TO the Indian fans Tendlkar is a great batsman but to belittle Bradmans achievement really shows a lack of knowledge. Simply, it can be argued that within this generation Tendulkar has many peers with records as good as his ie Kallis, Ponting, Dravid, Samgakkara, Lara etc. However, Bradman had no peer at the time that could match his record, none that even come close. TO belittle his achievements because he only played England is short-sightedness. That's all he had and if it was so easy why wasn't every batsman knocking up a 100 average?

GOD of the cricket

Cricketer of the generation - Person being the ambassador of the game. Clean of bad ethics. Crowd puller. Inspiration for the younger generations. Achievements. Charity. Only sachin fills in all the categories. I might have missed some few points which they would used for filtration. Surprised to see why they have left out Murali who is the leading wicket taker in tests. They could have named this order Best batsmen, best bowler and all rounder for the last 20 decades. All the three names fills in the said order. Cric info could have been wiser in announcing the awards. Haddin should have been chosen for the best batting awards. Ashes in eng and Aus.

@Robert Eddings: Plz forget about the number of centuries scored in world cups. Plz count the number of runs scored in each world cup.. plz complete your research and come back..

@Leg-Breaker & Robert Eddings Tendulkar scored quite a few 90's & 80's in the WC matches like 98 v/s Pak where he destroyed the fastest bowler in the world(Shoaib akhthar & co) in SA, 97 v/s srilanka in SA &, 85 v/s Pak in Semi-final(probably the most important innings played by Sachin in WC) & few more 80's which resulted in INDIAN victoryl!!!! Sachin took more MOM in WC for winning matches than any other player in the WC history!! Sachin was the top run getter in 96 & 03 & 2nd top run getter in 2011 WC which India Won whereas Lara was poor when it came to "BIG" matches & also his record in WC matches is pathetic to say the least!! Lesser we talk about Kallis in WC matches, it's better for him as he NEVER EVER performed consistently in the WC matches...Punter played in a team which had great players in 2003 WC & 2007 WC which makes lot of difference when you compare Sachin who played with probably one of the worst bowling attacks in the world which resulted in very few losses!!

for people who keep saying Tendulkar performed under tremendous pressure, it is not their fault that warne or kallis was not born in a nation of a billion people. Who knows, they may have done better under pressure - with a billion people comes marketing dollars and the backing of these corporate giants that keep the longevity in the team even when u don't perform.

Like somebody pointed out six centuries in world cups in lost causes make for a good batsman not a great one. Kallis deserved this clearly.

Guys, stats don't tell the whole story. Yes, for example, Tendulkar has six World Cup centuries, but three were vs Namibia and Kenya, and the other three were losses (England, South Africa, Sri Lanka) in games in which everyone scored freely. In comparison, Ponting and Viv Richards and Brian Lara had world cup centuries which won games and were vs tough opposition, though Ponting has one world cup century vs a minnow team (Scotland). So stats must be examined carefully.

Lol, i Think You Forgot Afridi. Its a Great PLeasure to See that a Pakistani Player has Won an Award, But for a Second Time. Great stuff by Afridi, sometimes it seems he Doesnt Know Cricket, but another Moment, Ponting or Gayle might want some LEssons.

Those people who think Tendulkar is better then Bradman are kidding themselves. They forget that Bradman was unable to play for almost 8 years due to the war. Take an 8 year block out of Sachin's record from ages 29 to 37 and compare records. Sachin's career becomes 9307 runs at 45.62. His average is less then half of Bradman's and Bradman never got to feast on Bangladesh, Zimbabwe or New Zealand attacks.

Good as Sachin is, he is not in the same class as Bradman - but then again, nobody is. Bradman is a freak and such a statistical outlier that it is doubtful that anyone will ever match his record, which makes comparisons with him a bit pointless. I agree with those who nominate Kallis. His batting record compares with Sachin's and his bowling is world class in it's own right.

wellrounded87, I have clearly explained the unique problem Tendulkar had to go through in his career. No other batsmen had to go to bat everytime with the pressure that Tendulkar had. His fans wanted nothing short of a century from him every time. Despite that the man was amazingly consistent for 24 years. Forget the pressure, now if Bradman had to play all formats of the game and had to face so much different opposition in so many different venues, how much do you think he would have averaged? Let me tell you, whatever Brad Haddin averages. Because like Haddin and many other Aussies before him, Bradman was an England bully. Look at what Haddin averages against other opposition and you will know how poor he was. Perhaps Bradman may have been a little better but not by much. No one would know but I suspect he would not have averaged more than 50. Since Oz still continue to play more tests against Eng, perhaps he would have boosted his avg to 50.

"But to suggest Tendulker is in the same field as Bradman is nothing short of delusional." ----------------- Why not. Other than average I do not think there is anything that says Bradman was better than Tendulkar, Tendulkar also has his sets of numbers to say that he is better batsman. For starter Bradman did not play both formats and played against same oppositions. Kallis vs indian bowlers is an example of how one could score given same set of club level bowlers.

@Maheen Ranasinghe, afraid of playing Sri Lanka? hahaha. Why would we be afraid of playing you? You have never won a test in India or Australia. Congrats on winning a test in South Africa but that is by far the only achievement your team can claim. Well, that and couple of test wins in England. India have won even test series in England and we have done that 3 times which is more than tha number of tests won by SRL in England. Sri Lanka is a complete joke in tests. In ODIs, we have beaten you for fun so many times the last few years and it has actually got so boring that we decided to lose to you in the Asia cup. In T20s, your team has never won a world cup but we won the very first edition.

@WellRounded87 Personally as an Australian fan since 1964, I don't see a problem to give Tendulkar this award. I don't remember ANY match winning knocks Kallis has displayed which bulge out in the open. The only ones which strikes me is his MATCH SAVING 100 at the G in 97 and 2011 Cape Town against the Indians. After researching his exploits, I can say that most of his knocks were match saving. Gimme Ricky Ponting or Shane Warne and their abilities to turn matches around. Ponting's 100's against the Saffas in 2002 and 2006 are match winning to me. It's safe to say that Sachin won ths award for his longevity for 20 years added to the immense pressure he faced from his countrymen. I can understand though that it's solely your opinion.

@TommytuckerSaffa, come on, a little class would be nice :). Don't be so bitter mate. Jaffa of a series we had last week. Cheers!

There are others like Lara who were better batsman than Sachin. Viv Richards was fearsome. Steve Waugh or Rahul Dravid would be the ones I would choose if my life is at stake to bat for me. But when we talk about carrying the expectation of billion cricket crazy fans and conducting himself so impeccably on field, he deserves this award. None of the other greats had this burden of expectation to carry. So he certainly deserves the award not so much for his cricketing skills alone.

@Thozar Sorry mate. But you can try and excuse it all you want. But to suggest Tendulker is in the same field as Bradman is nothing short of delusional. Bottom line if Bradman had it easier then so would have all the other batsmen of the same Era and guess what not one of them came anywhere near doing what Bradman did. And if SRT has had it so hard then he would be head and shoulders above the batsmen of his era and guess what he's not.

Tendulker is a superb talent and truly one of the greats but Bradman is one of a kind, no other sportsman in any sport has been so head and shoulders above the rest of the field.

Personally i would have given the award to Kallis. I know if i could only have one player in my team of the three mentioned Kallis would get the nod any day of the week. And I'd even put Warne ahead of SRT. Both Kallis and Warne put together a lot more match winning performances than SRT ever did.

This awarding is another showcase of things to come from so called "Big Three". More money power, more awards to themselves. It was hilarious from the time when these people didn't chose Murali for the 3 short listed names. Sri Lanka has been a consistent and a successful cricketing nation for almost 2 decades. How many times have Australia, India or England played 3 test series against Islanders?? You don't want fingers in two hands to count. Is this simply because so called big cricketing nations afraid of losing against them or very little profit they get by playing them?? Well done ICC. you are going the right way. And for ESPNcricinfo awards, Thanks for being biased by the best possible way for awarding.

Everytime Sachin gets an award, Oz fans have to bring up Don Bradman's name. Let me tell you guys, Bradman never had to face the same pressure as Sachin, not just on-field but off-field too. People who say Sachin played with an helmet, Sachin wore an helmet only because his sponsors and BCCI wanted him to as they didn't want their most precious asset injured even though the great man was so confident of his technique and would have never got injured anyway. Uncovered pitches? Bradman never had to play in the turning tracks of India and he didn't play on sticky wickets as much as Oz fans woud like you to believe. It was just one or two tests, otherwise the wickets weren't as sticky as you would think. Bradman's technique was never scrutinized as much as Sachin's and bowlers never had the tech to analyze his strengths as weaknesses. Bradman never had to play ODIs and T20s. Considering all this, Sachin is way superior to any player that has played ever, period.

