There may be difference of opinion on how Sachin Tendulkar's batting has changed over the years, but former South African opener Barry Richards insists that the Indian is still the best batsman in the world.

Richards, however, noted that the Indian batting maestro now played a lot squarer than before due to advancing age.

"When you get older, you tend to play squarer. You have not got the same sparkle in the eye. You get by more in the spirit," he said in Amsterdam.

"Then people learn to bowl a bit better to you, they work on different lines and length. But he is still a great player. He can still play all around the wicket. He is still possibly the best in the world," Richards said.

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Tendulkar, ruled out of the ongoing tri-series due to tennis elbow, has been dominating the bowlers all round the globe for over a decade now.

The 31-year-old had scored whopping 13,415 runs in 339 one-day international, which includes a record 37 centuries and is also closing on the 10,000 mark in Test as well.

Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly, before leaving for the tri-series, had said that Tendulkar has been asked by the team management to pace his innings in the limited overs matches in order to guide the innings for the entire 50 overs.