London, Feb 25 (PTI) : Sachin Tendulkar's stupendous feat of becoming the first cricketer to score a double century in one-dayer was today hailed by the British media, which described the little master as the ''finest batsman'' ever. 

"Tendulkar underlined his sensational class with a double century in Gwalior. To have reached such a landmark, with a single in the final over, only serves to underline his class and add to the legacy that already surrounds arguably the finest batsman to have played the game," BBC Sports said.

"His innings, the 46th one-day century of his career, was typified by wristy strokes, trademark boundary shots and, above all, stamina as he batted through the entire innings," the report read.

Meanwhile, The Times tried to anticipate whether the Indian can complete a century of centuries in international cricket by the end of this year.

"All kneel down and praise whatever god you fancy for the mighty Sachin Tendulkar. This could just be turning into the greatest year of his international career, more than 20 years after it began," the report said.

"Tendulkar now has 93 hundreds in international cricket - 47 in Tests and 46 in ODIs - which is 25 more than the next best man, Ricky Ponting. At the age of 36 and in such great form, he could reach 100 hundreds by the end of the year," it added.

Tendulkar yesterday became the first batsman in the four-decade history of ODI to hammer a double ton as his 200 not out helped India pile up a mammoth 401 for three against South Africa and beat the visitors by 153 runs in the second one-dayer.

Daily Mail also termed the innings as "sensational" in their report.

"Sensational Sachin Tendulkar smashes world record one-day innings and first ever double hundred for India," the headline goes.

In another report, Guardian opined that the stormy knock has hit hard the notion that form of Tendulkar is on the wane.

"The blazing innings comes 10 months after his 36th birthday and four years after he was booed off his home ground in Mumbai, with his career apparently in terminal decline.

"Somewhat improbably given today's innings, the abuse had been for slow scoring," the daily said.
It was not only Tendulkar's 46th ODI century but also the highest score in one-dayers, eclipsing the previous record of 194 which was held jointly by Pakistan's Saeed Anwar and Zimbabwe's Charles Conventry.

Kallis praises Tendulkar

Gwalior: South African skipper Jacques Kallis heaped praise on Sachin Tendulkar for his historic double ton and said the way the champion batsman paced his innings it showed one need not be a slogger to do well in one-day cricket.

"He is a classic batsman. He played authentic shots and showed you do not need to slog to play well in One-dayers," Kallis said.

Dejection written all over his face, Kallis rued his team did not play according to the plan and asked the guys to pull up their socks before the 2011 World Cup.

"It was a small field and we lost wickets in a hurry. We could not execute our plans. We need to do a lot of work ahead of the World Cup," he added.

Tendulkar greatest batsman I have seen: Clarke

Wellington: Australia's Twenty20 captain Michael Clarke rates Sachin Tendulkar is the best batsman he has ever seen and said he is not really surprised to see the iconic Indian smashing the first double century in the history of one-day cricket.

"His record speaks for itself. I can't say I'm surprised," said Clarke, who is here for Australian team's tour of New Zealand.

"He's probably the greatest batsman I've ever seen play, live," Clarke was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

Tendulkar's unbeaten 200 at Gwalior was a batting master class that flattened South Africa and India won by 153 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

"I didn't watch any of it but I'd like to get back this afternoon and see some highlights," said Clarke, ahead of Australia's first Twenty20 match against New Zealand.

Clarke was particularly impressed with Tendulkar's longevity and said cricket was blessed to have such a genius.
"He's a wonderful guy and someone I not only enjoy watching on TV, but I've loved having the opportunity to play against him as well," said Clarke.

"He has got so much class. His greatest strength is the longevity, to be able to be so successful at a young age and to still be doing the same thing 20 years on.

"He made his (Test) debut at 16 and he's still as good as ever, if not better. We're blessed to still have such a great player playing this game," he added.