IT would take a brave man to bet against Sachin Tendulkar adhering to the script and scoring his 100th international century in the 2,000th Test match at Lord’s - the home of cricket - over the course of the next five days.

The romantics will be hoping for such theatre - it will certainly fit well into a future Bollywood production - but is the ‘Little Master’ the greatest batsman of all time?

I don’t think he is even the best player of his generation.

No praise is high enough when talking about Tendulkar but, for me, he comes a close second to Brian Lara in the list of all-time greats.

It is difficult to separate the two on stats alone - they both average well above 50 - while Tendulkar certainly wins hands down on longevity with 22 years at the top level under his belt, as opposed to the Trinidadian’s ‘mere’ 16 years.

In the marvellous new book ‘Wisden on India’, Mike Selvey writes, 14 years ago: ‘Undoubtedly the greatest batsman of his generation, and quite possibly the greatest Indian batsman ever, Tendulkar is also one of the richest and most recognisable cricketers of all time.’ Considering the hopes of a billion people have rested on his shoulders in four different decades, his achievements sound even more incredible.

However, on pure ability alone, my vote has to go to Lara.

His world record scores of 375, 501 not out (for Warwickshire) and 400 not out instantly spring to mind, but his greatest innings - my favourites of all time - came when he scored 153 not out to lead his country to victory over the all-conquering Australians in 1999.

I was lucky enough to watch that innings and I was captivated by the drama of it all as Lara stood up to everything his fellow greats, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne, could throw at him. In essence, he beat the best team in the world on his own.

When at the peak of his powers, no bowler in the world could dismiss him. Admittedly, he did have some barren periods in his career but that only served to make him look human.

Tendulkar seems to avoid such travails that often blighted Lara’s career and, because of that, he is sure to book his place in the pantheon of cricketing gods.

But give me the mere mortal Lara any day of the week.