"Seems to me the worst of the 3 players in a generation won. " ---------- Do you have any facts , or numbers to back it up? Like for example, Tendulkar being behind in most runs, most hundreds, most man of the matches etc etc. I am sure you have figures that we certainly have not read or seen.

Kallis took almost 300 Test wickets and over 200 catches, scored at a higher batting average than Sachin, played more of his cricket on difficult tracks than Sachin...

A decision to please the masses.

A decision simply to please the masses, such a shame. Will we see another flat tracker? Of course, but will we ever see someone like Kallis again. Doubt it.

Sachin, all these haters have never seen you in your peak. With exception of Lara, I just don't remember anyone so dominant and carried the team single handed like you did. And remember this is not voted by 1.2 bn people, its a 50 cricketing experts with 11 Indians in it. I am sure any dumb 2nd class will understand 11 can't wag anything out of 50. So you truly deserve this!! Also never understand why our neighbors are so eruptive against us. We always loved that small country and great cricketers. Learn to accept & appreciate guys. For Kallis, he surely a great cricketer and he matured and dominated in the last 4-5 years and if anyone followed cricket before that he never even appeared to be in line with Sachin, Lara, & Ponting. This proves the haters of Sachin never watched cricket in 90's or early 2000. Only thing that degraded Sachin was his longevity as he could have let go much earlier but I am sure he stayed long for the love of the game and to pass the baton to next gen.

Congrats. Correct decision.

To have been the best, you should have played your best against the best :-) I have been following cricket these years in consideration and no one was ever so dominating and than Sachin. Jayasuriya never really exploded against Australia and South Africa (averages less than 24) and Kallis too doesn't have many match winning innings against them. But that doesn't mean we underestimate Sanath and Kallis. Both have been great ambassadors of the game.

Has there been any cricketer who was a crowd puller like Sachin was? I still remember 1999, when Aussies audience came only to watch Sachin bat! For a man who created nightmares to Shane Warne and played so well against Murali, McGrath, Donald, Akram, Waqar (remember playing always doesn't mean scoring runs, we should consider technique too) I don't think anyone can question the selection unless they have played a minimum of 25 Tests at least ;-)

Sachin seems to be the correct choice for the award. People may argue that his contributions have not really resulting in equivalent number of wins. However, these people need a reminder that Sachin was scoring runs in a team full of mediocre players (especially in the later 90s). Ponting,kKAllis and for that matter no other players of the modern generation can pull that stunt off season after season.

Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma are definitely wrong choices for the awards given in the respective categories. Brad Haddin had an insane amount of test innings where he singe handedly put Aus in driving seats throughout the Ashes.

I am completely flabbergasted by Rohit's selection. He moves arround like a headless chicken in overseas conditions. He has highly inflated ego (telling steyn we shall see you how you do in India). This guy should not be given this much importance in world cricket. Average player with some fluke fluent innings over the span of 5 years of international cricket

Nothing for Trent Boult/Tim Southee and the likes of? New Zealand was arguably the on form team for all of 2013

EVERYONE KNOWS WHO THE REAL CRICKETER OF THE GENERATION IS - SIR J. KALLIS - he can bat he can bowl. he can bowl at 135 - 140 pace.. India even cant find a proper bowler bowling at that pace with consistency. They have chosen tendulkar only to satisfy the world's second largest country where 20% of the population are there. a country where 1.2 billion people who are not physically active cheer 11 of their best available cricketers. I have nothing against tendulkar. he is one of the greatest players but you cannot find a J . kallis who were fit (hardly without any injuries) , an allrounder who made SA proud for a number of years not only with bat but also with the bowl.

Seems to me the worst of the 3 players in a generation won. Seems the Indian bandwagon continues, all there good players seem to be better than everyone else. Is it strange that all the odi 200's have been by Indian batsmen in India? Maybe shows how placid there wickets are to produce high test averages like alot of there batsmen have, yet away from home Raina and the likes are no better than marginal players in any other nation. Stats don't show the whole story.

kallis . no doubt. and Im an aussie so no bias. batted better and bowled like a full timer. its so obvious it makes u wonder how it wasn't him.

I read in some comments Kallis had a better average then Sachin, i want to bring to public notice here that at the end of his 166th test (same as played by Kallis) Sachin had a batting average higher than Kallis and it rose further to 56.94 after 177th test after which there was a decline. And Outside SA Kallis didnt enjoy a good time in few countries and his batting against Eng and Aus was not at par with Sachin. For the SriLankan fans who are boasting of Sanga being better than Sachin please check his away batting avaerage in England, India and South Africa and then talk. Hint its in mid 30s, pretty ordinary.

If we are talking 'cricketer of this generation', the answer is Kallis; if we are talking 'bowler of this generation', the answer is Warne; if we are talking 'batsman of this generation', the answer is Tendulkar. One more demonstration that all cricketing observers can see is batting.

@Hasitha, I'm sure you would love to pick Sanga (perhaps the best Sri Lankan player of all time) and Jayasuriya.

I have just one question on behalf of "every other guy on Earth," can you show me one list where Jayasuriya (and he was a great player on his day) was picked ahead of Tendulkar. Every single cricketing great (most of them are not Indian and have no ties with the BCCI) have always picked Tendulkar in their Fantasy or Final XI greats of all time, in Tests and ODIs.

You can check this on Cricinfo itself if you'd like. Till then (and I don't mean to sound rude) your team picking is biased and defies logic.

Feel free to respond, but lets see some facts - not random thoughts and unnecessary favouritism.

"Who holds the record for the fastest test fifty? Jacques Kallis, that "slow war horse.""---------------- yes. his career sr is 72 in odis. he is unfit for modern fast cricket.

When comparing Sachin to Kallis, how many wickets did Sachin take? how many catches? Case closed.

@ Gaurav Kapoor writes that "kallis is overrated. He never dominated even once with bat or ball. Slow war horse. Most boring batsman ever. Flintoff> Kallis. holds no candle to Lara n Sachin or Warne"

Ignorance is bliss, it is said, and there are some very salient facts you are clearly unaware of. Who holds the record for the fastest test fifty? Jacques Kallis, that "slow war horse."

I think the cricketer of the past generation is Sujith Somasundar. If you look at his ODI and List A stats, he can clearly be deemed at better player than all of his contemporary peers.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/usa/content/player/34086.html

@Arjun Sachdeva....ok may be for sir Viv..i could have added sachin tendulkar but there are strong candidates for no 4 slot...AB,KP,or Kohli..i would pick AB de villiers or kohli(even though i dnt like him) for sachin for no 4 slot any day....besides apart from indians Every other guy on earth would have picked Sanath Jayasuriya for ODIs other than Sachin Tendulkar.......................................and for tests sanga average as pure batsman without gloves 69.86 in 74 tests and 28 hundreds.....so gilly is the only wicket keeper left....

If people understand cricket well, they know Match Winner is not the person who hit last run, but who make others to hit the run. Sachin is the opener and he can't finish all the matches but he will make job easy for finishers. If India could not win by his runs, at least they got closer to win. Sachin created new generation team (Dhoni/Yuvraj/raina/sehwag) who are truly inspired by him. And this team won the World Cup for India. What else you can expect from a sportsman??

it is a surprise to see muralitharan not been considered in front line race his track record proves none of the offspinners had his break and performance that era except the previous era had class off spinners like gibbs ,prasanna ,venkat

@Hasitha - please don't take this the wrong way but your list is skewed.

For example on what basis have you included Sir Viv Richards in the list for an ODI Team based on the last 20 years. With the same logic, you might as well include the likes of Sir Don Bradman (who rated Tendulkar as good as himself), Zaheer Abbas, Sunil Gavaskar and Sir Richard Hadlee.

To the more pressing question, on who Tendulkar "could" replace a batsman, you have your opinion but if you look into it then in Tests its Gilly who would be replaced by Tendulkar - who plays with two left handed wicket keepers in tests EVER? Tendulkar's average and consistency is better than Gilly's plus he bowls the odd leg spin as well.

In ODI's it would have to be Jayasuriya - 445 matches and an average of just 32? Seriously, I get the patriotism but lets not get carried away.

