http://ukpress.google.com/article/AL...MD7XD9NxmUuGZw
Lara hails little master Tendulkar
7 minutes ago
Brian Lara may have seen his Test run-scoring record surpassed by Sachin Tendulkar last week, but he believes the India batsman is only keeping it warm for Australia captain Ricky Ponting.
Tendulkar claimed the highly-regarded record on Friday, during his first innings score of 88, as India paved the way for their comprehensive 320-run win against the Aussies in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar series.
"There is no better individual or batsman in the world that could can go past you than Sachin Tendulkar," Lara said. "He has been a great for so many years and is someone who is deserving of such a record. So I just want to wish him the best. Ricky Ponting is someone who is in line to hold such a record as well."
The 35-year-old had stretched his new mark out to 12,037 runs by the end of the match in Mohali.
And Lara added: "I think it (the record) is the one that most batsman would cherish.
"I would think that (Ponting) still has 30 or 40 Tests matches left under his belt and he has already gone past 10,000 runs so it is one of those records that if you play long enough and you score runs consistently then you are capable of doing it."
Ponting, who will turn 34 in December, has scored 10,246 runs in his 121-Test career to leave him 1,791 runs behind Tendulkar, who has played 31 more matches.
The Tasmanian right-hander has shown no signs of slowing, scoring his first Test century on Indian soil during the first Test in Bangalore to edge his average ever closer to the 60 mark.
By contrast Tendulkar's international future has come under the spotlight during the past 12 months, highlighted by a forgettable series in Sri Lanka in July when he averaged just 15.8.
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