Tendulkar at his best is better than Lara: Ponting

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, Nov 24 (PTI) Australia captain Ricky Ponting
may not have much love for Team India but he was liberal in
his praise of individuals like Sachin Tendulkar whom he placed
ahead of West Indian batting great Brian Lara.

"I have always maintained that he (Tendulkar) at his best
was fractionally ahead of Brian Lara at his best, and they are
the best two batsmen I have played against," Ponting wrote in
his 'captain's Diary 2008'.

"As I write this, he has scored 14 international hundreds
against Australia during his career (seven in Tests, seven in
ODIs), and I have been on the field for many of them, so I
have plenty of opportunities to guage just how magnificent and
complete a batsman he is," he said in a specially highlighted
reference to the Mumbai maestro.

The Aussie captain said he tried to set up schemes and
strategies to trap Tendulkar but the Indian almost always
broke the code.

"We have tried a wide variety of schemes and strategies,
but he's usually had the answer to all of them...

"For me, right at the start of my Test career, it was a
great experience just to see such a champion player going
about his business in his conditions," he said in reference to
a contest in Mumbai.

Ponting also singled out the just retired Indian captain
Anil Kumble and promising pacer Ishant Sharma for special
appreciation and said batsmen could not relax against the two.

"Kumble made his Test debut back in 1990, and his feat in
reaching this milestone is a tribute to his remarkable
durability.

"The ability to succeed at the highest level for an
extended period is something I admire greatly, because it
requires a certain toughness, mental strength and a persistent
streak that few sportspersons possess. You need to be smart,
too.

"...he might be getting even better with age. It's an
exclusive group, the 500-plus Test wickets club, and the
Indian captain fully deserves to be a member of it," Ponting
said.

He also lauded Indian speeedster Sharma for his
awesome spell during the Perth Test.

"Tall, lean, ultra-impressive Ishant Sharma, playing just
his fourth Test and still eight-and-a half months short of his
20th birthday, had bowled an awesome spell to me: Seven overs
when he was fast, aggressive and relentless, where I never
felt as if I was truly 'in'," he said.