In T20I you are absolutely correct, he doesn't have a place but that's only because he didn't play enough matches (just one).

Cheers!!

i would have to disagree with Indian fans saying sachin has inspired the whole world as Sachin has only inspired indian fans....Kallis has a better batting average than Sachin.....not saying Kallis is better but that stat should have also been taken in account......but still think there should have been a different categories for all rounders and bowlers as well......no matter how many runs a team scores it is useless if the bowlers can't take 20 wickets. So ultimately bowlers have more significance than batsmen

"MATCH WINNER" Those two words have been used by most of the haters to make us all feel that what they are saying is right.. what I feel is that Sachin is the right candidate for that award by some distance to his near rival. It is the mark which he has left behind, which is important.. Lot of young cricketers(not just Indian) follow him and his way of batting. Even greatest bowlers like Wasim, Waqar and Bret lee had rated him above all other. The haters have found one more arguement and that is BCCI being powerful has made the votes go in favour of Sachin.. What a joke..

Did Sachin deserve this ??

yes, he does. he transformed a generation and made India what it is now. All these crazy cricket fans are because of him. He is admired by everyone in the world and he has won more away matches as a batsman than everyone except Ponting. But as everyone will say, Ponting had the best bowling with two legends Warne and Mcgrath.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=11;filter=advanced;home_or_away=2;home_or_away=3;orderby=runs;result=1;runsmin1=50;runsval1=runs;template=results;type=batting

But who was the greatest match-winner of all time ?

Muttiah Muralitharan

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=11;filter=advanced;orderby=wickets;result=1;template=results;type=bowling;wicketsmin2=5;wicketsval2=wickets

His away stats are good as well. He won matches everywhere except Australia. Warne was so too. He did well everywhere except India.

Atleast it should have been to these two !!

Not sure if Sachin was the biggest match winner of last generation, probably the jury had more Indian names in it and no one in India has balls to say something against Sachin. I personally would have chosen Lara, Akram and Warne over Sachin and that's without any stats guru rather the impact these players had over games/series compare to Sachin.

past generation test xi 1.Heydan 2.Dravid 3.Ponting 4.Lara 5.Kallis 6.Sangakkara 7.Gilchrist 8.Warne 9.Waseem Akram 10.Muralitharan 11.Macgrath.........i dont think sachin could replace any of this batsman....

Past generation ODI xi 1.Sanath Jayasuriya 2.Gilchrist(wk) 3.Ponting(c) 4.Sir Viv Richards 5.Kallis 6.MS Dhoni 7.Shahid Afridi 8.Waseem Akram 9.Brett Lee 10. Muralitharan 11.Waqar Younis......Sachin coudn't replace any of this players because they were/are all match winners unlike sachin.....

And then Best T20 xi.. 1.Gayle 2.Brendon Macculum 3.Watson 4.Kohli(Sadly) 5.AB de villiers 6.MS dhoni(C/Wk) 7.Pollard 8.Afridi 9.Malinga 10.Steyn 11.Ajmal....Then How Sachin is the best...

Sachin is the best, he deserved it as he influenced fans allover the world to take cricket, he is an institution & an inspiration for all sports fans in the world. Kallis was not an inspiration to even his fellow teammate as he never used to discuss or advice to batting partner. Warne is the best spinner ever to play test cricket but he had his great share of controversies. Sachin could not win many test matches because India's bowling was never penetrative enough be it then or now. If a batsman makes a 150+ & the bowler gives that many easily then the batsman's hard work is wasted, this was the problem.

@robinson..please explain how kallis was a bigger watch winner than sachin?? kallis is the best all rounder of his generation,but he was never a bigger match winner...and no other cricketer has inspired as sachin did

Congrats SRT... Truly well deserved..What makes this sweeter (well for me at least) is to see all the bitters and haters grovel as usual....LOL!!!

murali is the best spinner sofar, he passed Warne's record in less number of matches, he is a great cricketer than Warne

I trust the Statsguru Awards better, as they are based on "facts" and not on opinions.

Half in joke, on Statsgurus in general:

Here is an old one: " A Statsguru is the one who didn't know swimming and yet tried to cross river, because the average depth of the river was only four feet".

Here is s new one: "A Statsguru is the one who feels OK with his feet in the freezer and head in the oven, since the average ambience temperature is very comfortable"

Congrats to All the Winners ! Special Congrats to Sachin for being chosen as the Cricketer of The Generation !!

Cheers !! :-D :-D

Savin no doubt was a great batsman but not a match winner! How many of his centuries have turned into match winning hundred? Warne and Kallis on the other hand were great match winners! I'm shocked that Muralitharan was not even on the list. He was without any doubt the greatest match winner. BCCI is powerful cricket board. Most of the revenue generates from India. Sachin choice was obvious!

Sachin is definitely the best. There is not even an iota of doubt in this.

I am afraid its very much a personal choice. Sachin was a great sportsman no doubt, but the 'Player of the generation' must possess other qualities apart from scoring runs alone. Purely on the cricketing genius Kallis would have been most people's choice.

There are many ignorant fans who say sachin scores on batting friendly pitches, not a match winner, fails under pressure circumstances . All of them have been time and again been prooven wrong. He has an average of 50+ in Australia, England and Srilanka, and al,most 50 (47) in South Africa . 2nd highest no of match winning 100's. Highest no of man of the matches and man of series . Best records(in terms of runs and average) in finals and several mind boggling records . Makes sense why he is the cricketer of the generation .

congrats Sachin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sachin is the best choice, it is very difficult to maintain such a high standard and see his incredible record. His modesty and humbleness make him greatest. Kallis is close 2nd and then Warne.

Congrats to all the recipients :)

Warne is a better bowler than Murali and anyone who knows cricket surely knows this. Murali is a great bowler but he did throw it which will always tarnish his image. I accept Murali's off spinner but watching him bowl his doosra was like watching a shot putter. Shameful.

1. Murali because he is the best bowler of all time 2. Kallis because he is the best all rounder of all time 3. Sachin is a just great batsmen who scored lot of runs in batting freindly flat indian pitches...

@screamingeagle You mean Warne? Myopic? lol

If anyone still in disagreement with the jury..read Posted by LankaGod on (March 15, 2014, 0:11 GMT) comments. Can't agree more here...thanks mate for your honest assessment.

those who are in disagreement with jury needs to understand that the number of people Sachin inspired over the period of these 24 years..is just unbelievable. He has almost turned a non sporting nation to a complete cricketing nation. Moreover, in India sports was never considered as a career, but after emergence of Sachin people started to take sports as a career option. It helped the overall development of sporting atmosphere in India and we finally as a nation started winning medals in International events as well. Even if you talk purely on cricket..SRT's contribution to the game is unquestionable. Also, a true gentleman of game, he deserves this award more than anyone else.

Waseem Akram is far better from all

I dont disagree with this. I guess he deserves it. Its inspiring that rest of the world still kept on liking him while having a bitter taste on Indian cricket, some of the cricketers and Indian fans in general for poor taste. Thats the magic of Sachin to come out of that and still shine. If one day someone runs a research, by choosing 1000 respondents each from all cricketing nations and runs a survey to mark their favorite cricketer of the generation, I would like to see where Sachin stands among the likes of Lara, Dravid, Wasim and Murali. We will know what the hearts of cricketing world would say, he might still stand out though. Nothing to take away from the great master, the legend and the human being!

My vote was Adam Gilchrist, with Muttiah Muralitharan 2nd and Sachin Tendulkar 3rd. I am disappointed that Gilly and Murali were not considered for the final stage of the awards. I do agree, out of the 3 selected, that Tendulkar was the superior player, though only just ahead of Jacques Kallis. I question why Warne and not Murali was considered as part of the awards though - and why Gilchrist was ignored. Best wicket keeper of all time and the only player of the past 20 years that makes an all time test XI and they don't even consider him? What is going on here? Tendulkar fandom on show perhaps?

LOL @ shami for Debutant of the Year..... classy as ever This.

