I didn’t know how to face Cronje, says Tendulkar

LONDON - Sachin Tendulkar, arguably the greatest batsman the game of cricket has seen after Sir Don Bradman, Saturday revealed that it was the innocuous bowling of former South African captain Hansie Cronje which tested him the most.

Tendulkar, who over the past 21 years, has hammered even the best of bowlers on a given day, said he dreaded facing the gentle looseners of late Cronje and did not know how to tackle him.

“The bowler who tested me the most was Cronje. Honestly, I got out to him more than anyone. When we played South Africa, he always got me out more than Allan Donald or Shaun Pollock.

“It was not that I could not pick him. It was just that the ball seemed to go straight to a fielder. I was going great guns in Durban one year and played some big shots against Donald and Pollock. Hansie came on and I flicked his first ball straight to leg-slip. I never knew what to do with him,” Tendulkar said in an interview to The Guardian.

When asked who was the best bowler he faced on merit, the little master named fast bowler Glen McGrath and Shane Warne among the spinners.

“I did okay against him (McGrath). But, among the spinners, Warne at his best was still something special,” he said.

A world cup trophy is one of the rare things missing from Tendulkar’s list of staggering achievements and he is looking forward to the 2011 edition in the sub-continent.

“It is going to be massive. Everyone in India is looking forward to a mega tournament and although people have not started talking yet about 1983 (the last time India won the World Cup) it will happen soon. But, given our recent form, people have a right to be excited and have extremely high hopes,” he said.

The 37-year-old is the leading run-scorer in Test and one-day format and is nearing a 50th ton in the five-day format of the game.