Neel
Its impossible to compare eras as you have said. I agree, God knows what Sachin would have done if he played in Don's time. By that same argument, no one knows what Don would have done if he played in this era! Sachin has the numbers to back him up since he has also played so many more games than Don. What if Don played that many tests? Maybe his avg of 99.94 would have come down a bit, but there is no way of telling how many runs or centuries he would have compiled. Its a difficult argument. What is not arguable that these two men are the two greatest ever. Also, remember that Don never played an ODI innings. So, we have to compare Don with Sachin only in tests. Sachin has the numbers in terms or runs, centuries, games played. Don has the numbers in terms of avg, big centuries, playing half the games Sachin has played. Those are the concrete facts. Rest are projections. If Sachin played back then, maybe he would have averaged near 100 and maybe Don would have sported Sachin's number if he played tests and ODI's in this era. If you ask me, the test player vs test player comparison, that 99.94 avg is hard to bypass. The big double and triple centuries are impossible to ignore. In my mind, and its purely my own observation :
Greatest ODI player : Sachin, followed by Viv
Greatest Test player: Don, followed by Sachin and Hammond.
Greatest player of all time : Tricky, but I think Don edges Sachin slightly, though Sachin has every case for himself.
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