I don't think there was a particular Player of the generation .Its is wrong .Sachin Kallis Warne along with Mcgrath Murali Sanath Ponting Lara Donald Wasim Waqar Inzy Dravid and many others together made this the golden generation of cricket . No cricketer has won a game single handedly even though in some games the stats show it is so .As for the criticism that Tendulkar is getting I don't think he deserves it .He is the best batsman of India in the last generation there is no doubt.The jury was pretty well selected in my opinion.He had the better ODI record and maybe they took both formats into consideration. But yes as I said before, this award is wrong and should not be there ,cricket is a team sport . The quality of the game has gone down in the past few years and excuses have taken over such as flat roads bouncy tracks and flat track bullies and duds against spin are some of the new words added into cricket vocab.The fact with the 1990s - 2000s was that they atleast showed fight

I always thought Kallis was the most effective, Lara and Sachin more entertaining. Sachin had difficulty against short balls (who does not), Lara and Kallis did not have as much weakness. As time passed Sachin quickly covered his flaws. Kallis started to struggle against quality attack in last two years, Sachin played great even at the age of 40. Kallis was more complete player. Sachin, Lara, Kallis, Warne, Murali.. they all are so good... I cannot give anyone an award ahead of another. Something tells me Kohli and Pujara would not be any less than Sachin. AB is already the best ever batsman I have seen. Congrats sachin for the award.. well played.

Kallis-an over rate cricketer in a good team. Warner - a freak in a great team.they are not that good. As individuals? One a banned player for substance abuse, the other a singularly uninspiring person. No, I do not rate them anywhere nearSachin.Myopic fans of certain countries might, who cares? Did not like what I wrote? Well that is exactly what I feel when I read the posts of some sl,aus, said etc fans who attribute the award to Indian presence in the voting lot. Maybe it is time for you guys to zip it and understand that your faces, Warner, kallis and rofl Santa are not good enough to win the award. They are he ones who make up he numbers.stand smile and get lost. Cheers.

Love that he won, well deserved. The comments by the haters are quite hilarious.- as usual. Saw a comment abt Santa should be the winner. I think he should be given best so player of the decade orvw/e. That's all.

100 % agreed with Henrik Lovén : "Sachin isn't even the best Indian batsman of his generation (that's Dravid) and both Kallis and Warne were better cricketers, especially when you count match-deciding performances." Sachin mostly scored runs on dead pitches and in home. Sachin was a great batsman but please don't overrate him.

@ Busie1979 & others, this is about overall cricket on feild that means test & odi both, in 90s sachin almost 1 man equals to other teams ( whom do u want bowler allrounder or worrier in cricket ) , we want bowlers to take 20 wkts in test but u need a proper batsmans also look at present pak team , in 90s sachin is better bowler than kallis, he given up bowling because of injuries & some one talking if kallis plays 200 test he would reach sachins test hundreds who knows may be but after 166 matches sachin is bettr than kallis , sachin got 45 centuriy came in lesser matches than kallis, in odis no one near to him

The result was forescast by many of us. So as usual no surprise, just total injustice to one of the greatest all rounders of all time.

people from other countries feel one of their heroes should have won for obvious reasons whether logical or not. so they comment. people from India who have other favorite heroes feel someone else should have won. so they also comment. People who think Sachin is the once in a generation cricketer obviously don't have a need to comment. so they don't comment. Hence there are lot of negative remarks. this award is about a cricketer impacting a generation..Don was, Sobers was, Viv was, Sachin was...only few guys are reserved for that title. Sachin well deserved and most of the deep readers of the game know it.

@ Brannavan Ramachandran ....................Sachin's bigger feat over his compatator LARA KALLIS Sanga etc was his far superior ODI record with superior S/R far superior rate of winning Man of the Match award MOM (given to match winner) as Sachin wom MOM @ MOM every 7th match compared to LARA, SANGA KALLIS etc below 10.........Sachin raised the game in big games as he was top scorred in 2 WCs& 2nd top scorer in 3rd...........Sachin was MOM in 6 of the 8 tournament finals that India won during his carrer (only exceptions being WC 2011 & Natwast final). Sachin avraged 50 + in tournament finals & WCs Lara's is below 35 & same with other compatators..........NOT TO MENTION SACHIN"S GROSS STATS THAT R FAR SUPERIOR TO ALL OTHERS

Tendulkar nonsense. He was the most enduring batsman. Sanga has feasted off poor bowling and not travelled much. Lara was amazing and won games himself, as did Warne and Kallis with batting and bowling. Sachin wasn't in the same class. As much as I loved Warne for his game-winning ability, Kallis is THE man. The rest are at the next level.

Just based on fans votes you are deciding the cricketer of the generation.In India cricket fans are more than any country and blindly they support particular person without analyzing the real performance. Like ICC Player ranking,, ICC has to make player ranking for all time performance then only real performance of a player will come to know.Tendulkar is good performer up to the 2011 and after that last 3years BCCI keep him for nothing,even he played worst for the last 2.3 years.In this regards Rahul Dravid and Ganguly are better. They retired from cricket once they felt they are out of form.

The reason Sachin got this reward is easily amplified by the fact that he also got the coveted BHARAT RATNA award in a country where only politicians and scientists were getting the highest civiian award. In fact Sportsperson were not considered for this award. It was only the charisma and personality of Sachin that the terms of ref. for this award were changed.

Hence no doubt, that in last 2 or 3 decades, it was Sachin phenomena more then the comparison of averages and statistics with other players which decided this award. The person, the character and the impact was incomparable with anybody else. How could they give it to somebody else, but SACHIN. In my books though IMRAN was the greatest cricketer of this generation.

Some of the guys who should actually have been considered for the award was conveniently pushed into the judges panel (ie:Sangakkara & Dravid), who i believe are better players than Tendulkar. If stats were the basis of consideration, these two players are right up there with Kallis as they sport better averages than Tendulkar. Then what could have been the basis of consideration?? Longest survivor of the game?? That call for another award category which compliments the fittest. Sachin deserves that. To me, this award could have gone to someone who revolutionized & added glamor to the game at the expense of their personal milestones, so that the game may remain a good platform to create a player extraordinary. Warne, Gavaskar, Ranatunga, Gilchrist, Steve Waugh, Wasim Akram, Curtly Ambrose, Murali were better nominees.

There will be endless debate on who is greater then whom in cricket. Why majority of them vote for Sachin is beyond statistics and cricketing skills. Sachin did to cricket what Jordan did to basketball, Mohammad Ali did to boxing. They were the face of that sport to the world. People started recognizing the sport with their name. Sachin did that to cricket. When i saw the interviews of many cricket players from the associate countries, most of them said their favourite player was Sachin. This sums up what Sachin is for the people who is new to cricket.

Without a doubt Kallis is a better cricketer than Tendulkar.. Tendulkar is a better batsman ( maybe ).. But as a complete cricketer, Kallis definitely have upper hand.. If you can't see that then you may be thinking with your heart instead of brain..!!!

Sachin is the best cricketer. This fact has been proved again and again.

why did not sub continent greates like gavasker and imran khan, javed mian dad zaheer abbass, bishen singh bedi etc find a place amongest jurists.Anway award distribution has been largely fair

Well it has to be Sachin Tendulkar. Grt man deserves every bit of it !!

As I said earlier the Title has to be The Cricketer of the Game and nominees should be: Sachin Tendulkar Sir Don Bradman Sir Viv Richards

This makes more sense than Warnie and Kallis (im not taking any credit away from these 2 legends, but Sachin belongs to one level higher)

@Robert Eddings. Kallis was asked who was the "toughest" he has played. Lara score plently of runs from 2003-05 against SAF on dead pitches. Kalis was never any good against lefties anyway. So, sure Lara may be the "toughest" Kallis bowled to...but we all know who's the "best" ...Sachin Tendulkar- Player of the Century.

SCANDAL! Sachin isn't even the best Indian batsman of his generation (that's Dravid) and both Kallis and Warne were better cricketers, especially when you count match-deciding performances.

Although I wouldn't have quibbled had Kallis got the award, really proud that Sachin has instead got this honour being an Indian fan. However it is shocking that many fans from some of our neighbouring Asian countries in particular & even the odd Indian fan, cannot be magnanimous in accepting this was a fair decision made by a jury of cricketing experts. All fans should learn to admire talented players from whichever country they come from & take their hate elsewhere!

As usual, a number of Indians among the winner. I wonder what is the criteria ! Indian team gets huge drubbings abroad, still the team and the players are among the top....

Nice big 3 and SA cricket award ceremony, Congrats to Sachin.

Kallis is a better cricketer than Tendulkar. He has a higher average and 292 test wickets. People say his average is artificially high because he has more not outs. Rubbish! He had so many not outs because nobody could get him out. If I wanted to build a team around one player, Kallis is easily the guy. I saw another comment that he is boring and therefore not the best. Not sure what the logic is there. One gripe I have always had about Tendulkar was that he was stats driven rather than results driven - exactly 200 test matches, 100 international hundreds tells a story in my mind. Hung on too long because he put personal landmarks over the team.

