Sydney: Former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee said that Sachin Tendulkar edges Brian Lara in the race for the greatest batsman he has bowled to, but Jacques Kallis was in his opinion the "greatest complete cricketer."
"You think of Sachin Tendulkar, it just looked like he had more time," Lee told former Zimbabwe cricketer turned commentator Pommie Mbangwa.
File image of Sachin Tendulkar"The best way to explain the meaning of time in cricket is that it felt like Sachin was batting on the return crease, batting next to the stumps, it just felt like he had more time to play against me, in my opinion he was the best batsman in the world.
"Then you go on to Brian Lara, he was so flamboyant, it did not matter how quick you bowled against him, he could smash you in six different areas on the ground.
File image of Jacques Kallis"Lara and Sachin are neck to neck when you talk about greatest batsmen. In my opinion, Sachin is the greatest batsman, but the greatest complete cricketer in my opinion has to be Jacques Kallis."
Former South African all-rounder Kallis holds the distinction of being the only player to have scored more than 10,000 runs and taken more than 250 wickets in both ODI and Test cricket. He was also a handy slip fielder with 200 catches in his Test career.
Tendulkar has the most number of runs in the longest format of the game, amassing 15,921 runs. Tendulkar scored 51 Test centuries, most by any player.
Things are no different in ODI cricket as Tendulkar atop the list of most runs in this format as well. He has accumulated 18,426 runs in ODI which includes 49 tons.
Tendulkar represented the country in six World Cups during his career that lasted for 24 years. He was the part of the 2011 World Cup-winning squad.
Also, Lee has said that he would pick Steve Smith over Virat Kohli because of what the Australian batsman has had to overcome in his career.
Showering praise on Smith, Lee also said that the right-handed batsman could become as good as Don Bradman.
Smith was handed a one-year ban from international cricket in 2018 for his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal against South Africa.
However, the batsman went on to make a return in 2019 and he was named as Australia's Player of the Series in Ashes 2019.
