Brian Lara: 'Sachin Tendulkar is the Muhammad Ali of cricket'

West Indies legend Brian Lara believes that Sachin Tendulkar is "the greatest" cricketer of all time.

The Indian batsman will retire from the sport after featuring for his country in the second Test match against the West Indies in Mumbai.

"I believe Sachin has done a tremendous job, not just for Indian cricket but for world cricket," The Mirror quotes Lara as saying. "There are boxers with better records than Muhammad Ali, but if you mention the word boxing, you have to mention Muhammad Ali.

"When you talk of basketball, you have to mention Michael Jordan. When you speak about cricket, I'd speak of Tendulkar.

"The number of people he has affected, the amount of matches he's played – it's the greatest cricket career anyone has ever played out."

Tendulkar made his Test debut for India when he was 16 years of age and has scored 15,847 runs.