By selecting Sachin Tendulkar as the greatest batter of all time, Australian batsman Steve Smith has resolved one of the sport’s most contentious issues. In a rapid-fire interview with BBC Sport Wales, Smith chose Tendulkar because of his extraordinary influence on cricket, ignoring other players like Virat Kohli.
Smith is presently participating in The Hundred 2025 with Welsh Fire. He has only managed to score 58 runs in his first three games. Smith plays only Test matches in international cricket. Following Australia’s elimination from the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy earlier this year, the right-handed batter announced his retirement from ODIs.
Smith was challenged to identify the all-time great batter during the BBC Sport Wales rapid-fire session. Smith selected Sachin Tendulkar as the best batsman and Jacques Kallis as the greatest cricketer of all time.
“I’d go with Jacques Kallis. I think, sorry, the greatest cricketer of all time is Jacques Kallis. Greatest batter of all time is probably Sachin Tendulkar,” Smith stated.
Over the course of his 24-year international career, Sachin Tendulkar played 664 games for India. With 34,357 runs and 201 wickets, he is the highest run-scorer in international cricket. Tendulkar is the record holder for the most Test and ODI matches played and runs scored.
Over the course of 19 years, Jacques Kallis played 519 international games for South Africa, amassing 25,534 runs and taking 577 wickets. In both Test and ODI formats, the all-round player amassed over 10,000 runs and took more than 250 wickets.
Over the previous 15 years, Steve Smith, who has been playing at the highest level of international cricket since February 2010, has faced several of the best bowlers in the world, such as Trent Boult, Dale Steyn, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, and Adil Rashid.
The 36-year-old batsman did, however, name Morne Morkel, India’s current bowling coach, as the hardest bowler he has ever encountered. Smith claimed that he was challenging to deal with because of his pace and bounce.
“Morne Morkel. Tall, fast, and just the bounce he got was not nice,” Smith said during the rapid-fire round.
Smith, who has scored more than 10,000 Test runs for Australia and 48 centuries across all formats since his debut in 2010, was asked about his biggest cricketing rival. Nothing compares to the Ashes, Smith said after selecting England.
“England. I mean, they’re both huge rivals, but an Ashes, nothing beats it!” Smith said.
The 144-run innings he played in the opening innings of the 2019 Ashes Test at Edgbaston, Birmingham, was the Australian batter’s favorite hundred as well.
“Favorite hundred would be the first innings at Edgbaston in 2019,” Smith said.
