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http://content.cricinfo.com/wt202009...ry/406333.html
ICC World Twenty20
Tendulkar tips seamers to shine
Cricinfo staff
May 28, 2009
RP Singh justified his inclusion in the Indian squad for the World Twenty20 with a successful IPL © Associated Press
Sachin Tendulkar has said he is confident about India defending its World Twenty20 title and expects the pace attack to come good in English conditions. "It is on par with the best," he told Daily News and Analysis. "Zaheer [Khan], Ishant [Sharma] and RP Singh form a lethal combination, particularly in English conditions. Our seam attack has a lot of variety and would come handy in such conditions. On our day, we can demolish any batting side."
Tendulkar, who will not take part in the World Twenty20, had stressed the need for the Indian players to get adequate rest ahead of the competition after an intense IPL. He had singled out India's opening combination, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, which had struggled in the IPL, to fight fatigue in the lead-up to the tournament in England.
When asked about Sehwag's poor run, Tendulkar said: "Every player has ups and downs in his career and Viru [Sehwag] is no exception. But an on-song Viru is a delight to watch. If he gets one cover drive right, he'll mesmerise everybody and will again be back to his best. The bowlers will be at his mercy then. He is a superb striker of the ball ... on his day, he can do anything."
Tendulkar tipped India as the favourites for competition, for he felt that rather than just some individuals making the difference, the team is the best balanced outfit around. "We come as a package," he said. "I am certain this package is the best in business at the moment. This package has everything which is necessary to make us world champions once again.
"India is the most balanced side in the world and there is no doubt we can defend the title. We have very good cricketers in our side and we have proved that this combination is the deadliest."
© Cricinfo
Sachin Tendulkar backs India to retain World Twenty20 crownThu May 28, 2009 1:25pm IST
CHENNAI (Reuters) - Batting great Sachin Tendulkar believes India will retain the Twenty20 World Cup next month, saying skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team were the world's best in the most explosive form of the game.
"India is the most balanced side in the world and there is no doubt we can defend the title," Tendulkar told the DNA newspaper on Thursday.
"We have very good cricketers in our side and we have proved that this combination is the deadliest," added the record-breaking batsman, who does not play in Twenty20 internationals.
Dhoni led a young Indian team to a surprise success in South Africa two years ago to ensure the game's shortest format gained instant popularity in cricket's commercial hub.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Dhoni heads a young, vibrant bunch to the second edition in England starting on June 5. India are in Group A with Bangladesh and Ireland.
"The best part is that our team can take any amount of pressure and still perform," Tendulkar added.
"Team India actually thrives on pressure. So I would like to put my money on India."
India will be carrying a five-man pace attack to exploit the seaming conditions in England, although the wily Zaheer Khan is an injury doubt.
"It is on par with the best," Tendulkar said of an attack spearheaded by the pacy Ishant Sharma.
"Zaheer, Ishant, Rudra Pratap Singh form a lethal combination, particularly in English conditions.
"Our seam attack has a lot of variety and that would come handy in such conditions. On our day, we can demolish any batting side.
"We come as a package... (and) I am certain this package is the best in business at the moment. This package has everything which is necessary to make us world champions once again."
http://in.reuters.com/article/topNew...BrandChannel=0
Batting maestro Tendulkar lauds shutterbugs
Mumbai, May 28 (PTI) Having been chased endlessly by them all his life, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar acknowledged the importance of shutterbugs in a cricketer's life in his own modest way.
"As a cricketer I can tell you, I have seen photographers sit under the sun on a cricket field for an entire day, waiting for that one magical moment," said the champion batsman who felicitated the winners of the photo contest based on the theme "Streets of Mumbai" here last night.
"It is thanks to you that we cricketers get a chance to relive all those golden moments in our lives once again," Tendulkar said.
To the sheer delight of the queuing photographers, who had till then scrambled to snap him with their lenses, the cricket legend also fulfilled their desire of being clicked with him.
