradman scored a total of 7000 runs of which 5000 plus were against one country. He played only against four countries in an era where not many matches were played in a year. He did not face too many world class bowlers, with the fastest being Larwood who bowled supposedly at 95 mph,” another post said.

“I am Australian. I love Don Bradman .... But my unbias thought is Sachin is Greater. Sachin has more than 30,000 Runs. He is playing in an era where every ball is analyzed and taken note of. Yet 12 nations have not found the way to stop this man.

Tendulkar returns for ODI series against South Africa

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Sachin Tendulkar returned to the Indian one-day squad for January's five-match series against South Africa, 11 months after scoring an unbeaten double century against the same opponents.

The 37-year-old Tendulkar, who completed his 50th test hundred on Sunday, became the first man to score a double century in one-day cricket against South Africa on Feb. 24 at Gwalior.

Since that match, Tendulkar has skipped all of India's one-dayers and Twenty20 matches, including those in the Asia Cup and the ODI series against Australia at home, to heal niggling injuries and rest his ageing body.

Sachin vies to topple Kumar

DUBAI (Reuters) - Prolific Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar has closed in on Kumar Sangakkara at the top of the ICC test rankings and can overtake the Sri Lankan captain with a good showing in the remaining two tests against South Africa.

Second placed Tendulkar hit his 50th test century in Centurion and while it was not enough to avert India's embarrassing innings and 25-run defeat against South Africa, the batsman moved to within two rating points of Sangakkara in the latest ICC rankings released on Tuesday.

Jacques Kallis' maiden double century in the Centurion test helped him to replace India's Virender Sehwag in third place, also strengthening his position as the leading all-rounder in test cricket with a huge 78 ratings points advantage over New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori.

The biggest mover on the batting list was Australia's Mike Hussey, who moved up eight places to sixth after a century in the crushing third Ashes test victory over England. Dhoni, Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Harbhajan Singh were rested in India's last one-day series at home against New Zealand, which the hosts swept 5-0, led by stand-in captain Gautam Gambhir. Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla gets a chance to stake his claim before the Indian selectors pick their World Cup squad of 15, to be submitted to the International Cricket Council by Jan. 19. Squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.