England all-rounder and Ashes hero Andrew Flintoff says Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the two best batsmen he has come across, but the Indian holds an edge over the West Indies genius.
"I would say Lara and Sachin Tendulkar are the two best batsmen I've faced, although you always think you have more of a chance when you are bowling at Lara," says the flamboyant cricketer in his autobiography 'Being Freddie - My Story So Far.'
According to Flintoff, "Tendulkar has a very simple technique, whereas Lara has a lot of movement at the crease and looks very flashy, but his hands are so good."
He, however, does not elaborate what he meant by Tendulkar's simple technique.
Referring to Lara's record-breaking innings of 400 in the final Test in Antigua, Flintoff says, "The word genius gets bandied around a lot, but in his case I think you can call him that."
Flintoff also makes a fleeting reference to the "lot of criticism" England spinner Ashley Giles received for "what they call" negative bowling by coming over the wicket to players like Tendulkar, but justifies it, saying it was his job in the side at that time.
"If you look at where he bowls from around the wicket, he gets his front foot so close to the stumps it's like a lot of other spinners going around the wicket. Ashley has taken going around the wicket a lot further, he uses it as a wicket-taking option throughout the game."
The then England captain Nasser Hussain had asked Giles to bowl in that fashion to frustrate Tendulkar in the second Test at Ahmedabad in 2001.