Lauding them, the master said, "the theme of 'Streets of Mumbai' is a novel concept. The photo-journalists have made a real effort in capturing the spirit of Mumbai." PTI
http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite...C?OpenDocument
Thalaivar's hair-style :shock: :cool2:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar community crosses 450,000 members on May 29th 2009
:clap: :clap: :clap:
More milestones awaited :D
Sachin Tendulkar
'I've loved every minute of it'
The losses still hurt, the hunger for runs is still there; most importantly, he still enjoys the game to the fullest. And that's how he wants to be remembered
Dileep Premachandran
May 31, 2009
Text size: A | A
"I love being out there. I have a lot of fun" © AFP
Related Links
Player/Officials: Sachin Tendulkar
Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League
Teams: India | Mumbai Indians
It's been more than 48 hours since the Mumbai Indians lost to Shane Warne's Rajasthan Royals in Durban. Standing on the metal steps that lead up to the press-conference area at St George's Park in Port Elizabeth, Sachin Tendulkar is looking somewhere far away. His team have been all but eliminated from semi-final contention after a loss to the Chennai Super Kings, but it's the one that got away at Kingsmead that continues to haunt Tendulkar. "There's no way you should lose a game when you need just six to win with nine balls to go," he says, voice shot through with disbelief.
"We lost to the Kings XI by two runs as well. I can understand a team being bowled out for 85 when chasing 120, but to bat through the overs and not get the runs... that's inexcusable."
Like most of the greats, Tendulkar hates losing. And as the security guard watches nervously, he talks to me with an earnestness that is almost vehement. There's a perception that many players are on the IPL gravy train for the big-fat pay cheque; players who "shouldn't be here", as Ray Jennings put it in his wonderfully candid way. Tendulkar is not one of them. Some players prefer to walk out to Kylie Minogue's music. In his present mood, you sense that Tendulkar would opt for REM's "Everybody Hurts".
For Tendulkar, like for Glenn McGrath, who spent the entire second season of the IPL on the bench, winning is pretty much everything. This is, after all, the man who once admitted that he found it tough to let his son win when they played with a little bat and ball.
A week after our meeting in windy Port Elizabeth, I see him again. The mood isn't any better. Mumbai have been thrashed by Delhi Daredevils. A campaign that started promisingly with victory in the opening game at Newlands against the fancied Chennai lies in tatters. Five wins and eight defeats, seventh on the table.
At the press conference he bites down on some words, tries hard not to point fingers. But his disappointment is an open wound. Here for the money? You must be joking. As he prepares to leave the stadium and the 40-minute drive from Centurion to the team hotel in Sandton, we arrange to talk. Over the phone. I still have another game to watch, and Manish Pandey, a 19-year-old with a baby face, pounds out a heady century.
I slip unnoticed into the press-conference room and dial the number. It makes sense to ask Tendulkar about the IPL experience. After all, most of the South African contingent has grilled him about the way their nation has embraced the tournament. And when we first chatted, a fortnight into the competition, he had mentioned just how much of a strain the interminable travel was. "It's been very good but it was tough as well, especially to lose so many close games," he says after a small pause. "We should have won them, but we just didn't finish the job.
"That was a decision I took two years ago, not to play Twenty20 cricket for India. I felt my body was struggling and I wasn't able to give 100%. I didn't want to be a burden on the team. If you have one loose link, it's unfair on the other guys"
"Also, playing away from home has been different. People back home, not just in Mumbai but right across India, had been looking forward to this IPL season. That it didn't happen at home must have been hard on them. It's always different when you can't watch it live. The home games are very big back home. The atmosphere is something else. And you get pretty much everyone backing the home team. But I sort of knew that people would turn up and appreciate good cricket in South Africa. The crowds have been fantastic."
Given how well some of the senior players have done in the IPL, it's hardly surprising that there has been innuendo about how useful their experience would be in English conditions. But Tendulkar himself has no regrets about missing out on the World Twenty20. Sure, he'll be at some of the games, but he'll also be at Wimbledon, enjoying some time away from the spotlight that has been his lot for two decades now.
