Sachin Tendulkar is one of the greatest to have played cricket: Brian Lara

Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara (Twitter)

New Delhi, April 4: Legendary West Indies batsman Brian Lara has stated Sachin Tendulkar, was not "but is one of the greatest" to have played the glorious game of cricket.

"Sachin Tendulkar not was but is one of the greatest to have played our glorious game," Lara said in an Instagram post.

With this post, Lara might have also have put an end to the debate that is still there between cricket pundits and fans to decide who was the better player between him and Tendulkar.

The southpaw, while sharing a video clip of Tendulkar's classic knock of 242 not-out against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in 2004, also urged people to be disciplined in life and follow the guidelines provided by the government to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We can all learn the discipline needed to COMBAT anything in life from this performance 241 not out vs Australia," Lara wrote.

In that Sydney Test which ended in a draw, Tendulkar had scored 241* off 436 balls and helped India post a mammoth score of 705/7 in their first innings.

Before that Test, the Master Blaster was caught behind on a number of occasions on the deliveries outside the off stump which he tried to play the cover drive shot.

However, at the SCG, he decided not to play a single cover drive and showed great grit and determination.

Steve Waugh, who was leading in that Test, had also praised Tendulkar for the discipline. "To me, it was a show of incredible fortitude, mental strength discipline," Waugh had told cricket.com.au.

"He actually followed through and didn't play a cover-drive although he scored a double hundred," he added.