One player can never win a match barring a very very few exceptions........VVS Laxman made 281 and that would not have been rated that high had Harbhajan not taken all those wickets after Tea in the last day!!!

For me I have never had a slightest doubt that Lara is a Legend and Tendulkar is a legend of the same sort if not more than LARA.

Ponting does score runs, he may seem to be winning matches for his countries!! But the matter of fact is He plays in a winning team rather than win matches for his teams!! Maan any mediocre batsman can look great when u have some exceptionally talented players and some legends like Warne, McGrath, Gilchrist, Hayden........ so on and so forth!!! N thats why Ponting doesnt rate that high in my ranking as Lara or Tendulkar!!

People here are judging Sachin on the recent performances. I agree with them that Sachin has not been the same force, the same flamboyance may not be there but that does not take away from the fact that he came to International scene at such a tender age, scored runs in Pakistan against probably against the best fast bowling attack then! He came to tour Australia at the age of 19 and then scored centuries in Sydney and of all the places in PERTH!!! He has been scoring big runs against all the nations since then!!The consistency has always been there. And the matter of fact is he always has been under pressure to perform...bcoz of the expectancy of runs from all those Sachin fans!! He more often than not has answered to all his supporters day in and day out! Its almost 20 yrs hez come in the international Arena and the expectation level has never altered!! N ya he cannot win as much matches as Ponting because he doesnot have the same sort of teams as Punter does!! 

Lara on the other hand is the most destructive player against the spinner! He is a treat to watch, probably the best batsman to watch when in free flow!! But he has not been the most consistent batsmen for my liking!! Lara`s 375 was excellent but the 400 was only for a record!! U need class to score 400 and Lara oozes class with every shot he plays but for that record of 400 Windies had to settle for a draw!! Lara is unorthodox thats why hes such a fun to watch! But he is not the one a youngster would like to emulate!

Sometimes the recent run of form seems to overshadow the legacy one leaves behind or what great his contributions has been through out his career!! Tendulkar is one and Gilchrist certainly the other!! Gilchrist deserves far big a applaude than what he is getting now!!

So for me, the ranking wud go:

1. Sachin

2. Lara

.

.

.

.

.

3.Ponting (quite some distant third)