Bad boy Shoaib Akhtar revealed that he has the greatest respect for Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar and is honoured to have played against him.

Akhtar believes that the enormous pressure from millions of fans makes the batting icon vulnerable.

"Congratulations to Sachin for breaking Brian Lara's Test record. We are all lucky to have seen him play and some of us even more fortunate to have actually played against him," Akhtar told BigStarCricket.

"I wouldn't say he is the hardest batsman to get out because when he comes to the wicket, he carries so much expectation of all the passionate Indian people and is under so much pressure to score runs that he may then be nervous early on.

"When he gets in and is seeing the ball well, then it is the bowler who is in trouble because once set he is extremely tough to remove. Then it becomes very difficult and is probably the greatest challenge you can face as a bowler."

Akhtar believes that is Tendulkar a master of the craft and will still continue his career for another year, the controversial paceman also believes that Tendulkar is a great human being and the cricket world should salute him.

"Sachin brought charisma and charm into cricket. I cannot say enough of how much of a gentleman he is. We all have to be thankful to him that he is playing this game and making our sport so much the better for his being there. I believe he will carry on scoring Test runs for at least another two years," the controversial pace bowler said.

"He is the most humble person and greatest example of a gentleman in the game. With all the records he has and the talent, you would never know because he always remains so quiet, modest and humble," Akhtar concluded.