Sachin in all-time Test World XI

Sachin Tendulkar was the only current cricketer named in ESPNcricinfo's all-time Test World XI which did not include Australian captain Ricky Ponting and the likes of Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath, Sunil Gavaskar.

Sachin Tendulkar was the only current cricketer named in ESPNcricinfo's all-time Test World XI which did not include Australian captain Ricky Ponting and the likes of Brian Lara, Glenn McGrath, Sunil Gavaskar.

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Tendulkar has been chosen at No.4 batting position along with Don Bradman, Vivian Richards, Garry Sobers and Shane Warne. Others in the World XI, dominated by Australians and West Indians, were Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton, Adam Gilchrist, Malcolm Marshall, Wasim Akram and Dennis Lillee.

Gavaskar and Lara found themselves in the second World XI along with Barry Richards, George Headley, Wally Hammond, Imran Khan, Alan Knott, Bill O'Reilly, Fred Trueman, Muttiah Muralitharan and SF Barnes. Ponting was not in any of the two teams, the same as McGrath and Kapil Dev.

The jury comprised one former captain from each of the top Test-playing teams -- Ian Chappell, Clive Lloyd, Tony Greig, Duleep Mendis, Ali Bacher, Intikhab Alam, John Wright, Ajit Wadekar -- and four cricket historians and writers. Warne, Gilchrist and Akram were the other players from the last two decades to make it to the XI, which featured seven players who made their debuts after 1970.

Four Australians, three West Indians, two Englishmen, an Indian and a Pakistani make up the XI. Three players were unanimous choices, figuring in the first XIs of each of the 12 members of the jury (each juror was asked to pick a first XI and a second) -- Don Bradman, Garry Sobers and Shane Warne, each of whom got the maximum points possible.

The World XI: Jack Hobbs, Len Hutton, Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Viv Richards, Garry Sobers, Adam Gilchrist, Malcolm Marshall, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Dennis Lillee.

The Readers’ XI: Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Garry Sobers, Adam Gilchrist, Shane Warne, Wasim Akram, Muttiah Muralitharan, Glenn McGrath.