London: Comparing Sachin Tendulkar`s 100 international centuries to Sir Donald Bradman`s Test average of 99.94, former England captain Michael Vaughan said only "true greats in sport set an unreachable benchmark".
"When Sachin Tendulkar ended 369 days of waiting for his 100th international century we witnessed a player leaving the mark of true greatness on the game," said Vaughan.
"Only the true greats in sport set an unreachable benchmark and his 100 international centuries is Tendulkar`s equivalent of Sir Donald Bradman`s Test average of 99.94.
Vaughan said that the landmark seemed as if it would not be surpassed.
"Tendulkar has played international cricket since 1989. I can`t see a modern player lasting that long. A hundred international hundreds. Just take a couple of seconds to think about that. I thought I had a decent career to score 18," Vaughan wrote in his column in `Daily Telegraph`.
The former English player felt that the iconic batsman would not hang up his boots as he loves the game.
"What does Sachin do now? Go for 110? 150? Or will he quit? I think he will play on. He loves the game so why should he retire? What else is he going to do? He is in a fantastic position. He can play for the love of the game. He doesn`t need the money.”
"It is like going back to being aged 11. He can be carefree and enjoy his remaining time especially now the 100 hundreds pressure is off his back."
Stating that just being Sachin Tendulkar for a day would exhaust most people, Vaughan said, "Mastering your game, feeding the hunger for runs and keeping your passion for practice and all those hours working on your game away from the middle are the pillars on which their historic careers have been built."
Vaughan said he would want his son to play like Sachin. "Obviously he is in the top three batsmen in history of the game. He is an artist. Pretty, technically correct and everything you would want to look like at the crease.
"If you asked me how I would want my son to play I would answer `like Sachin`," he insisted.
Vaughan believed that Tendulkar was the best in the manner in which he scores his runs.
"His strokeplay is pleasing on the eye. I`ve said before that if you had a pencil and paper, and drew the perfect picture of batsman at the crease, then you would sketch out Sachin."
The 37-year-old also said that Tendulkar`s main focus has always been on scoring runs and that was why probably he could not be successful as a captain.
"When a captain is up in the morning his first thought process is about the team ? "How do I get him playing right and what is the strategy of the day?" After all that you then start thinking "how am I going to score my runs?" Not Sachin. It is all about runs. And keeping the fans happy," he said.
Vaughan said Tendulkar while waiting for his century for an year showed how sport is played in the mind.
"He is human and we have seen that in recent months as he waited for his 100th century. During that period he has been a walking model of how sport is played in the mind. He has clearly felt the pressure of expectation and it has permeated into his game for the first time in his career.
"Even with all his experience, he looked human. It`s natural to panic at times but he still made starts and generally only faded when the nerves crept in as a hundred loomed. It has been tough to watch his pain at times because he is such a nice bloke. He is so placid, humble and easy to talk to," said the former player.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, March 17, 2012, 14:34