"That was a decision I took two years ago, not to play Twenty20 cricket for India," he says. "I felt my body was struggling and I wasn't able to give 100%. I didn't want to be a burden on the team. If you have one loose link, it's unfair on the other guys.
"The team did well, more than well, in South Africa [2007]. It's a settled side now. I felt I should not disturb the combination. One-day cricket and Test cricket are different, because I've been part of the team for so long. But if I was to force myself into the Twenty20 team, it would mean a reshuffle that I don't want."
Even after such a gruelling IPL season - each of India's 15-man squad played a part - he remains confident that MS Dhoni's team can retain the trophy they won in improbable circumstances in the Highveld two years ago. "I think we've definitely got a tournament-winning squad," he says. "It looks fantastic, in all respects. The batting, bowling and fielding are equally strong, and the morale is very high."
Along with the seniors' debate, there have been young players catching the eye. Before Pandey's brilliant innings, there was Sudeep Tyagi with his seam bowling, and Pragyan Ojha with his left-arm spin. But when you ask Tendulkar about the young players that he has watched in the tournament, and their long-term potential, he shies away from judgments. "I don't think this is the right format to judge a player," he says. "One-day cricket or Tests reveal far more about a player's ability. With Twenty20 you can sometimes have days when everything you try just comes off."
Celebrating his 36th birthday with his surrogate family © AFP
His own career has revived spectacularly after the struggles with injury. There were two Test centuries in Australia, and though he failed in Sri Lanka, centuries in Chennai and Hamilton played a huge part in series victories over England and New Zealand. There were also two magnificent innings in the CB Series finals against Australia in March 2008, when he rewound the clock to Desert Storm times and single-handedly tilted games India's way.
A few more straight-drives and paddle sweeps and he'll have 30,000 runs in international cricket. Barring Don Bradman's, which acquire a near-mythical status as the years pass, Tendulkar owns practically every batting record in the game. What makes the man tick, what makes him get out of bed every morning and choose the less-than-easy option?
"I enjoy playing cricket," he says with a laugh. "It's the simplest answer and the one people seem to find hardest to believe. I love being out there. I have a lot of fun. There are always various challenges to occupy you, and also the pride that comes with playing for India. That's still a huge thing, because it's all I ever wanted as a child. I don't think my feelings are any less strong now."
Ever since he was a teenager scoring hundreds for fun in Mumbai, it's his sense of calm that has set him apart. Few events have shaken that composure down the years, and none quite like the terror attacks in Mumbai last November. The siege at the Taj Mahal Hotel took place just around the corner from his restaurant, with its cricket-themed walls and personally chosen menu.
"That was a tragic experience," he says after a long pause. "I don't think anyone expected that something of that nature could happen. It was just terrible. I dedicated the victory against England [Chennai] to the victims and their families, because I felt it was the least we could do. Winning a cricket match was not going to make people forget what had happened to them, but if they smiled even for a second, we had been able to do something. It was only about diverting minds, however briefly. It was a huge loss for everyone, and not something that can ever be measured in terms of wins and losses."
In that context, was that century the one he cherishes most? "Definitely," he says. "The mood of the entire nation was so low. And on that last day, we finished so strongly. It was my most important hundred."
"Right now, things have been going well. I want to focus on the next engagement. Winning the World Cup is the ambition of every cricketer. I'm not alone in that. But it would be special
In his wonderful biography of Sunil Gavaskar, the late Dom Moraes titled one chapter "The Halcyon Years". These are such days for Tendulkar, for whom the finish line is in sight. But even as he approaches it, he's enjoying every moment of being part of a side that appears equipped to take on all-comers, home and away. Having spent much of his career as part of a team that struggled, especially away from home, what does it now feel like to be senior statesman and a member of a side that's challenging for top honours in every form of the game?
"It's terrific," he says, the mood lifting. "I find it a real pleasure to be part of this team. We've got the quality to compete with the best, and it's exciting when you do so well." The emphasis is on enjoying the moment, rather than worrying about which boxes still remain to be ticked. "I don't look to set targets, honestly," he says. "I play as hard as possible, and when things happen it's a great feeling. I don't disclose targets. But for example, it's nice when you go to Australia and do well there."
