Greater among the greatest: Sachin Tendulkar or Viswanathan Anand, the debate continues

Dhyan Chand. Ramanathan Krishnan. Milkha Singh. Prakash Padukone. Geet Sethi. Sunil Gavaskar. Take a close look at this amazing lineup, and you will see a distinct trait too: each was a winner all the way, and yet remained a gentleman to the bone.  That, however, hasn’t stopped the intrepid from asking the inevitable question: who is India’s greatest sports person? Memory has its own way of playing this dubious game so it’s not surprising that past performances usually come a distant second here; it’s also possible that as current feats unfold before your own eyes and make you feel part of an epic moment, they seem to be bigger and more momentous, writes The Times Of India, comparing the two greats of modern era—Viswanathan Anand and Sachin Tendulkar.

But then, who can argue against a century of centuries? Or against five world titles, that too in a sport that almost every second person on this planet plays, or at least understands at a very basic level? Yes, there is no doubt that this race will boil down to Sachin Tendulkar and Viswanathan Anand.

Meanwhile Sachin Tendulkar has said India will focus to get back to the pinnacle of Test rankings rather than thinking about taking revenge against England in the upcoming home series in November, says a report in The Indian Express.

"It's not about revenge (the home series against England). It's taking pride to play for India and for me that is really important. It (revenge) can be against any other nation but I take lot of pride in playing for India. That's what matters to me. It doesn't matter with whom we play. As long as we produce quality performance expected from us, that is important," said Tendulkar.

"For four years, I mean post-2007 World Cup till the 2011 World Cup, we played quality cricket and got to No 1 ranking. No 1 ranking does not happen overnight. It takes some time and only when you produce good cricket for number of years. We were able to get there but slipped down. It's important to again get back there," Tendulkar said.

According to a report in The Tribune, World chess champion Viswanathan Anand today received a rousing welcome by his fans, who lined-up in good numbers to greet him, as the chess wizard returned home after winning his fifth world title. Anand defeated Israeli challenger Boris Gelfand in rapid tie-break in Moscow to defend his world championship title.

The fans thronged the international airport to greet Anand, who is now a world champion since 2007. Anand and his wife Aruna's parents were also there, apart from several chess players. The government and the chess Federation officials also came to airport.

Additional secretary Rajkumar and member secretary, Sports Vijay Kumar received Anand on behalf of the state government. "I am very happy that so many people have come here to greet me and honour me," Anand after arriving here from Moscow.