Port of Spain: Viv Richards feels Sachin Tendulkar is the greatest.

“I didn’t see Sir Don, but to me, in all my years associated with the game, I haven’t seen a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar,” said Richards.

“If there is a better batsman than Sachin, then he hasn’t arrived yet.”

In one stroke, Richards put Sachin in a pedestal above his contemporaries such as Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis, and even legends such as Sunil Gavaskar and Javed Miandad.

As for Bradman, his career lasted 20 years including a few years disrupted by the second World War. Tendulkar is already in his 22nd year of international cricket.

“To me the most remarkable thing about Tendulkar is how he has completed the full cycle of his cricketing career, overcoming pain, agony, failures, fatigue, injuries and yet continuing relentlessly till the point the circle was complete.

“He is the most complete package, the cricketer I respect more than anyone else.”

Richards defended Tendulkar’s decision to skip the complete West Indies tour.

“He is 37 and not getting any younger. You have got to respect him for his decision,” said Richards as he turned up for a promotional at Queen’s Park Oval Thursday afternoon.

“He has done enough to decide what is best for him. He knows his commitments and the approach he must take for the rest of his career.”

It doesn’t though stop Richards from lamenting how much Tendulkar’s presence could have done to inspire the young cricketers in the Caribbean.

“It would have been fantastic for the young boys to just watch him in action… how he prepares his innings, the way he goes about building his knock, overcoming conditions and opponents.