logo
'I made your name': Ex-England cricketer on Sachin Tendulkar vs Virat Kohli

'I made your name': Ex-England cricketer on Sachin Tendulkar vs Virat Kohli

Time of India5 hours ago

Virat Kohli bows down to Sachin Tendulkar after breaking his record of most number of centuries in the ODIs during the 2023 ODI World Cup.
Former England cricketer
Allan Lamb
has picked his favourite Indian batter of all time.
The 71-year-old, who represented England in three World Cups and 79 Tests, said
Sachin Tendulkar
is the best India has ever produced.
"Sachin easily," Lamb told PTI.
He then explained how he helped make Sachin's career: "I played against him when he was 18. I dropped him at slip and he went on to get 100 (in a Test match). So I always say to him, it was me that made your name."
Arshdeep vs Morkel: WWE at the Nets! | Team India's Lighter Moment in Birmingham
Lamb then explained why he picked Tendulkar ahead of Gavaskar and Kohli.
"Kohli is a brilliant player, he's got all the shots, he can score quickly. But if you want the best player I played against, that Indian player is Sachin, even ahead of Sunny.
"The only thing I would have liked was to see Sachin play against the West Indies, where Sunny scored runs against the West Indies. He was probably the only Indian to score runs against those quicks," he said.
Poll
Do you agree with Allan Lamb's choice of Sachin Tendulkar as the best Indian batter?
Yes
No
Not Sure
But Lamb's favourite Indian cricketer of all time was his former Northamptonshire teammate
Kapil Dev
.
"I loved the way Kapil Dev played. We played together at Northampton," he recalled.
"I remember him coming over and me saying, 'Kapi, I'm so pleased that you've come over. We need to strengthen our bowling.' He said, 'No, I haven't come to strengthen my bowling. I've come to better my batting. I've come here as a batsman,' which I always enjoyed," he added.
Game On Season 1 continues with Mirabai Chanu's inspiring story. Watch Episode 2 here.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

After ‘stupid, stupid, stupid' moment in Australia, Rishabh Pant shut off his phone, began ‘most intense training'
After ‘stupid, stupid, stupid' moment in Australia, Rishabh Pant shut off his phone, began ‘most intense training'

Mint

time30 minutes ago

  • Mint

After ‘stupid, stupid, stupid' moment in Australia, Rishabh Pant shut off his phone, began ‘most intense training'

Rishabh Pant made a name among the greats of the game as he became only the second wicket-keeper batter in the history of the game to score a a century in both the innings of a Test match. The left handed batter registered scores of 134 and 118 in the two innings of the match but his efforts eventually went down in vain as India failed to defend a total of 371 in the fourth innings. Pant, however, has had a remarkable turnaround having gone from a rare poor spell of form in Test series against Australia earlier in the year to warming the bench in the Champions Trophy and later failing to score big in his maiden outing as the captain of Lucknow Super Giants in the IPL. In Australia, Pant managed to score only 255 runs at an average of 28.33 in the five matches. His innings included just 24 boundaries and 6 sixes which is a rarity for the southpaw who often takes the attack to the bowlers in the longer format of the game. According to a new report by The Times of India, Rishabh Pant realised that something was wrong with his batting after failing with a ramp shot in the first innings of the Melbourne Test — a dismissal which later became infamous due to former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar's comment "Stupid, stupid, stupid". From then until he finally demonstrated his true potential in the Leeds Test, it was a long journey for Pant, who had already experienced many highs and lows in his career. In March 2025, the batter uninstalled WhatsApp from his phone and kept his phone switched off unless he needed to contact someone. This was reportedly an attempt to remove the clutter from his mind after going through a chaotic cricketing season. The batter also went through a 'punishing' routine after being benched from the Indian team during Champions Trophy which was described by Soham Desai, India's strength and conditioning coach till before the England series. Speaking to TOI, Desai said, 'He did the most intense sessions, day in and day out. He dragged me into the gym whenever he was free. He didn't care about fatigue or workload programmes. All he said was he needed to keep working on himself. On the day of the final, he came to me with some kind of guilt in his mind and asked if he could take the day off. I said it was high time that he did,' 'Pant has so much in reserve that he will be fine for at least a year without having to do anything extraordinary. That's why you see him moving around so well despite scoring two hundreds and keeping wickets for so long in the Headingley Test,' he added.