For most people connected with Indian cricket, though, the World Cup remains a Holy Grail. Tendulkar, who grew up watching the Kapil Dev generation, has mixed memories of both 1996 and 2003, when mountains of runs off his own bat weren't enough to cover for inadequacies elsewhere. And he insists that he won't put pressure on himself by over-egging the World-Cup pudding. "I don't want to look that far ahead," he says. "Right now, things have been going well. I want to focus on the next engagement. Winning the World Cup is the ambition of every cricketer. I'm not alone in that. But it would be special."
His children, Sara and Arjun, are now old enough to nurture ambitions of their own, and the time spent away from them is accepted with something approaching resignation. "I guess you have no choice," he says of the touring life. "When the children grow up, they'll know why their father was away for so long. And hopefully, they'll be proud of me and what I did."
"The mood of the entire nation was so low. And on that last day [in Chennai], we finished so strongly. It was my most important hundred" © AFP
For 20 years now the team has been his surrogate family, and there have been those that have left a deeper impression than others. "There have been many that I've shared the Indian dressing room with, but I'd make special mention of Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri," he says when asked about those who helped shape him. "My coach, Ramakant Achrekar, my brother Ajit, and my father were the others that have given me the most."
On the field, not much has changed. Abdul Qadir once mentioned milk, before he was smashed for sixes in Peshawar, and there was the uncomfortable task of testifying in the Harbhajan Singh "racism inquiry" not so long ago. Banter has been part of the game ever since the good Doctor Grace told a bowler that the crowds had come to watch him bat, and not to see him bowl. Tendulkar wouldn't have it any other way. "I'd like to think that I've been friendly with everyone," he says. "Whatever happens is only on the field and you don't need to get too personal. I don't expect friendship out there. They are competing as hard as you are, and looking to win against you. As long as you bear no grudges, I have no problems."
Jack Fingleton immortalised Victor Trumper with Never Another Like Victor. The Archie Jackson story lives on through the words of David Frith. In Tendulkar's case words aren't even necessary. There are so many thousands of hours of archival footage, and even those born years after Waqar Younis bloodied his nose on debut have watched his finest hours on youtube and commemorative DVDs. But what if it was possible for him to choose how he's remembered after leaving the game? He thinks for a while. "As somebody who enjoyed the game as much as he could," he says. "I've played fair and hard and loved every minute of it. That would be the best way to be remembered. And also as a team man. While you're achieving team goals, your own milestones will pass by."
http://content.cricinfo.com/magazine...ry/406796.html
http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatim...ow/4600858.cmsQuote:
India, who still have a doubt over the fitness of fast bowler Zaheer Khan's shoulder injury, come into this event without batting great Sachin Tendulkar.
'The Little Master' has opted out of international Twenty20s and Dhoni said: "He's among the greatest, it's tough, you always want a player like Sachin in your side.
"But he wasn't at the last T20, the guys are getting used to it. But he has a big impact in the dressing room, the amount of ideas he has is amazing."
"It's not only about strategies but how you implement and how the individual you are planning against reacts. If it was all about strategy Sachin would have been sorted out by now and he's been playing for 20 years."
T20 must not outgrow Tests: Sachin
Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:37 GMT
Twenty20 cricket's rising popularity notwithstanding, Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar feels the format should never be allowed to grow at the expense of Test cricket, which "requires more skills".
"I don't think that one should make that compromise (of Twenty20 spreading at the cost of Test cricket)," Tendulkar told the latest issue of 'GQ' magazine.
"Test cricket definitely requires more skills. In a Twenty20 match, if somebody has batted well for 45 minutes, he has done brilliantly. But that doesn't happen in Test cricket, where you have to bat well for a couple of sessions (about four hours)," he added.
Tendulkar feels bowlers don't concede an inch in Test cricket but would be more than happy to give away singles in Twenty20 as they know only big hits can work to a team's advantage in the shortest format.
