While there is no gainsaying the fact that Sachin Tendulkar stands head and shoulders above his contemporaries, what has been totally ignored is that his 50th Test century made no difference to the humiliation India suffered in the first Test against South Africa. Cricket is a team game unlike tennis or golf for instance. India’s fortunes matter more in a Test series than individual glory. The glut of encomiums in the national dailies appear wholly disproportionate.
As for his comparison with Don Bradman the very idea is ridiculous. Most of those who participated in the poll would not have seen Bradman play. When Bradman played only the Ashes series counted. There were not as many nations participating in a Test series as now.
The ‘Bowral Boy’ as Bradman was known did not have another boy to play with where he grew up. He was self-coached. There were no coaches or academies then. He hit the ball against the wall of his house and hit it back on the rebound. He couldn’t afford to miss, there being no fielders! That was not the case in Mumbai suburb Bandra’s ‘Sahitya Sahawas’ where Tendulkar grew up.
More importantly, cricket did not fetch the type of money it does now. Top-rank players don’t have to work for a living now. There is good money for just playing, besides additional income from ads.
Besides, there were war years when Bradman played. How many runs he could have accumulated without that break in his playing career can only be a matter of conjecture.
Of greater relevance in this context is the bodyline bowling Bradman had to cope with. England captain Douglas Jardine had professional Harold Larwood to do his bidding, which was hurling the ball as fast as he could slightly outside the leg stump. Jardine sought to restrain Bradman’s prolific scoring.
Incidentally, Larwood settled in Australia later. When England team toured India last time Tendulkar did not seem to relish Flintoff’s bowling directed consistently on the leg side. Bradman is said to have moved backwards and hit Larwood as he liked.
Most significantly, Bradman did not decline the responsibility of captaining Australia. And finally, Bradman hit a hundred in each session of the day in a local league match.