South Africa fast bowling legend Allan Donald on Saturday paid rich tribute to Sachin Tendulkar on him completing 11,000 runs in Test cricket.
"In my era, I think he is the best player I ever had the pleasure of playing against. He is something special, very freakish. I think that not only what he has done for the game, but also for his country is absolutely phenomenal. He is a credit to cricket," said Donald, who is also England's bowling coach.
Tendulkar became the third batsman to reach the milestone when he his individual score was 27 on Day 2 of the second Test against England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. He drove left-arm spinner Monty Panesar through the covers and achieved the feat during India's first innings. He finished the day unbeaten on 57 as India ended the second day on 254 for 3, a 56-run lead over England.
"I know he has been through a bad run through injuries for the last couple of years. But he looked quite his old self out there apart from being grilled. Not many times you see him getting scorned. But he is definitely the best I have seen," Donald said, referring to the nasty blow Tendulkar received on his helmet while facing James Anderson.
West Indies great Brian Lara, with 11,953 runs, and former Australian captain Allan Border (11,174) are the only players ahead of him in the run-scoring list in Test cricket.
Donald, who has enjoyed quite a few battles with the Indian batting ace, said Tendulkar deserves to go past Lara's record.
"Well, I hope he crosses it [Lara's record]. There is a lot of cricket left in Sachin; he still looks so boyish. It is just unbelievable how many years he has stuck it out and has achieved what he has achieved. It is scary to see how many hundreds he has clocked up in Test matches and not to mention one-day internationals. I hope he goes past, because I think he deserves that; because he is such a humble guy. He plays his cricket hard and it would be nice to see he goes past that," he said.
Meanwhile, team mate Dinesh Karthik also showered praise on Tendulkar, saying it is an honour to be playing along side the maestro.
"For me, he is the greatest player I have ever seen playing. I am so happy to be part of this team. I am honoured that a person like Sachin knows me by name and that is such a fantastic feeling for me," Karthik said.
Like Donald, Karthik is also confident that Tendulkar will eventually break Lara's record for most runs in Test cricket.
"I am hundred percent sure that he is going to beat the record. There is no doubt about that; it is a matter of fact," said Karthik, who also scored a half-century to boost India on the second day of the Test.