Posted by zxaar on (March 15, 2014, 6:06 GMT) ""Kallis has my vote in terms of pure statistics. "" Isn't it funny how people conveniently use stats only the way they want? They turn blind eye to the small matter of 9000 more international runs scored by SRT over Kallis. Then in Tests, Kallis' best format, there are 6 double hundreds by SRT, two of which are against Australia, against 2 double centuries by Kallis, ZERO against Australia.

Also overall 100 international hundreds, 51-49 split between Tests and ODIs, which indicates much better balance compared to Kallis' 45-17, difference being 38 International centuries! 20 (11 tests, 9 ODIs, again Balance!) of Sachin's 100 hundreds are against Australia, by far the best team of the era, compared to Kallis', 6! (5 test, 1(!) in ODIs).

Then there is the ODI double hundred, highest runs scored in WCs, twice highest run getter in individual WCs etc. Here's the peach, 54.68% of SRT's test runs are scored AWAY, Kallis, 47% AWAY test runs!!

let the stats speak and u will find better players than sachin

Warne is the undisputed greatest bowlwe of his generation. Kallis is the undisputed best all rounder of his generation. Tendulkar is arguably, but not undisptedly, the best batsmen of his generation. Kallis and sangkakarra played in the same era and had better averages. Ponting and Lara were also arguably better batsmen. Further Adam Gilchrist is the best keeper batsmen ever and revolutionized the way keepers are selected. I love Tendulkar bur he should not have won this honor. He won the hype and popularity contest. having almist half the judges coming from the subcontinent helped

People talk about a player performing at one or two instances and want him be voted for the cricketer of the generation.. The fact that everyone should agree is that SRT has played the most number of world cups than anyone else did and in most of those world cups he was either the highest run scorer or a near second or third. Now that is not a fluke. Its unfortunate that India as a team wasn't performing well, when he was at his best. Can anyone suggest me a name who was consistent in all the world cups he played???

i wonder how the name of kaliis game withese two greats.infact it should have been poting as a batsman or imran khan or kapil dev as an allrounder.kallis is a good batman with a mediocre bowling just as ganguly

@mujtahedinow onwards we will consider your name as the main judge and next year onwards all the awards will be only from the list of south african players.

Posted by wapuser on (March 15, 2014, 5:31 GMT): "BMac's 300 over Dhawan's knock any day ..." Er, that's all very well but:

1.India WON the match UNDER 4 days courtesy of Shikhar's knock whereas NZ DREW the game from a HOPELESS position. 2.The awards were for performances in 2013 and not 2014.

But seriously BMac's knock was out of this world hands down! Next year's winner for sure unless we see more miracles

tendulkar deserves it....not just as an indian am saying this but respect the fact that he balanced his cricket ,fans and media, to all the anti sachin posts i would like to tell u if ponting , lara or any other cricketer( apart from subcontinent)have faced the amount of pressure to perfom...they wuld have faded way back...

What a lie by Sachin in Award Function: I was quite fortunate to play against the game's best allrounders: Kapil Dev, Ian Botham, Imran Khan, Clive Lloyd, Malcolm Marshall, Richard Hadlee

How many Games he have played against all these Guys (Except Kapil Dev). He mentioned playing against Clive Llyod...

"Kallis has my vote in terms of pure statistics. " -------------- No he won't. In the same number of matches that Kallis played, Tendulkar's average in tests is less than half run behind with much less number of innings in not outs. Kallis Test average is boasted by his 14% of innings in not outs. Rest of the number are sevrely in favour of Tendulkar so no comparison.

kallis is overrated. He never dominated even once with bat or ball. Slow war horse. Most boring batsman ever. Flintoff> Kallis. holds no candle to Lara n Sachin or Warne

Jacques Kallis deserved the award more than anybody, I am very much disappointed with the judgement of the jury, if he was given the award for the best batsman it was fine, but cricketer of the generation .... absolute rubbish.

Great Man Deserves this....

Sachin - leading run-scorer in World Cups. Singlehandedly led India to 2003 World Cup finals, and was the tournament's 2nd leading run-scorer in 2011's victory. What did Kallis achieve? In fact, India was the number 1 Test team for a longer period of time than South Africa was!

And we all watch cricket for IMPACT, not mere statistics! I would rather watch an Afridi than a Kallis. And when you add in all those factors together, you have 'cricketers of the generation' like Sachin, Lara, Gilchrist, Wasim and Warnie (in that order).

THESE LIST OF PERSONALITIES KNOW BETTER OF THIS SPORT THAN ANY ONE ELSE IN THIS PORTAL. MANY OF THEM PLAYED THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF THIS SPORT AND MANY OTHERS OFFICIALLY COVERED IT.

ALWAYS MADE US SMILE IN PRIDE "SRT"

Russel Arnold ; Sambit Bal Editor-in-chief, ESPNcricinfo; Habibul Bashar; Ian Bell ; Rahul Bhattacharya Cricket writer and novelist; Harsha Bhogle Commentator, presenter and writer; Lawrence Booth Editor, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack; Geoffrey Boycott ; Daniel Brettig Assistant editor, ESPNcricinfo; Mark Butcher ; Ian Chappell ; Aakash Chopra ; Ed Cowan ; Mike Coward; Tony Cozier Commentator and writer; Martin Crowe; Daryll Cullinan ; George Dobell Senior correspondent, ESPNcricinfo; Rahul Dravid Former India captain; Jeffrey Dujon Former West Indies wicketkeeper; Ramachandra Guha Historian and cricket writer; Gideon Haigh Cricket historian and writer; Michael Holding Former West Indies bowler; David Hopps UK editor, ESPNcricinfo; Tamim Iqbal Bangla

@stevehobart: What does it matter how many medals we won in Olympics? Website is for Cricket isn't it? It isn't called 'Olympicinfo', so let's discuss Cricket shall we? Oh even so, which other sports do we truly excel in? Try Hockey. You'll find that we have won quite a few medals (in fact most by any national team) and world cup there too. If you really don't want to be one eyed and ill-informed, check recent Badminton rankings too. Oh and I hope you know of Doubles' Tennis? Check those records if you can, you'll find some names of Indian pairs winning quite a few Grand Slams there too.

Although I accept that sachin was a very fine player he was really a run making machine for indian team but not a real match winner player like wasim akram, shane warne , murali, lara.Wasim Akram was best fast bowler that world has ever seen in cricket he was most deserving cricketer for this award.His performance in World cup 1992 final is a proof of his greatness in bowling and as best alrounder of world.

Of course Sachin got the Cricketer of the Generation award. These 24 years were defined by him more comprehensively than anybody else and it will be remembered as such. Those pining for Lara, Kallis forget to take into account that ODI Cricket is as much part of cricket as Tests and there Sachin was miles better than them. Those crying about Warne and Ponting are too dull to realize that exemplary off-field behaviour, ability to inspire 10/11 players coming in your team is as important as on-field performances.

I think it's become a bit of a fashion to mock and slam India, Indian team, Indian players, pitches, IPL, even Indian population and culture, for everything related and not related to Cricket on these forums where some armchair experts think they know better than people who have actually played and observed the game for a far longer time and hence the accusations. My reaction to them: Yawn! When you point a finger towards someone, your own four fingers are pointing towards you

@stevehoabart1 it doesn't matter because this is not Olympics forum, its about Cricket and we should discuss only cricket. Nobody said he is the best cricketer ever. This award has been awarded for the Cricketer of the generation and you yourself admitted that He is the deserving candidate.period.

Kallis was as good a batsman as Sachin, plus he was a pretty good bowler and an amazing fielder.

BMac's 300 over Dhawan's knock any day ...

24 Years of Continue Cricket!!! Is not a joke guys.. It needs lots of hard work and commitment towards the game. For Sachin Cricket is his breathe,nobody knows his scarifies, the persons who know these facts, never going to put these kind of comments. First read and collect some data & facts about your Cricket heroes, then put some comments.

There are many sachin fans without computer, internet and technology felicities, they know what sachin did and give more stats about sachin.

We always forget past and forgets the history

3 players who made cricket as history are SACHIN, KALLIS, GLENN McGRATH

Cont.... Bradman didn't have the luxury of covered pitches, modern bats or shortened boundaries. I wonder whether Tendular is so revered in India because of their lack of exceptional sportsmen outside of cricket. In what other sports do they truly excel? How many Olympic medals have they won over the years?

