Eye of the tiger

Two of the finest batsmen of their generation, Ricky Ponting and Tendulkar shared many memorable duels. They first played against each other in an ODI in Dunedin (Ponting 62, Tendulkar 47) and went on to face off in 89 international games.

"He's undoubtedly technically the best batsman I've seen, played against, played with," said Ponting about Tendulkar recently. "Technically the best batsman I've seen, and quite easily as well."

In this photo Ponting examines Tendulkar's eye in the Delhi Test of 2008. India racked up 613 for 7 declared in the first innings (Tendulkar 68 and 47) and Australia responded with 577 (Ponting 87) in a drawn encounter. India won the four-match series 2-0.