In a major surprise, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar has named Pakistan Prime Minister and former cricket team skipper Imran Khan amoung his all time favourite all-rounders while as has given a snub to another former Pakistan great Wasim Akram.
“I grew up watching the top five all-rounders of the world. I played with one of them which is Kapil Dev. Second would be when I had gone on to my first tour to Pakistan and played against Imran Khan,” Tendulkar said on Star Sports’ Cricket Connected show.
“The third was playing against Sir Richard Hadlee on my second tour to New Zealand. Then in Australia, I played against Malcolm Marshall and Ian Botham. So, these are my top five all-rounders whom I grew up watching play and later, had the opportunity to play against them,” he said.
While everything is okey in the list with all of them being greats, to skip Wasim Akram in the list with whom Sachin played cricketvfor most part of his career is a major surprise.
If the criterion is limited to all-rounder only, Akram pales in comparison to Imran, Dev, Botham and Hadlee – all of whom had superior batting averages than the sultan of swing.
However, Marshall’s selection ahead of Akram could raise a few eyebrows, considering the fact that the latter does not just have better batting averages but also boasts a Test double ton: a six-laden 257 against Zimbabwe.