"In Twenty20 cricket, a bowler is happy giving you singles. In Test cricket, they are trying to get you out all the time," explained the man who has played just one Twenty20 match for the national team.
The veteran right-hander said the current Indian team is a fabulous one and a unit that everyone would want to captain.
"I don't think there is anybody on the Indian team who wouldn't want to captain such a fantastic side. Not because they want to grab it or whatever, but because ... It is a fabulous team," he said.
http://www.cricbuzz.com/component/la...-Tests-Sachin/
http://www.cricbuzz.com/component/la...onal-charity-/
Tendulkar to double educational charity
Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:11 GMT
Having taken inspiration from his late father on social responsibilities, Sachin Tendulkar today said he will sponsor the education of 200 children, who are part of a Non-Governmental Organization.
The batting maestro, who is already looking after welfare of 200 children from the same NGO Apnalaya, said he always looked up to his father in trying to understand his social responsibilities.
"There is no better source of inspiration for me than my father. Growing up as a child, I saw my father, a professor, pay for the education of our 'paperwala', who could not afford it. This is in a family where every penny mattered," the master batsman said at a press conference here.
"Whoever turned up at our house, be it the watchman or the postman, would not be allowed to leave without having a cup of tea, which my father served," he said, adding "These incidents taught me all about caring for others. I have learnt from my father and I'm proud of it".
"I'm trying to double my givings and contributing in whatever way I can. I will pay for the education of 200 children as a part of the 'Joy of Giving Week' campaign," he said in support of the programme conceptualized by another NGO, GiveIndia, to promote charity.
http://cricket.ndtv.com/cricket/ndtv...09_184900.html
It would have been easy to get carried away: Tendulkar
Press Trust of India18:49 IST, Tuesday, June 02, 2009 (New Delhi)
Sachin Tendulkar, who tasted success at an early age, admitted he too had moments when he could have "got carried away" and said it was hard work and resolve that helped him reach the pinnacle of success.
The 36-year-old batting maestro, who began his cricketing career at a tender age of 16, has so far played 159 Tests and 425 one-day internationals, without being dropped from the national squad even once in the last two decades.
"Given the things that have happened in my life it would have been easy to get carried away," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by men's fashion magazine GQ which has the batting maestro on its cover in the latest issue.
"There were times when I felt that, yeah, I should bunk practice and spend time with my friends and go out for a movie. But my coach would turn up and make me sit on his bike and take me all the way to practice," he recollected.
Tendulkar, who holds umpteen number of cricketing records besides being the world's highest run-getter in Tests and one-dayers, said success did not come automatically to him. "I have made an effort. It doesn't happen automatically," he said.
Tendulkar said he hardly pays heed to any kind of criticism hurled at him and instead concentrates on his performance.
"People will have opinions but that doesn't mean they are correct. They are only opinions and I have bigger things to deal with. Guys that have all the time in the world to discuss these things, discuss them. I don't," he said.
Eden truly special for me: Sachin
2 Jun 2009, 2057 hrs IST, PTI
KOLKATA: Recollecting his exploits at the theatre of some of his memorable innings, Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday said every one of his outings at
the Eden Gardens had been special for him.
"I always have very fond memories of Eden Gardens right from the day I first played here (in 1991)," said Tendulkar
Tendulkar was controversially run out in a Test against Pakistan at the Eden in 1999 that led to play being held up for about three hours due to crowd trouble, and he said he would always cherish the vibrant atmosphere inside the stadium whenever India played there.
"I've seen many good moments of my life and have spent my maximum time there. I would love to capture the moment of going out to bat with a packed stadium and the roaring applause.
"I wish if I could capture the photo with the lively sound around. It would be a great moment to capture," said the 36-year-old who had played nine Tests and 12 ODIs at the Eden.
He said crowd support at the Eden was a major contributing factor for the Indian team's success at this venue.
