Sachin Tendulkar is Picasso among batsmen: Greg Chappell

Greg Chappell, former India coach, has compared Sachin Tendulkar to Picasso and Bradman to Michelangelo.

In his column for a leading national daily, Chappell wrote: "If batting is an art then Sachin Tendulkar is the Picasso among batsmen. On that basis Bradman must have been Michelangelo."

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Referring to Vasu Paranjpe's (veteran cricket coach) comment on Sachin, Chappell said: "Vasoo Paranjape said of Sachin, 'God created him and sent him down to earth just to play cricket.' If so, God must then have destroyed the mould. "

Sachin, who scored his 100th international hundred against Bangladesh, has attracted plaudits from all corners of the world, and Chappell is the latest to join that bandwagon.

"My first memory of watching Sachin bat live was at the SCG on the India tour of Australia in 1991-92. Sachin made 148 not out in Shane Warne's debut Test. Warne would have wondered if he was cut out for Test cricket. He only took one wicket, that of Ravi Shastri, in 45 overs of hard slog as Shastri made 206 and Tendulkar announced himself, in Australia at least, as a batsman of rare ability and class," Chappell said.

"Without wishing to denigrate Shastri's fine performance, he looked like a mere house painter alongside the sublime artist as Tendulkar displayed a dazzling array of shots and a wonderful imagination as he crafted an innings of great beauty. He has played many more since then," he said.

Tendulkar has been playing for almost 23 years and has scored over 33900 international runs.

"It is hard to imagine someone playing Test cricket at the age of 16. That he is still playing 23 years later and is arguably the best batsman in the team is even more remarkable. To think that he has carried the hopes and prayers of more than a billion people each time he bats sets him apart even from Bradman," Chappell added.

Though during Chappell's tenure with Team India, things were not very positive between him and Tendulkar, the former Australian had accepted in his autobiography that he tried to push hurried improvements in the team which led to his downfall, especially after his relations with senior players such as Tendulkar soured.

"My biggest regret was falling out with Sachin over him batting at number four in the one-day team. It was a shame because he and I had some intense and beneficial talks together prior to that. My impatience to see improvement across the board was my undoing in the end," he admitted in his autobiography.