Sports News And Tidbits

[Sanguine Sridhar]

'Sachin can easily play for another few years'



Aminul Islam will always be remembered as Bangladesh's first Test centurion. He attained the milestone in their first Test, against India in November 2000.

Famously referred to as 'Bulbul', the 39-year-old played 39 One Day Internationals and 13 Tests between 1998 and 2002. He was captain of Bangladesh in the 1999 World Cup and led the team to that historic victory over Pakistan, which he believes is the country's "greatest moment in cricket".

Even Islam was amazed by Bangladesh's recent giant-killing run at the 2007 World Cup, but he believes the team deserved the success for the hard work it put in.

"If for some luck, we could have gone all the way to the semis; may be next time."

He was disappointed not to find his hero, Sachin Tendulkar, in the one-day squad for the ongoing series.

"Why didn't you bring Sachin and Sourav [Ganguly]?, he asked. We want to see them play."

Islam, who is into coaching nowadays, spoke with Special Correspondent Harish Kotian on eve of the second one-day international in Dhaka.

Bangladesh seems to have done well recently against India, having won two of the last four matches before this series. You also did well against India, remembering that famous century of yours in Bangladesh's first ever Test against India. Is there is extra motivation for you guys when it comes to playing India?

I think India is one of the top teams in the world and Bangladesh has always been a follower of Indian cricket. India has had so many stars like Sachin [Tendulkar], Sourav [Ganguly], Rahul [Dravid], [Javagal] Srinath, Anil Kumble and others, though it has never affected us in a match.

Bangladesh has been lucky in a way that it has always played some good cricket against India. One of the reasons for it, I think, is because both the countries have similar type of wickets and in most of the home matches we have done well against India.

It was Bangladesh's first ever Test match. How was the general mood in the dressing room?

India had a bowling side in Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar for that match. Bangladesh had never played a Test before so we had no idea what Test cricket was.

So I just thought of keeping on batting. I was a bit slow at the start of my innings but one good thing I did was concentration and good shot selection. I also remember that when I was 90 my partner at the other end, Khaled Mashud, told me in Bangla 'Bulbul bhai, you are close to your hundred', so then I remembered an innings from my friend in India, Pravin Amre, who scored a century in his debut Test match in Durban [in 1992].

So I was thinking that Amre had got a century in his first Test match, so even I could get a hundred in my first Test match.

Also, another memorable thing on that day was that when I completed my hundred, my hero Sachin Tendulkar came up to me, shook my hand and congratulated me. I can never forget that moment.

Your hero, Sachin Tendulkar, has come under a lot of flak recently. After a poor showing in the World Cup, there have been calls for him to retire. Do you also believe that the master batsman is past his prime?

I think Sachin has already finished his best. He is already 34 and he has got all the experience with him, scoring so many hundreds and thousands of runs in international cricket. So with the experience that he has got, if he can keep himself fit, I think he can play for another few years easily.

He can still produce match-winning performances because he has got so much experience.

I still enjoy him batting. I also enjoy Brian Lara's batting, but he now has retired. But Sachin is Sachin and he is a great player.