By speaking his mind in typical Aussie fashion, former captain Ricky Ponting has disappointed several Indian cricket fans by rating Brian Lara ahead of Sachin Tendulkar as the better player.

Comparisons can be fun, but they won’t, just like mere statistics, help you determine which is the better player because of different eras. Sure Lara and Tendulkar began their international careers at around the same time (Tendulkar in November 1989, Lara in December 1990) but while Lara played his last Test in 2006, Tendulkar is still around.