India vs Pakistan may be on cards in Asia Cup despite Pahalgam attack as ACC set to convene meeting: Reports
India vs Pakistan may be on cards in Asia Cup despite Pahalgam attack as ACC set to convene meeting: Reports

Time of India

time33 minutes ago

  • Time of India

India vs Pakistan may be on cards in Asia Cup despite Pahalgam attack as ACC set to convene meeting: Reports

Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel The Asian Cricket Council ( ACC ) is set to take a decision regarding the Asia Cup and the possibility of India vs Pakistan match when it convenes a meeting in the first week of July, reported cricket body is hopeful to announce the schedule for the tournament, that could begin on September 10, during the meeting, the report tournament, played in the T20 format this year, will feature Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the UAE along with India and report said that the UAE remains the frontrunner to host the tournament, although there is also some discussion around staging it in a hybrid format. India are the designated hosts for this year's tournament. However, the ACC had earlier decided that when it is India or Pakistan's turn to host the Asia Cup, the tournament would be held in a neutral venueThere was an uncertainty regarding the tournament following the terror attack in Pahalgam in April. There was an escalation after India launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan in were also growing calls in India to boycott Pakistan in multilateral events. India and Pakistan do not play bilateral series in cricket. There was even chatter that India's boycott of Pakistan in global events will be discussed in the next ICC recently, the International Cricket Council (ICC) released the schedules for two global events, including the Women's ODI World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, and the Women's T20 World Cup in England. India and Pakistan are scheduled to face each other in both the tournaments. The first meeting is on October 5 in Colombo, and then on June 14, 2026, at and Pakistan men's teams last faced each other in the Champions Trophy in Dubai on February 23, where India registered a comfortable six-wicket victory.

England's Jamie Smith: Went After Jadeja In Leeds To Avoid Jasprit Bumrah's Spell
England's Jamie Smith: Went After Jadeja In Leeds To Avoid Jasprit Bumrah's Spell

News18

time34 minutes ago

  • News18

England's Jamie Smith: Went After Jadeja In Leeds To Avoid Jasprit Bumrah's Spell

Last Updated: England's batters attacked Ravindra Jadeja in the 82nd over to secure a win in the first Test against India because they wanted to avoid Jasprit Bumrah's spell. England's batters decided to attack Ravindra Jadeja in the 82nd over to quickly secure a win in the first Test, anticipating that India might bring in their key bowler Jasprit Bumrah in a last-minute attempt to claim wickets. With Joe Root and keeper-batter Jamie Smith comfortably at the crease, and the winning target of 371 within reach, Smith sealed the victory by hitting Jadeja for two sixes and a boundary, leading the hosts to a memorable five-wicket triumph. 'The runs at that point (when Smith decided to go after Jadeja) were not too many, so I wasn't expecting him (Bumrah) to come on and bowl (with the new ball), but you're just never quite sure, especially in cricket," Smith told ESPNCricinfo. England's strategy was that if Shubman Gill had brought Bumrah into the attack when the hosts were 355/5 after the 81st over, and if the Indian pacer had managed to take a couple of quick wickets, it could have made things more challenging for Ben Stokes' team. 'You don't know what will happen. I always back our tail but there could be a couple of decent balls and suddenly you're eight-down and the pressure's back on you again. It was nice to just get it done and move on." Smith explained, 'I knew there was a new ball coming and it looks as though I'd exposed Chris Woakes (at No. 8) but, at that point, if I'd hit another couple of sixes in that over, you're taking all the momentum into the new ball." He added, 'The second new ball can bring wickets but it can increase the scoring rate as well. There's always a little bit of calculated thinking behind it." Smith praised India, saying they 'kept trying all day" on the final day, but England's philosophy of keeping it simple in favourable batting conditions helped them cross the finish line. Chasing 371, England secured the victory in the final hour with notable performances from Ben Duckett (149), Zak Crawley (65), Root (53 not out) and Smith (44 not out). 'It was simple in that you knew you had to chase the runs and we weren't going to block out for the draw," Smith said. 'We were always going to be positive and try to get the runs. It was a rapid outfield and as good a batting conditions as you could have on day five." 'The wicket wasn't misbehaving too much as the Test went on, so you always felt as though you could keep it simple, you didn't have to do anything too out of the box to get the runs, which is very helpful," he said. Smith did not pay much attention to the talk about the inexperience in the Indian side. 'When they're trying to get 10 wickets and you're chasing 370, it's not every day that gets done. There could have been some head-downs at the end but they kept trying all day," he said. 'I see a lot of chat about maybe some inexperience on their part but I thought they were fantastic throughout the five days." Smith mentioned that the support from the team management to play aggressively had boosted his game. 'It's great. Having that belief from other people is something that definitely took my game to the next level," he said. 'When you're out there batting, it is you and your partner at the other end, so it's quite individual, but to have that backing and trust that other people are doing the same thing, you don't feel you're alone when you're doing what you feel is right at that moment." 'When you are caught on the boundary trying to hit the ball for six, you feel you're not going to get a slap on the wrist. (The attitude is) 'mate, that was a good option, the wind was howling that way'," he said. (With PTI Inputs)

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store