Wisden defends top 100 Test innings list

Wisden has defended the non-inclusion of Sachin Tendulkar in the Wisden top 100 Test Innings, saying the master blaster has not yet scored an innings that merits his inclusion in the list.

"There is no omission (of Tendulkar) as such. He has not yet scored an innings that merits inclusion in the top 100," Wisden On-Line Director Anthony Bouchier told PTI in Bangalore on Friday night.

Wisden had launched in Mumbai on Thursday Wisden 100, a new analysis to assess a Test cricketer's individual batting and bowling performances spanning 138 years of cricket history.

Noting that more than 54,000 Test innings had been covered in Wisden 100, Bouchier said Tendulkar had played some wonderful innings but was yet to actually come up with an innings that great enough to be in the top 100 of Wisden.

"So, it's not an omission," he said. "Tendulkar has a long career ahead of him and I am sure he will get there in the end."

Defending the list, he said it is completely objective and there was no bias. "Wisden has always been a definitive, statistical record. Tendulkar is the greatest batsman in the world. He is a wonderful player to watch but he just has not produced an innings like Brian Lara's 153 or Ian Botham's 149," he said.

Bouchier noted that GR Viswanath has been included in the list for his unbeaten 97 against the West Indies at Chennai in 1975, and quipped: "That's the whole story."