The legendary former Indian batsman has named the one bowler he would've liked to face from the current era.
Sachin Tendulkar is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of the game. In his playing days, he made life miserable for bowlers across the globe, and his intense match-ups with the likes of Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Wasim Akram are etched in cricket history.
Often, comparisons have been made across the different eras of cricket, with fans drawing fantasy battles between the two generations. On social media, we often see fans pairing some of the greatest cricketers in the previous generation against the leading players in the current era.
Now, Tendulkar himself has named the bowler he would have liked to face among the current generation. The 'Master Blaster' believes that Afghanistan's Rashid Khan would be an "interesting" opponent to face due to a number of variations he possesses.
“If I have to face one bowler from this generation, it would be Rashid [Khan]. Almost everyone has talked so much about his bowling and I’ve also enjoyed it ," said Tendulkar in a Q/A session on YouTube.
"So it will be interesting to face him… because the way he disguises – the googly, leg spin and top spin – he has quite a few variations. It would be fun to actually go out and face him.”
Tendulkar further talked about the difference in batting in his era and the present, saying that the use of one ball/innings made it challenging for a batsman as the match progressed in ODIs.
“When the sun is going down – during Day Night ODI matches. I played during the time when just one ball was used. So the discolouration made that particular phase rather challenging… to pick the shiny side and the rough side because the ball would reverse,” Tendulkar said.
“It made batters’ lives challenging. The ball would also sometimes get soft. Bowlers and fielder will put a lot of sweat, and in those days, saliva too. So the ball would reverse.”