Best ODI performances should have gone to Corey Anderson for his world record

To all the one eyed Indians who believe the Little Master is the best ever, I'm sure few experts would agree. Yes, he was a player of a generation who transformed a nation. Several batsmen of his generation have a similar average, but not his longevity. Kallis has my vote in terms of pure statistics. Warne and Murali for their match winning ability (to do so requires taking 20 wickets irrespective of runs scored). Bradman had a test career spanning 21 years, and he also transformed a nation, giving Australians hope during the Great Depression and following WW2. Despite Bodyline and ill health while playing until 40 years of age, Bradman averaged 99.94. Statistically superior across all sports, not just cricket.

Those who thinks that Sachin is less deserving then any other cricketer should remind themselves that this was decided by voting of 50 jury members who definitely knows better than most of us sitting here being cricket heroes. And if you think that Sachin hasn't been a match winner than find me a better top order batsman who would have lasted longer than him on crease and released most the pressure off rest of the team before it even builds up. If you think Warner, Shehwag, Dilshan adn Afridi could smash a ball better than you should look at first 10 ~ 12 years of Sachin's career and you will be amazed. But again end of the day HATERS GONA HATE..!!

Crowe said: "[West Indies'] Viv Richards was the greatest batsman I played against and his footwork lasted 15 years. Sachin's lasted a decade longer."..!!! No doubt - "Why Sachin is great.." is answered better more by the connoissuers of the game than the millions of his fans ..!

why do you always blame something where india gets an advantage.look at the jury.do you think you are a beetr cricket specialist than the.come on guys this is not a gentleman behavior.Approbate the fact that the trophies went to the right showcase.

Deserved more than anybody in cricket.If we talk about Cricket then first name come in our mind is Sachin Tendulkar so i think no one in cricket field to got that award more than him so Well done My Sachinism prod moment. Congrats God Himself Sachin Tendulkar

total matches tests odis/mom awards /match SRT -663/76--8.72 kallis -491/55--8.92 lara -430/42--10.23 ponting-543/48--11.31 warne--339/29--11.68 sanga-491/42---11.69 akaram-469/39--11.79 murali--483/34--14.20 macgrath-374/26-14.38 mahela--555/31--17.90 thease juries are not kids. so plz shut up sachin bashers.nominated three are best batsman ;allrounder &bowler so plz shut up

Of course Sachin deserved this! IMPACT, IMPACT, IMPACT! and go check the stats he's india greatest matchwinner period. I can't alter people's opinion but its absrud when you people explain yourselves! Sachin is definitely the cricketer of this generation and all generation to come, IMPACT!

Wow. What a surprise! Tendulkar got the award. No-one expected that?

And Johnson got the bowling award. Would anyone have predicted that? 7 for 40 is so much better than 6 for 8, or 5 for 7, isn't it?

As always, it is very interesting to see the difference between the statsguru awards, and the jury awards. Personally, I find the statsguru awards to be more aligned with living in an evidence based world.

i am not agree with this decision. there are so many cricketers around the world better than sachin. and always consider with overseas performance, i think he is so far behind. what a joke!!!

this just reinforced the truth...this time the experts just confirmed it...Sachin is the greatest....Let there be no more arguments about it...Lets put it to rest and compare lesser mortals..

Even Kallis says Lara was better. From espncricinfo some weeks ago:

"Retired South African allrounder Jacques Kallis would not rate Sachin Tendulkar as the best batsman he has played against but said the Indian legend has "tremendously" helped in taking the game forward by playing with the right spirit throughout his illustrious career. Asked who are his toughest opponents, Kallis said, "Seamer: Wasim Akram. He had the ability to swing the ball both ways. Spinner: Shane Warne. He controlled the game, he attacked, defended. Batsman: Brian Lara." "

This not a fair decision ......KAllis deserves this .I respect Sachin as a cricketer but not a cricketer of the generation . KAllis is a real alrounder ,proved in every department of cricket and format .......this decision is taken by on line voting ......Sad .....

sorry it shd have been 1984

Congratulations to Sachin - this was the guy who invented metrics - marketing guys went crazy and fueled a billion people who got more crazy - the virtuous cycle continues...why would George Orwell think 1964 was fiction?

Congratulations to all the players of the generations. However, as I have followed critic for more than 5 years, I cannot but mention the revival of cricket series played by West Indies and Australia in in 1960-61. I was a young boy of 19 then studying in Australia. It was such an excitement to hear the commentaries given by radio Australia, especially the late Johnny Moyes (no direct telecast that time). The names of Sobers, Benaud, Davidson, O'Neil, Harvey, Worrell, Kanhai, Wes Hall etc were household names. There was so much excitement in the air. The passion was over whelming. Nothing like it and I am lucky to have lived in that era. I saw with my own eyes the centuries in both innings by Rohan Kanhai and the hat trick by Lance Gibbs at the same 4th test match at the Adelaide Oval. Just awesome to even think about it!

My outlook on cricket is a little different from most. By this I mean that I prefer to watch a Gower score 100 any day compared to a Boycott scoring 200. Batting is an art and not many have mastered it. A class batsman is worth driving miles to watch. Statistics does not do it for me. This is why whatever one believes, there is no other cricketer who was considered an allrounder who can be compared to Sir Garfield Sobers. Tendulkar is a great batsman but does not have the touch of Lara. Finally, there is none that I have seen who can bat like Lawrence Rowe did. This is what I mean by class. I heard a man say at Sabina Park when Majid Khan was flowing, "This is batting that I would go back outside and pay again to come back in." Imagine that!

sachin hits centuri all playing cricket nation & warn took most wickets ageinst england.

How embarrassing.

Within this period, Warne was the greatest spinner ever. Gilchrist and Sangakkara were the greatest wicketkeeper-batsmen ever. Wasim Akram was the greatest left-arm fast bowler ever.

Yet in order to pander to one nation which massively over-estimates Sachin (and under-estimates Dravid) we see this award given to a batsman whose record proves what the rest of us outside India all unanimously agree on: that he was roughly the 20th best batsman of all time.

Tendulkar was a great player. But he never even rose above his peers Lara, Ponting and Kallis as a batsman, let alone being the greatest ever in his field like Warne, Gilchrist, Sangakkara and Wasim Akram.

It dilutes the legacy of Tendulkar as a very fine player indeed when he is given awards that he patently doesn't deserve.

Congrats to Sachin, he undoubtedly was an all time great but being completely honest Kallis was a better batsmen and he also took a lot of very crucial wickets. The award was given to the wrong man

I saw number of guys pointing that sachin was not the match winner for india. I think you guys didn't see him playing.How you forget sharjhah when sachin hit back to back hundreds, how about 1996 world cup, wat about 2003 world cup where sachin single handly took india to the finals with average middle order, what about VB series 2008 in australia where sachin won the series for india with magical batting, what about test series in south africa. if i continue the achievements it will take whole day ro write.Guys please grow up nobody can beat sachin in the way he rise up cricket all over the world . There is only one Sachin and big salute to him.

What a load of hogwash Warne, Kallis, Lara and Gus Fraser (amongst others) were all better players than Tendukar and also all were taller.

In order to understand the Sachin contribution, we have to understand the Indian cricket and history of Indian cricket. If he born in Australia, England, Pakistan or some others countries, I don't think it would be big deal or world wouldn't look at him how they looking at him today. But when we looking at India, he is the first true hero of any athletic game played in India and this is the key point that where did he came from, how did he manage to fight with all these first class cricketing nation! Where did he get the energy or training? Beside one person can't have huge impact on game result, especially without good bowling attack? What he done single handed, I think it is the best. No doubt, Kallis and Warne are the best too, I have so much respect for their contribution too.

It would have been a big surprise of the generation if Tendulkar wasn't chosen as the Cricketer of the Generation. It's like going past Bradman if the best batsman ever award was given. These words are coming from someone who's favorite batsman was never SRT. I liked Lara and VVS a lot better. But, when it comes to greatness, I have to be realistic and say, it can't be none other than SRT.

Noticed Rahul Dravid being one of the juries. How pathetic. He is one of the best and resilient batsmen of the era and he is not even considered for his contributions. Tendulkar who thrived on other's out of form and very little contribution towards winning is awarded. Also a big snub for Jacques. I am not a mindless Indian Cricket Hater, but guess, it's mostly Indian players who get the awards. Big 3 influence starts with the awards.

