He was a few miles ahead of me: Brian Lara on Sachin Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar (Source: AP)

Former West Indies legend Brian Lara has heaped praise on Sachin Tendulkar and has revealed that the Indian star was miles ahead of him in terms of quality. 

The first time the two players met was back in 1990 in Toronto and they have shared a mutual admiration towards each other. 

Lara has claimed that Tendulkar was the most accomplished Indian batter against fast bowling he had ever seen. 

"When I met Sachin, he was already an established teenager. I was playing a lot of ODIs by then. Sachin said I was very small, fragile. I had the opportunity to hone my skills in one-dayers. My first impression of Sachin was that I had never seen an Indian batsman so accomplished against extreme fast bowling. Indian bowlers were good against spin but here was a teenager who scored runs against the best teams, bowling attacks in the world. From that day, I measured myself against Sachin. He was a few miles ahead of me at that time, I really wanted to be on part with him."

The Indian great is widely regarded as the best batsman of all time and Lara's admiration towards the master-blaster speaks volumes about his pedigree as a cricketer and the impact he made on the game. 

The former World Cup winner has 15921 runs in Tests, 18426 runs in ODIs for India. He has a combined total of 100 centuries across both formats as well. 

Meanwhile, Tendulkar regards Lara as one of the best players of all time as well. The West Indian had a remarkable career and the Indian star claims that Lara's agility and balance separates him from the other greats of the game. 

As quoted by Hindustan Times, Sachin Tendulkar said: "My first impression about Brian was his terrific balance. That agility in the crease, getting to the pitch of the ball, great hands, it's a God's gift."

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