User: What makes Sachin Tendulkar so special?
Assistant: Sachin Tendulkar is wonderful not because of his cricketing prowess; if that were the case, roughly the same degree of adoration would have been held for Rahul Dravid, who is also in the same league in terms of performance...

164 Tests, 13288 runs at 52.88 versus Sachin's 200 Tests, 15921 runs at 53.86

As you can see, there is nothing to select between the two.

Of course, Sachin has a significant advantage in one-dayers: 39 vs 44 in averages. Yet not nearly enough to deserve Sachin's adoration.

Sachin is great in my opinion mostly because of his age when he first entered the cricket scene; to perform what he did at the age of 16 is incredible. Consider yourself at 16...and then consider Imran, Waqar, and Wasim blasting into you at 16 in front of a partisan crowd, with all of India watching. Consider yourself as a 16-year-old fighting the arch-enemy Pakistan. Imagine yourself at the age of 16 being smashed on the body with a leather ball. Consider yourself at 16 years old, attempting to focus on the ball in front of a roaring crowd.

That is what he did....


And a legend was born!

His achievements from 16 - 22 are the stuff of legend; and that is his primary claim to greatness.


Yes, there are other factors: his simplicity, his focus, his concentration, his determination, his longevity etc... but the primary one is the aspect listed above.


But even that does not explain his sustained claim to greatness over the years,

To this, we must add that he is a fighter who enjoys a good challenge. The manner he dealt with the top fast bowlers of the day, like as Allan Donald. And his famed war with Shane Warne... these battles, and more, when he faced the opposition, are unique to him; almost.


And then there's the fact that he's believed to have the purest game with the widest range of shots... To watch him bat is to witness beauty in action, poetry in motion. There is no better sight than Sachin in full flow...

And the icing on the cake?

He has succeeded in all forms of the game. Try and find me 2 other players who have done that.