Though not a fan of the Indian cricket team, it's hard to look beyond Sachin as the cricketer of the generation. I would have ranked Mural and Kallis right up there with him. Coming back to Sachin, the discussion around him being an accumulator and not a destroyer of bowling is misplaced. I am 38 and I have grown up watching the best of the last 2 decades- Waqar, Younis, Inzamam, Murali, Vaas, Mahela, Ponting, Hayden, Mcgrath, Kallis, Allan Donald, Lara, Ambrose, Walsh and Dravid. It would always be a challenge picking up the "best" from such a distinguished list but for the impact on cricket watching population and for the way he has carried himself over the years, Sachin is the right pick for this award.

No argument with Sachin's win based on his immeasurable cultural impact, but if you were picking a Test team to win a game in that era, you would pick Murali, Kallis and Warne before Sachin. If any of these men were Indian, they'd win the award for the cultural impact...That's the reality.

1. Don Bradman 2. Gary Sobers 3. Sachin Tendulkar 4. Dennis Lillee 5. Imran Khan 6. Shane Warne

Greatest, most influential and most impactful cricketers of all time in that order.

Warne was the more successful ( in win terms ) and overall. Tendulkar was a good batsman but achieved very little compared to Warne.

Letting cricinfo viewers vote on categories is a terrible idea. Shami was nothing special. of course he won. they have a billion voters in India.

That just about settles it.

@Nalaka Kulathunge:

Your last 6 words made perfect sense...

Warne changed test cricket and bought back an era of spin bowling. He was effective all over the world except for possibly India though touring there after injury. Yet Tendulkar could only get results in India. So well done to the Indian fans you can all rake up the Sachin is God rubbish.

Murali or Shane Warne? Please ask any batter past or present. Magill was a better bowler than Shane warne. In West indies Steve waugh preferred Magill. Shane did not have a Googly Magill had. Viv Richards mentioned the bowler he feared was Chandrasekar who had an effective googly. Even Shane hadsaid that Murali was a better bowle the figures too tell the story.

Even as an Indian fan, I feel its not fair that so many Indian players were given awards-I mean we did not exactly play great in 2013. There were so many wonderful performances by other teams and they should also have been given equal recognition. Regarding player of the Generation award, Tendulkar was a great player no doubt - but I just don't think it is fair to ignore Kallis or Ponting or Warne. They were also the players of their generations.

Sam Worthington's Avatar may have grossed more than all of De Niro's films combined, but we all know who the Godfather of acting is. De Niro inspired many actors from the current generation to take up the craft. Likewise, with Tendulkar, he may not have won as many games single handedly like other esteemed names. Well, it is a team sport after all. But his sheer enigma and impact has definitely inspired a lot of current cricketers, not just fans alike. Kudos Little Master!

Could some one please remind me how many tests Tendulkar manage to win for the Indians?????? And how many match wining performances came from Warne? Greatness should be judged on what it says on the tin, greatness. Playing on docile pitches most of the time and scoring tons of runs doesn't equate to greatness. I know personally I would love to watch any of Richard's innings over Tendulkar, or even Lara for that matter.

Someone gave a reason for Tendulkar selection, that he inspired generations of Indian players. Excuse me but is India the center of the world, or now greatness is hallmark of India and Indians??????

@razorhedge Well said. Tendulkar's impact is far greater than mere on field heroics. Though I am an ardent Rahul Dravid fan, I would be lying if I said that I did not anticipate something special to happen every time Sachin Tendulkar walked in to bat. Truly, the cricketer of the generation. Bravo!

Sachin as the best? Ask they players and they will disagree. THis is just populism not impact on or winning games. Sure he made a lot of runs, played a lot of tests and stayed around for ever BUT he changed the course of few tests. Warne did that so many times and Kallis - is a different class. He should certainly have won. This outcomes makes mockery of this award. Can we have another award please?

Sachin Tendulkar getting this award playing as a pure batsman is just a waste, Kallis and Sanga now they are true greats. Kallis with his wickets tally to add to a similar average that Sachin achieved as a pure batsman and Sanga as wicket keeper batsman who is only 2nd to the great Don Bradman as a pure batsman deserved this award more. People who claim Shane warne should have won have forgotten the great Muralli

Yep pointless award, let's move on.

A pointless exercise to get a few sponsors on board. I wonder how many people expected cricinfo to choose a different person. And to top that, they shamed true selfless cricketers in Dravid and VVS by placing them on the panel. The next 'debate' that cricinfo would come up with probably is 'Sachin Tendulkar - great cricketer or the greatest cricketer'.

ICC is of India thats why the get the most awards not fair dhawan, sachin, sharma awards there are other how deserve iT more

Cricinfo did not post my comment. I can't understand why they didn't. What I wanted to say:

He deserved the award more than anyone else. We all need to respect Sachin's skills and achievements. His 100 International Centuries and other records will remain unmatched in cricket. He made a bigger impact than any other cricketer. He is and will always remain the greatest cricketer of all time.

He was a match winner too. India won Sharjah cup in 1998 only because of Sachin. Sachin made 193 runs against England in Headingley and India was able to win that test match or if Sachin had not scored runs, India would've lost that match.

Sachin has halt the avreagera of The Don & therefore half the player!

If you put a question who as the better bowler in 80s, Sir Richard Hadlee or Chitten Sharma, I'm sure the survey will declare Sharma as the clear winner. The simple reason being the number of Indians responding to every survey and their shear numbers. No wonder every award, based on "public survey" has Indian players winning. Even the "experts" want to keep Indians and BCCI happy for their own personal IPL related interest.

Well deserved Sachin! I know it is hard to pick from so many greats and it is not fair to compare them against each other merely on stats or their specialized skills like batting or bowling. However the key question is did this person influence the cricket world in a positive manner? The answer is yes Sachin did more so than some others. He came in when India was struggling to compete on the world stage and he was instrumental in the fans believing in Indian cricket and along with other greats like Ganguly and Dravid make India world beaters not simply compete. He mentored young players and influenced positive relations with international players from all teams. The best and ordinary bowlers in any team including the home fans sighed with relief when Sachin was out. That shows the value of this player. For a long time Sachin was the sole roadblock between victory and defeat for a team against India. Most of all he inspired fans, made cricket exciting and brought people together!

we all should be ready for such Indian biases .....

Biased pro indian awards as always ... to me Sachin was the right choice ...but Shami ... please .. how many matches he won for this team with those wickets and can anyone please shed light on his economy rates ?? .. All records made by indian playing in India .. I think they should have given an award to Pakistan for winning the highest number of matches playing away from home .. or wait they havent played at home for a long time ... I do not hate india I just hate when accolades are given by influence not on merit .. I am sorry to say .. These records will never mean anything to me or to many others ... but SHANE WARNE and Murlitharan also deserved it an much as Sachin did ...

@Nalaka Kulathunge Stats Speak for him... then Cricket is gentleman's game and the best Cricketer have to be a Gentleman. So none other than Sachin is eligible.

These awards pale in comparison to the joy that these cricketers have given me when watching this sport. For that I bow my hat with the utmost respect and admiration to your skills and talents

Being the gentleman that he is deep in his heart even Sachin knows that Jaques Kallis was the best cricketer of this generation. Adam Gilchrist and Brian Lara were the entertainers of this generation. Wasim Akram the greatest fast bowler of this generation and Shane Warne the greatest spinner.

i never under stand why tendulkar a best player india ever produce is draved, there are few players who are above him. he was a never natch winner. other wise india won more game away from home and some silver ware of world too.

God of Cricket SACHIN.. Deserves This..

no doubt sachin was good player but to be honest warne was better then him,he won a lot of matches,in batting categories there are a lot of great batsmans then sachin but in leg break bowling no one is near to caliber of warne

well, i think, shane warne is the most suitable cricketer for the said category. Afridi, no doubt is the masteis bestr blaster of all times. Tendulkar is the one with runs getter but not a match winner. In more than 90% matches that india lost, he couldn't be a run getter at his best.

Im pretty sure a lot of non-Indian fans disagree with this decision (understandably). But some of you who who dont understand the impact this guy has made need to know a few things. Sachin (besides being known for his records), affected an entire generation of Indian cricket fans (I'm talking upwards of hundreds of millions of kids) in the most emotional way possible and is pretty much, solely responsible for making this sport times way more popular and entertaining to the Indian fan than it was before he played. BCCI is rich because of this guy alone. Agree or not he is the true ambassador of cricket.

