Michael Vaughan: Sachin Tendulkar, still the best in the business, is everything you would ever want in a batsman

After India’s tour to England in 2007 it felt as if we had seen the last of Sachin Tendulkar in this country. Chris Tremlett was bowling well against him and Sachin looked a bit fearful of the short ball, which tends to happen towards the end of a player’s 

Ryan Sidebottom was also causing him a lot of problems, he didn’t score a hundred in the series and averaged only 38. To think he is still on the circuit, playing better than ever and is on the verge of a 100th international century is a phenomenal achievement.

 Tendulkar is top of the list simply because of the pressure and weight of expectation he has coped with. He is more famous in India than their prime minister or president and has had to deal with the kind of pressure that status brings whenever he walks to the crease.

When he arrives at the wicket everything is perfect. His technique is great.

There have been various theories about batting over the last decade or so with buzz words such as trigger movements and forward presses. Tendulkar just stands still. He is dead side on. If you sat down with a pen and paper to draw the perfect batsman, you would sketch out Tendulkar’s profile.

He is side on with a nice simple back lift. His shoulders are aligned to mid on and he plays straight. He gets his head over his front leg and plays close to his body. Tendulkar does everything that any good coach would teach and he has been playing in that simple fashion for the whole of his career

When he was struggling with his elbow injury in 2007 he went through a phase of trying to defend his wicket, but just recently he has started to attack again which is when he plays at his best.

It is the same as Brian Lara and Ricky Ponting. Whenever they looked to defend you thought you could get them out. When great players such as these guys attack and score quickly they are beautiful to watch. Their feet move more positively, they get in position quicker and Tendulkar will arrive here looking to take the bowlers on because he knows they will be aggressive towards him.

Like all batsmen, he is at his most vulnerable early in the innings to the fuller delivery nipping back. A ball pitching on off stump and coming back through the gate will cause him problems

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