Debate is continuing who is greatest among the two Don Bradman or Sachin Tendulkar, ever since Don Bradman gave the below mentioned statement about Sachin Tendulkar:
“I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two".
I feel there is lot difference between the era in which Don played and Sachin playing. But looking at the records one must say it is difficult to achieve the average of 99.94% is tough by any means in this era even if Don played in this he wouldn't have ended with the same average.
To understand this we have to compare two era with following factors: Formats of the game, technology, expectations and pressure of countrymen, playing and pitch conditions , cricketing gears,variety of bowling, amount of cricket and number of countries playing cricket. If compare on above parameters I feel Sachin is far away from Don Bradman on above parameters.
1. Only Test Match format existed in Bradman's time while in Sachin's time 3 formats are existing Test Match, One-Day Cricket and T20s. So Tendulkar has to adjust different formats and have to think more about his batting to the demands of different formats which was not the case with Don. So on this parameter Sachin is greater than Don Bradman as he is successful in all formats.
2. There were no technology involved in cricket during Bradman's time so it was difficult for the bowlers to figure out the flaws in batting technique of a player. Also no third umpire existed for run-outs and close catches but in Sachin's time technology progressed very much and every team is using laptops and computer analyst to find out flaws in batting techniques, so it is easier for the bowlers to get batsman out by bowling on his weakness. Also third umpire played important role in close decisions. So after all these technological advancement Tendulkar is holding record of scoring highest runs and centuries in both Test Matches and One-Day Cricket with healthy average. So here also my judgement is that Tendulkar is greater than Don Bradman.
3.Expectations and pressure were not much from the countrymen in Bradman's era because cricket was amateur sports, While in Sachin's era cricket is religion in the country where he lives and his countrymen expects Sachin to perform in every match and win matches for India and it is professional sport with high competition. So on this front also Sachin is greatest because till now he fulfilled all the expectations of his countrymen and performed under substantial pressure.
4. If we talk about playing conditions then I feel in Bradman era cricket was played on uncovered pitches which was tough as compared to today where pitches are covered and far more batting friendly but here also one thing that comes out is Bradman played 80% of the matches against one country and that was England so he was quite aware of the conditions and pitches in England and Australia where he played his most cricket, hence he played in familiar conditions while Tendulkar played in different conditions and in more than 12 countries so he has to prepare and adjust himself extensively to score runs. So here also Tendulkar is great as he played against more than 12 different countries with different playing conditions and different pitches.
5. In Bradman era cricket gears were not advance enough to protect the body from the cricket ball so it was tough to cope with the bowlers and score runs. But in Sachin's time cricketing gears are far more protective and advance so I feel here we can say Bradman was better than Sachin as he played without helmet and proper cricketing gears like thigh-pads, hand guards,etc.
6. Bradman mostly face fast bowling in his era and he was mainly a backfoot player but Sachin has played all variety of bowling which varies from off-spin, leg-spin, swing bowling, fast bowling, left-arm spin,etc. and yet dominated all types of bowling and Sahin played greatest of the bowlers during his career like Ambrose, Walsh, Marshall, Waqar, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Glenn Mcgrath, Shane Warne, Chamida Vaas, Muralitharan, Allan Donald and list continues. So here also I feel looking at variety of attack Tendulkar faced which makes him greater than Bradman.
7. Bradman played was playing one or two series in year so it was easier for Bradman to maintain his fitness and he got good time for resting his body. Also he played only Test matches while Tendulkar is playing round the year 4-6 series including Test Match, One-Day Cricket and T20s, yet he manages himself to keep fit and played equal number cricket as Bradman played in terms years. Bradman played for 20 years and Tendulkar yet playing and is in 21st year of his International career. Important thing is Bradman got the break from cricket for few years due to World War while Tendulkar is playing continuously for 20 years. So here also Tendulkar is greater than Bradman.
So at the end I come to the conclusion that Sachin Tendulkar is greater than Don Bradman without a shadow of doubt and I feel comparison must stop here itself.
Lastly Tendulkar has to be awarded Bharat Ratna and Knighthood as soon as possible.