"The support that we have received here over the years has been truly special. The crowd has always been right behind us. they had a major contribution in Indian team being successful."
http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatim...ow/4609801.cms
"Guys that have all the time in the world to discuss these things, discuss them. I don't"
AF, yaarai solraaru theriyudha? nammalai thaan :-)
:lol:
Tendulkar Opus, a tribute to the cricketing legend
A London-based company will shortly release a book revealing Sachin Tendulkar's thoughts on his achievements on the cricket field.
The book called the Tendulkar Opus will the largest and most luxurious tribute ever published on the legend.
The book will have details of his playing career and will also tell us what Sachin thinks of his teammates.
A section will also be devoted to his on-field rivals, both past and present and also his personal life.
Tendulkar Opus will weigh 35kgs with 800 pages. But not everyone can get it as it will be a limited collectors’ edition and each copy will be personally signed by the man himself. Sachin is the first individual sportsman to feature in an Opus collection.
"It is a different kind of book. I have Mohammad Ali (book on Mohammad Ali) on at home and when I saw the book I was completely floored by the amount of effort they had put in the book. It is special. I am looking forward to my book which will be out before 2011 World Cup," Tendulkar said about the book.
He also wished well for the Indian team playing in the World Twenty20 and hoped they would retain the title.
They have been playing well and all I can wish well for them. I am not exactly part of the team at this stage. So as an Indian I can say go and get the cup," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/cricket/8097272.stm
In-depth interview - Sachin Tendulkar
Hi and welcome to my official Opus website which will go live on 18 June. This will be the place to get updates on the making of the Opus, insider photos and videos, interactive features, a special section for kids, competitions to win signed memorabilia and loads more.
Register now to receive an email when the site goes live and to be automatically entered into my prize draw. I'll be giving away a signed item every day until the launch date, so the sooner you register the more chances you will have to win! There's also a special signed prize for the person who provides the most referrals before launch date, so remember to email invitations to your friends and family.
http://tendulkaropus.com/
:clap:.
Sir concurs with me. He says that Ashes 2005 is the best ever test series he has ever watched.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
:lol:Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/vid...egory-Features
Sachin drives a Jaguar in England!
Watch batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar driving a Jaguar with his son Arjun in England.
I can't survive without Test cricket: Tendulkar
15 Jun 2009, 2249 hrs IST, PTI
LONDON: Likening Twenty20 cricket with "dessert" which is delicious but could not satiate one's hunger, Indian batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar said
that Tests were the "main course" of meal and he cannot survive without it.
"Twenty20 is like desserts? It tastes good but you can't fill up your stomach with it? You have to have a main course and that's Test cricket? I couldn't survive without main course," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by 'The Times'.
The 36-year-old Tendulkar said the longer version of cricket will always be the number one format of the game for any player.
"From a cricketer's point of view Test cricket will always be Number 1. In Test cricket, the bowler is always trying to get you out and you have to be on top of your game for five days. You have to be at your best to sustain it," he said.
Showering all affinity on Tests, Tendulkar, who has amassed a record 12,773 runs at an average of 54.58 in the longer format, however, still dreams of winning an ODI World Cup, which has eluded him in last five editions.
"I watched the final at my friend's place. My friends who were much older were celebrating, jumping around? I joined in but I was clueless about what was happening," Tendulkar said.
"That is when I started taking cricket seriously? Until then it was fun messing about with a tennis ball? I saw from those celebrations that cricket can change the mood of the entire nation. That is why it is my dream," he said.
Incidentally, Tendulkar's nine-year-old son Arjun is more excited by the slam-bang cricket.
"My son already loved cricket but Twenty20 has taken it further. It's not really the music or clothing, it's the number of sixes? He just wants to go out and smash it? That's what excites him," admitted Tendulkar, who captains Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.
Tendulkar said he would like to use T20 cricket's mass appeal to globalise the game.
"I would like to take it to new nations, perhaps America. It won't happen tomorrow but let's try. For so many years we've had audiences who didn't bother to watch the result never mind watch the game.
"Now this has captured the imagination all across the world, even in non-cricket-playing nations, this format has regenerated interest," he said.
Tendulkar also said he wanted the Test format to benefit from worldwide growth of the game and that the next generations take to it with renewed interest.
