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THE DEBATE
Some of those who say that Bradman remains the greatest batsman ever
"Unquestionably the greatest batsman in the game, arguably the greatest cricketer ever, and one of the finest sportsmen of all time....beyond any argument, the greatest batsman who ever lived and the greatest cricketer of the 20th century.”
ESPNCricinfo.com’s profile of Sir Donald Bradman
​“Bradman was, without any question, the greatest phenomenon in the history of cricket, indeed in the history of all ball games.”
Five Cricketers of the Century: Sir Donald Bradman, Wisden Almanack, 2000
​“Cricket’s greatest ever player, Sir Donald Bradman.....”
Simon Robinson, 60 Years of Asian Heroes, TIME Magazine, 13 November 2006 (the article, Sachin: the greatest living exponent of his craft)
“...most experts strongly support Sir Donald Bradman, the greatest batsman who ever lived.”
Geoff Armstrong, Legends of cricket, Profiles of the Game’s 25 Greatest
"Sir Donald Bradman...was the greatest cricketer of the 20th century and the greatest batsman who ever lived." Obituary, Sir Donald Bradman, The Guardian, by Matthew Engel, 27 February 2001
“To think that any human being who ever picked up a cricket bat was greater than Don Bradman — no matter who that person may be, no matter how many hundreds of millions of fans happen to worship him — is nothing but puerile phantasm.” – Bradman will always be the Don, by Nirmal Shekar, The Hindu, 24 December 2011
​“.....Bradman was not only the best cricketer but the best sportsperson of all time.......”
Don Bradman, Obituary, 2002, Wisden Almanack
Some of those who say that it is Sachin who is the greatest batsman ever
“I played against Sachin...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.’” – Tendulkar the greatest – Richard Hadlee, ESPNcricinfo, 3 April 2009​
“He is the greatest player and batsman to have ever played.”
Dennis Lillee quoted in a Press Trust of India report in The Indian Express, 27 June 2012
"Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman of all time. Better than Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting.......Better than Sir Viv Richards, Sunil Gavaskar and Allan Border. And I would even say better than Sir Don Bradman himself.”
Nasser Hussain in the Daily Mail, UK, 25 February 2010, Mighty Sachin Tendulkar even tops Lara, Ponting and The Don!
“It may be sacrilegious to say this, especially to Australians, but Sachin Tendulkar is the best batsman who ever took guard.”
Simon Hughes in The Telegraph, UK, 29 March 2011, India v Pakistan: Sachin Tendulkar is the best batsman ever to play cricket
“...in my view he might even be better than Bradman. ....Tendulkar has been tested in ways that Bradman didn’t have the opportunity to be, and in many more different conditions. I’ve bowled against Sachin......so I know from experience just how good he is.”
Tendulkar has claim to be better than Bradman: John Emburey in the Cricketer (home of the Sofa), 19 July 2011
"I am one of those fortunate people who have seen Bradman and Tendulkar bat in my lifetime and in my opinion Tendulkar is the best batsman I have seen in my life. I have never seen a more complete player.."
Hanif Mohammad rates Sachin over Bradman, The Hindu, 25 December 2012​
We are too close to Tendulkar to be able to say, as we should, that he is the greatest batsman in the history of the game, greater than Bradman, greater than Hobbs, greater than anybody. This is the tyranny of proximity..... there is something about that unique century of centuries. If that doesn't automatically place him above everybody else, what will? We must hurry up and let the man know. -Suresh Menon, In the realms of divinity, Sportstar, 29 March 2012​ (Suresh is currently Editor of The Wisden Indian Almanack)
