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Former India captain Ajinkya Rahane has picked Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest Indian cricketer of all time, shortly after bringing the curtain down on his playing career.Rahane, who recently announced his retirement from all forms of cricket during an episode of Stick to Cricket, was asked to name India’s greatest-ever cricketer. While acknowledging that the choice was far from straightforward, the former batter eventually settled on Tendulkar.“I think it’s very hard to take one name but… probably Sachin Tendulkar. I think all the eras,” Rahane said.Tendulkar enjoyed a remarkable international career that stretched across 24 years, representing India from November 15, 1989, to November 16, 2013. During that period, he featured in 664 international matches, including 200 Tests, 463 ODIs and one T20I.The batting icon scored 15,921 runs in Tests, 18,426 in ODIs and 10 in T20Is, finishing as the highest run-scorer in the history of both Test and ODI cricket. He also remains the only player to have appeared in 200 Test matches and holds the record for the most ODI appearances.Tendulkar was a central figure in India’s triumphant 2011 ICC Men’s ODI World Cup campaign, adding the coveted trophy to an already glittering career.As captain, he led India in 25 Tests, registering four wins, nine defeats and 12 draws. In ODIs, Tendulkar captained the side in 73 matches, winning 23, losing 43, with one tie and six no-results.Rahane made his international debut in a T20I against England at Manchester on August 31, 2011, and went on to represent India across all three formats between 2011 and 2023.The Mumbai batter had the opportunity to share the dressing room with Tendulkar on multiple occasions. He played one Test alongside the legendary batter for India and had earlier been his teammate at Mumbai Indians during the 2009 IPL season, apart from representing Mumbai together in domestic cricket.Across a career spanning more than 12 years, Rahane played most of his international cricket under MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli. He was a key member of India’s historic 2018-19 Test series-winning squad in Australia before captaining the team to another memorable series victory there in 2020-21.Rahane also joined an exclusive list of Indian cricketers to captain the national side in all three formats. He finished his career with Test centuries in Australia, England and New Zealand, while representing six IPL franchises: Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Rising Pune Supergiants, Delhi Capitals, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings.