I noticed that Cricinfo posted an edited version of what I wrote: Fair enough. But let me add. I said that, a cricketer of a generation should have transformed cricket, beyond mere statistics. His performance should have won more matches for his team than any other player. He should have been head and shoulders above his team mates. The only man who fits this is Murali. He introduced so many innovations to the game. Cricket changed its rules because of him. As a percentage, he won more matches for his team than probably anybody else. His impact on his team was beyond comparison. Finally, he was way better than anybody in his own team, and the records show that even others the world over are not even close. And his records are not phenomenal BECAUSE he played more games than the rest, but DESPITE not having done so.

When compare to "Warne and Murali"; Sachin, Kallis & Lara were never match winners neither game changers . Pl don't get me wrong-I do believe that Sachin, Lara & Kallis were very talented and ahead of many best players. Infact Dravid was a more of a match winner than Sachin & Kallis. Still I feel both Sachin & Kallis played bit of a selfish manner rather than team concept! may be I'm totally wrong ;)

east n west.... sachin is d best

Sachin Tendulkar - The Best there ever was, The best there is... and the best there ever will be for a long long time to come.

Well deserved for sachin to win this award. For last 20 years, when it came to any big events like world cups, Sharjah events, tri series etc. sachin was THE PRIZE wicket. Kallis, Lara do they have as many memorable moments from big events? They are legends no doubt but u inspire and touch people when u play at the big stage and sachin did it more then any. Highest run getter in two world cups, 5-0 against rival Pak in WC and man of match in 4 out of 5 of those. He has 100's in t20, odi, tests and 100 100's. and first to 200. Without sachin this game would have been not the same.

I'm happy for the Sachin but quite frankly I don't care for such awards. It will never speak the true volume of what any of these three remarkable cricketers (among the others who were also considered) actually achieved in their careers. These awards cheapen the personal achievement by trying to pick one out of a set which inevitably leads to conspiracy theories and unnecessary debate and sometimes anger if one's own preference was not chosen. Was Sachin better than Warne? One was a batsman, one a bowler. Was Kallis just an all rounder or the most consistent batsman of his time? Was Warne that influential when Murali's stats are better? That's why I don't care for this exercise....it cheapens their greatness by prompting unnecessary questions.

"Strictly speaking though, Tendulkar is not a cricketer of a generation" --------------- Unfortunately for you, the people who understand cricket and were judge of this do not agree with you.

"Sachin was great but how many games did Indian win because of his performance?" -------------- Enough to have most man of the matches. It is almost 25 more compared to Kallis, Ponting etc.

East and West, Sachin is the best. Congrats Sachin

@stuart Breading.. these awards were for 2013, Brenden Mc hit the triple 100 in 2014.

Brian Lara: Aggressive, Flair, Dominating, Match Winner, Big Scorer. Ricky Ponting: Brilliant fielder, Big Match Player, Best Captain among great players. Jaq. Kallis: Best (only) All-rounder, Most reliable and Consistent. Rahul Dravid: Team Player, Handle Pressure well, Dependable. Sachin Tendulkar: Better in both format of the game, game changer, Longest Career, Wasim Akram: variety, master of swing (both ways) and seam bowler with pace, wicket taking, Shane Warne: Game Changer, out of box thinking, electric personality Adam Gilchrist: match winner, big game player, unstoppable, Sanath Jayasurya: game changer, match winner, all-rounder, long career, Glenn McGrath: consistent, get the best player out from opposition. M.Murlidharan: one man army, hard working horse,

Each of above have plenty of positives, everyone has their own favorite and clearly for most Indians, Tendulkar remains their favorite. Strictly speaking though, Tendulkar is not a cricketer of a generation

Very happy to see Shahid Afridi with an award, great player to watch

Congrats to Sachin Sir.............you are the BEST

What about Muthtaiah Muralitharan ??? 500 and 800 wickets ???

Brendon Mccullums 300? no nz awards?

The right and only choice. Considering his longevity, passion, gentleman-ship, humility, gracefulness, performance against all bowlers from all countries, in every type of pitch, against all bowling greats, in all conditions, in every format of the game it was no brain er that it was undoubtedly ST.

Warne should have won easily. No other player was able to win the matches he did. Sachin was great but how many games did Indian win because of his performance?

I think Tendulkar should be awarded Sir.

Batsman with the most runs in loosing games

I did not think that tnere was any difficulty in making this decision!

Sachin deserves as he plays under tremendous pressure, but to my fellow indian fans please don't criticize Kallis, we can only for an allrounder like him i don't think we can c players like them in future

well done.... truly happy about contest

I think Sachin deserves this than anyone esle ,,Good Choice ...Sachin's playing consistency could be compared to Warne's bowling and Kallis All rounding capability in their respective strengths , but becoming an iconic figure through out the world , inspiring people ,drawing huge crowds whether its indian soil or not is something which has to be given a word of thought ! Sachin is way far ahead than the rest in this area ...again whether this tough has got to do any thing with Cricket , yes after all it the award " Cricketer of the Generation" not just stats matter here, it includes a lot more ....." The person whom Cricket Loved back " is definitely deserved .

Congrats little master. You deserve every accolade and stand supreme. As an ambassador of the game you have shown everyone how to conduct oneself no matter your superior achievements and how great you become.

The gratitude you showed on the day you signed off speaks volumes for the human being you are. BharatMa will always be proud of you and cricket lovers like myself (Guyanese) admire you trmendously.

Perfect choice. Warne and Kallis as good as they are....have not been able to bring an entire nation together. No one switched of TV's when Kallis got out. Warne had the liberty of working with McGrath and Gillespie to share the responsibilities. One man with his brilliance and the desire to excel in every aspect of the game, kept practising to give it his best even on the last day of his retirement even after representing his nation for 25 years. No on-field arguments, no words back to the umpires....only the bat did the talking.

Respect to the legend !! No one more deserving of this tag.

I am an Indian but I would prefer Kallis. Kallis is the best when compared to sachin..

Congrats Sachin.....the greatest...

The greatest ambassador of cricket.......Congrats Sachin...U truly deserve it

There can be different views from different angles.... But it was Purely between Sachin and Warne... Kallis is a Great Player but not a Dominating Player... He was helpless batsman when the asking rate is more than 6 and was not a complete wicket-taker... Being in the top 3 is different, But if had he won the "Cricketer of the Generation" award, then it would be a huge disappointment.

A cricketer of a generation should have transformed cricket, beyond mere statistics. His performance should have won more matches for his team than any other player. He should have been head and shoulders above his team mates. Sachin is great, no doubt. But greatest in the generation - no way. This is just a popularity contest!

I'm an Ind..and I really don't care much...

Okay SRT won,,Cool ! He is The Best ,,Cricket has ever seen,,,If he had not been awarded, he would have still been The Best..

Same with KALLIS,,,,He is still The Best All-Rounder,,

Come on...Move on !

Why is this list so Indian based? Test batting should have gone to either Faf, AB, for that unbelievable 4th innings patnership against... you guessed it, INDIA. How can we forget Brendan macullum Triple century to save a test match against... you guessed it again, INDIA. I appreciate Shami's award, a modern day fast bowler, who is always calm. The panel of judges should aim for more diversity in my opinion.

Batsman of the generation definitely tendulkar but cricketer wise batting bowling and fielding and kallis being a medium pacer definitely it should have kallis but tendulkar is an indian with huge population so deserving

I feel Sachin is the deserved winner of this award. Yes, there has been one better batsman (Brian Lara) and one better cricketer (Jacques Kallis) but in terms of overall achievement no one can come even close to the little man.

I cannot imagine any other player being able to perform under pressure like Sachin did. Lara with his free lifestyle would've stifled under the pressure from a billion cricket fans. Kallis lacks the charisma and the flair of Sachin.

I'm among the lucky ones that saw Sachin right from the beginning of his cricket career and I have to say that the way the man inspired our whole generation is something else altogether.

Kudos Sachin... well deserved.

should have been kallis.. from an Indian fan

If it would have been batsman of the generation then tendulkar but cricketer wise you include batting bowling and catches it should have been kallis but tendulkar being indian with huge population got ahead

im from india..Should be given to Warne.where is the encourage for bowlers.

Seriously, does anyone care? It's about the game, not the players...

Should have been Kallis hands down. That's from a neutral perspective