Two Indians in Michael Clarke’s list of seven greatest batsmen he has played with or against

Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has bit the bullet. Well, when you have been at the top of international cricket, having captained your team to a World Cup win and scored a plethora of international runs, it ain’t always easy to pick the names of the greatest you have played with. Clarke, who appeared on Big Sports Breakfast, named seven greatest batsmen he played along side and only one Australian appears in that list.

Here are the seven batsmen and what Clarke said about them

SACHIN TENDULKAR

“Probably technically the best batsman I ever saw.”

“The hardest batsman to get out. I think Sachin, technically, didn’t have a weakness. Part of you hoped that he made a mistake.”

BRIAN LARA

“Probably my favourite batsman through my career,” Clarke said.

“You look at statstics and his average is probably not as high as others names on this list but it was the way he played, whether that it was against fast bowlers or spinners. It was the success he had against Australia. That’s the other thing about these batsmen I’ve picked is that they all dominated Australia. You think of an attack with McGrath, Gillespie, Brett Lee, Shane Warne — these guys bowling to these batsmen — and they all found a way to have success.”

VIRAT KOHLI

“I think right now the best batsman across all three formats.”

“His one day and twenty twenty records are phenomenal and he’s also found a way to dominate Test cricket. What Kohli and Tendulkar have in common is they love making big hundreds.

AB De VILLIERS

“I’m hoping he comes back and plays for South Africa again. Superstar. Can bat anywhere in the order. Dominates T20 cricket. He can score runs anywhere around the ground.”

JACQUES KALLIS

“The greatest all-rounder that I played against.”

“The impact he had against Australia, the way he was able score runs against our attack was extraordinary.”

RICKY PONTING

“He’s probably the best Australian batsman I played with.”

“I was lucky enough to play with some great batsman — Matthew Hayden, Steve Smith, David Warner, Adam Gilchrist, Damien Martyn who was a genius. What separates Ricky is the era that he played. Just about every attack had two or three top-line, world-class bowlers and he was able to dominate them.”

KUMAR SANGAKKARA

“He seems to be forgotten regularly.”

“Phenomenal. Batted at number three which I think is the toughest position. I think he scored three hundred in a row in a world cup. Sangakkara was a force and an absolute gentleman of the game.”

Michael Clarke scored 8643 runs in 115 Test matches at an average of 48.83 with 28 centuries to his name. He was equally good in ODIs, scoring 7981 runs in 245 matches at an average of 44.59.

HT