Tendulkar second only to Bradman

'Tendulkar second only to Bradman'

Australia Test captain Michael Clarke says
retiring Indian batting legend Sachin
Tendulkar's greatest achievement is playing
international cricket for almost a quarter of a
century.
Clarke said Tendulkar, who is playing in his
200th and final Test, ranked second only to
Australia's Don Bradman as the best batsman
of all time.
The 40-year-old is ending an international
career which began in 1989 and during which
time he became the all-time leading Test and
one-day batsman and the only man to score
100 international centuries.
"So much has been said and written about
Sachin's achievements over years," Clarke
wrote in The Daily Telegraph Friday.
"His record number of Test and one-day runs,
his century of international centuries. They are
achievements that may never be bettered.
"However I believe his greatest achievement is
playing international cricket for almost a
quarter of a century. That is phenomenal. To
be lining up for his 200th Test is mind
boggling.
"It highlights an undying affection for the game
that goes way beyond just playing."
Clarke, who will lead Australia in five Ashes
Tests against England getting underway in
Brisbane next week, said Tendulkar had been
the greatest constant in world cricket for a
generation.
"I was still at primary school when he began
his Test career and later scored two centuries
on his first tour of Australia as an 18-year-
old," he said.
"I played my first Test series against him
almost a decade ago and through my whole
career have never really thought about him as
an ageing player. I can't believe he is 40.
"Sachin has done it all carrying an
unimaginable weight of expectation."
Clarke said Tendulkar ranked as the second
best batsman behind the "incomparable"
Bradman.
"I've been lucky enough to play with and
against some great batsmen but there have
been none better than Sachin in my time," he
said.
"Given everything he has done, Sachin would
have to be the second best batsman of all time
after the incomparable Bradman.
"You would never know it speaking to him."