CRICKETERS ARE SHOCKED AFTER THE ICC'S 'ALL TIME GREATS' LIST

Legendary Kapil Dev said Friday that the ratings made a mockery of players like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar who "served the game with unmatched devotion".
" It is all the more disappointing when I see that the names of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar do not figure on the top," Kapil said."When batsmen like Gavaskar, Tendulkar and (Rahul) Dravid and bowlers like (Dennis) Lillee and (Wasim) Akram languish at the bottom there must be something seriously wrong with the judgment."
"What are the parameters that the ICC uses to come to such ridiculous decisions? Does a batsman become big or important only if he helps the team win a match? What about the matches he helps to draw.
"Look at the statistics of Gavaskar and look at the quality of bowlers he faced. How can you take away the credit of a Gavaskar taking on the likes of Marshall, Lillee, Thomson, Hadlee, Garner, Roberts, Holding, Willis, Botham, Underwood, Imran, Sarfaraz, Qadir," he said.
Kapil felt Tendulkar's only place is next to Don Bradman of Australia and putting him anywhere below that mark was an injustice to the batting maestro.
"Take Tendulkar's case. All modern bowlers agree that he has been the most outstanding opponent in all conditions. Brian Lara comes closest to him. To be told that Tendulkar is not among the best 20 of all time is indeed laughable. We all accept Don Bradman as the all time best but there can be no other candidate for the number two slot than Tendulkar", he said.
Sri Lankan fast bowler Chaminda Vaas on Friday said that International Cricket Council (ICC) rankings were no indicator of a player's calibre and Sachin Tendulkar would always be regarded as an all time great batsman. Reactions came in when Tendulkar was placed 26th in ICC's all-time great ranking.
India's former left-arm spinner Maninder Singh called it a "joke" and said "sadistic" ICC officials should stop coming out with such lists. "The ICC is in the habit of making a joke of themselves, and this list proves that. Now, how can you explain Tendulkar who has scored over 12,000 Test runs not being in that list?