'I made Sachin Tendulkar's name': England legend's dramatic claim; ignores Virat Kohli, Sunil Gavaskar

The greatest batter across generations has been a never-ending debate in world cricket, and South African-born England legend Allan Lamb has been the latest expert to have his say on the matter, as he picked Sachin Tendulkar over Sunil Gavaskar and Virat Kohli, before making a flamboyant claim on the 52-year-old. Allan Lamb had his say on Sunil Gavaskar vs Sachin Tendulkar vs Virat Kohli

Speaking to PTI, the 71-year-old, who represented England in three World Cups and 79 Tests, did not think twice when asked to pick across the three generations of Indian batters who have dominated international cricket. In fact, he claimed that he put Tendulkar on the world map, recalling his encounter with the 18-year-old during a Test match. Lamb had dropped him at slip, and the Indian batter later went on to score a century in that game.

"Sachin easily. I played against him when he was 18. I dropped him at slip and he went to get 100 (in a Test match). So I always say to him, it was me that made your name," he laughed.

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The two faced off in only three international games during India's tour of England in 1990. Lamb referred to the match in Manchester, where Sachin scored an unbeaten 119, his maiden Test century to help India draw the game.

Lamb added: "Kohli is a brilliant player, he's got all the shots, he can score quickly. But if you want the best player I played against, that Indian player is Sachin, even ahead of Sunny. The only thing I would have liked to see Sachin play the West Indies, where Sunny scored runs against the West Indies. He was probably the only Indian to score runs against those quicks."

Lamb, however, picked Kapil Dev as his favourite Indian cricketer of all time, with whom he had shared the dressing room at Northamptonshire.

He said: "I love the way Kapil Dev played. We played together at Northampton. I remember him coming over, and I saying, 'Kapi, I'm so pleased that you've come over. We need to strengthen our bowling'. He said, 'no, I haven't come to strengthen my bowling. I've come to better my batting. I've come here as a batsman, which I always enjoyed."

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