Cronje was toughest bowler for Sachin

Sachin Tendulkar might have tormented bowlers the world over but the only bowler who managed to unsettle the Indian batting icon to an extent that he “didn’t know what to do with him” was the late Hansie Cronje.

The ex-South African captain, who died in a plane crash after being banned for match-fixing, was the one man Tendulkar found hard to deal with, and bowling technique had nothing to do with it.

“Honestly. I got out to Hansie more than anyone. When we played South Africa, he always got me out more than Allan Donald or Shaun Pollock. It wasn’t that I couldn’t pick him — it’s just that the ball seemed to go straight to a fielder,” Tendulkar told a British daily.

Cronje snapped Tendulkar’s wicket five times in Tests, just two less than spin wizard Muttiah Muralidharan.

Tendulkar said facing Cronje was always a tricky proposition for him.

“I was going great guns in Durban one year and played some big shots against Donald and Pollock. Hansie came on and I flicked his first ball straight to leg-slip. I never knew what to do with him,” he said.

Tendulkar once again named McGrath as the best fast bowler he ever faced and despite dominating Shane Warne, the Indian icon considered the Aussie to be the best spinner he came across.

“I did okay against him (McGrath). But, among the spinners, Warne at his best was still something special,” he said.

The 37-year-old batsman, who has spent over 20 years in international cricket, is often compared to Sir Don Bradman and Tendulkar recalled some special moments he spent with the late Australian legend.

“We went to see him on his 90th birthday. It was very special. We were talking about averages and I said, ‘Sir Don, if you were playing today, what would you have averaged?’ And he said, ‘70 – probably.’ I asked, ‘Why 70 and not your actual average of 99?’ Bradman said, ‘Come on, an average of 70 is not bad for a 90-year-old man.’