In the never-ending debate on who among Sir Donald Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest batsman of all time, former England captain Naseer Hussain on Friday said his vote goes to the iconic Indian.
"Sir Donald Bradman was great but for me the greatest batsman to have ever played the game is Sachin Tendulkar," he said.
Hussain rubbished the recent spate of criticism of the Indian cricket team after their humiliating defeat in England and Australia, saying that the sub-continental giants were still a force to reckon with.
"You have Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh. And you - till recently - had (Rahul) Dravid," Hussain said at the India Today Conclave.
The former batsman, however, pointed out that the main reason for India's dismal show in England and Australia was excessive cricket.
"What I saw in England a few months after India's World Cup triumph was a team that was not well prepared. They were not quite ready for England.
"While a lot of the players were undercooked, most of the Indian players were overcooked. There was too much cricket being played (World Cup was followed by almost a two-month long IPL)," said Hussain.
"The difference between the two sides was England were well prepared while India were not," he added.
Hussain said there was a need for the cricket board to give adequate rest to the seniors.
"Modern cricketers are fit, well rested and prepared. That should happen," he insisted.
India's out-of-favour off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also agreed with Hussain, saying, "It is important to recharge your batteries. When you are getting into 30s, you need break and come back fresh and recharged."
Hussain though attributed India's World Cup victory last year to the Indian Premier League.
"IPL has given India players like Suresh Raina who became a massive factor in ODIs (during the World Cup 2011)."
Hussain pointed out that another problem with Indian cricket is that it was not producing enough quality bowlers.
"During the England series that followed the World Cup triumph, Praveen Kumar should not have been your best bowler. India always had quality batsmen but where are the bowlers? Where are they coming from?"
"Sir Donald Bradman was great but for me the greatest batsman to have ever played the game is Sachin Tendulkar," he said.
Hussain rubbished the recent spate of criticism of the Indian cricket team after their humiliating defeat in England and Australia, saying that the sub-continental giants were still a force to reckon with.
"You have Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh. And you - till recently - had (Rahul) Dravid," Hussain said at the India Today Conclave.
The former batsman, however, pointed out that the main reason for India's dismal show in England and Australia was excessive cricket.
"What I saw in England a few months after India's World Cup triumph was a team that was not well prepared. They were not quite ready for England.
"While a lot of the players were undercooked, most of the Indian players were overcooked. There was too much cricket being played (World Cup was followed by almost a two-month long IPL)," said Hussain.
"The difference between the two sides was England were well prepared while India were not," he added.
Hussain said there was a need for the cricket board to give adequate rest to the seniors.
"Modern cricketers are fit, well rested and prepared. That should happen," he insisted.
India's out-of-favour off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also agreed with Hussain, saying, "It is important to recharge your batteries. When you are getting into 30s, you need break and come back fresh and recharged."
Hussain though attributed India's World Cup victory last year to the Indian Premier League.
"IPL has given India players like Suresh Raina who became a massive factor in ODIs (during the World Cup 2011)."
Hussain pointed out that another problem with Indian cricket is that it was not producing enough quality bowlers.
"During the England series that followed the World Cup triumph, Praveen Kumar should not have been your best bowler. India always had quality batsmen but where are the bowlers? Where are they coming from?"
