Impossible for anyone to get near Sachin’s 100 centuries: Gilchrist

Sachin Tendulkar is perched high above from rest of the top batsmen of the world, opines former Australian wicketkeeper and explosive opener Adam Gilchrist. The Kings XI Punjab skipper also feels that it almost impossible for anyone to get anywhere near the legend's landmark of 100 international centuries, says a report in The Tribune.

Giving example of Ricky Ponting, who has recently retired from the ODI format, Gilchrist said 29 centuries separate Tendulkar from his former skipper. "That speaks about Tendulkar's greatness — the gap between him and the rest. He is way ahead. I really doubt that anybody would ever break this record," Gilchirst told PTI, according to the newspaper.

"If you look at the records, Ponting is the world's best batsmen next to Tendulkar. But his combined tally (of Test and one-day centuries) is 71 (41-30)," he said.

Indian Express quotes Gilly saying that  Tendulkar's critics could argue that he has played more matches against countries like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh but even 10 centuries were added to Ponting's, he would still be 19 centuries away. "Tendulkar's record is truly unique, remarkable. He is playing with the same intensity for last 22 years... That shows how big a player Tendulkar is," he said.

Meanwhile, Sachin Tendulkar is fit and in good shape to play the Indian Premier League (IPL), says a report in The Times Of India. On Saturday evening at the Wankhede Stadium here, Tendulkar turned up to play in a Mumbai Indians practice match. After a brief net session, he relaxed in the dressing room while his teammates played the first innings. In the second innings, Tendulkar padded up and walked out to the middle with Davy Jacobs.

He ran a couple of singles, looked a little edgy with the bat, but certainly fit throughout his brief innings. His stint put to rest all doubts about his big toe, which was reported to be injured and rumours kept floating that he would miss the IPL. Mumbai Indians team management said the reports were false and Tendulkar himself confirmed the same with his brief stay at the crease.

Hindustan Times adds that Tendulkar hit the nets and batted for half-an-hour before returning to the dressing room. Pacers RP Singh, Munaf Patel, Dhawal Kulkarni and Amitoze Singh along with spinners Pragyan Ojha and Yuzvendra Chahal bowled to him. “Later, the Little Master also opened the batting with Davy Jacobs in the practice match. However, he could not last long as he was caught off Pragyan Ojha’s bowling at square-leg while trying to scoop.”