Karachi, Feb 19: Former Pakistan captain Javed Miandad today congratulated Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar for equalling his record of six consecutive appearances in Cricket World Cup and described him as the "greatest batsman in history".
Tendulkar featured in his sixth consecutive World Cup today in India's opening match of the tenth edition against Bangladesh at Mirpur.
The 37-year-old Indian made his World Cup debut in 1992 when Pakistan won under Imran Khan with Miandad as one of the players. Since then he has played in every World Cup.
Miandad made his World Cup debut in 1975 and featured in every edition till 1996 when it was co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
"It is great achievement and I am happy that Sachin has equaled my record and I want to congratulate him," Miandad said.
"This is a long journey and he (Tendulkar) is definitely greatest batsman in history and his records speak for itself," he was quoted as saying by Associated Press of Pakistan.
"I have the pleasure of playing against Tendulkar in 1992 and 1996 World Cup. In fact, my last World Cup match was against India in Bangalore," Miandad, who played 233 ODIs and 124 Test matches for Pakistan, recalled.
Miandad had played in 33 World Cup matches, scoring 1083 runs.
Tendulkar, who was appearing in his 445th ODI at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium at Mirpur near Dhaka, had scored the highest number of runs -- 1796 from 36 matches before today -- in the World Cup.
Tendulkar also holds the record of scoring the highest number of runs and centuries in ODIs as well as Test cricket. PTI