"Someone said that first sensation of cricket, walking inside the stadium, will stay with you forever. It was definitely that way with me. I remember walking in the Wankhede Stadium when I was 10, the West Indies playing in Mumbai.
"It was fabulous. I couldn't imagine how the ground would be, so packed with people, full of noise. I couldn't imagine how fast the ball was flying. (Sunil) Gavaskar and Vivian Richards, my heroes there, too. It was a special sight. On TV you can't get that feeling," he said.
"Mostly children will see Twenty20 on television so it is a real challenge educating them, allowing them to understand the different forms.
"All the Test grounds, may be they should clear three, or four hundred seats for schoolchildren so that they can come and watch. They are the ones who will fill the stands in the future so give them a taste of Test cricket and it will be in their minds for ever," he added.
Referring to West Indies captain Chris Gayle's remark that he "wouldn't be so sad if Test cricket died out", Tendulkar just said Gayle "can have his opinion, he's a nice guy".
http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatim...ow/4659746.cms
:thumbsup: but izzit possible? :roll:Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
Wow feddy soon to be a 10000 poster. Only the second after SP? :clap:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/v...ow/4662223.cms
Batting sensation Sachin Tendulkar has decided not to tour the West Indies for India's One-Day International series later this month.
The batting maestro is hesitant to tour as he has not trained with the team for quite a while. ( Watch )
Tendulkar played his last ODI in Christchurch, New Zealand where he scored a match-winning 163 before retiring hurt.
The West Indies series begins with the first ODI on June 26 at Jamaica which hosts the second game too. While third and fourth matches will be played at St Lucia.
Meanwhile, India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan has been ruled out of the upcoming West Indies tour due to injury.
The pacer's injury was carried to the T20 World Cup from the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Nerd, Arasiyalla idhellam :).
No NOV cross pannitaar. He is no 1, Feddy-ku 2nd place! :lol2:Quote:
Originally Posted by Nerd
SP vera id kettu vaangitaanga, adhukullara 957 post-um pannitaanga. She is incomparable :oops:
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...DAY_SERIES.asp
Tendulkar out of Caribbean one-day series
CMC
Thursday, June 18, 2009
CHENNAI, India (CMC) - India's selectors named a 16-man squad yesterday without batting ace Sachin Tendulkar for their One-Day International (ODI) series against West Indies later this month.
Tendulkar... opted out of tour to rest injured finger
Tendulkar has opted out of the tour to rest an injured finger and key pacer Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag and Suresh Raina will also be missing.
India and West Indies will meet in four ODIs - in Jamaica on June 26 and 28 and in St Lucia on July 3 and 5.
The 36-year-old Tendulkar is on the mend from a finger injury he picked up during the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Khan, recovering from a shoulder injury, was also given more time to rest.
Sehwag and Raina are hurt and were not considered for selection. Sehwag is recovering from a shoulder injury and Raina has a hairline fracture on the thumb.
Left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra is back - after a four-year absence - to resume his international career of 17 Tests and 72 ODIs and the squad also includes the uncapped Abhishek Nayar and inexperienced Murali Vijay.
All-rounder Nayar is an attacking left-handed batsman and right-arm medium pacer, who was outstanding for Mumbai Indians in the recent IPL tournament.
Vijay, who played a single Test match in 2008 against Australia, appeared for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2009.
INDIA SQUAD - Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath, Rudra Pratap Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik.
sachin playing the test series or not?
There is no test series vicky.
Sachin Tendulkar: Humble master
The Brian Viner Interview: He's the highest run-scorer in international cricket – and the batsman who has scored more centuries against Australia than any other. In this rare interview, he speaks about the terror attacks in Mumbai, his 20-year career and England's chances in the Ashes
Friday, 26 June 2009
Awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honour and played in his 417th ODI match against Australia giving him the record for the most ODI matches played by any player in 2008
It is hard to assess a fellow's character in an interview lasting 40 minutes, which is the amount of time I have been allotted with Sachin Tendulkar – and properly privileged I feel to get it, too. But I am afforded a useful insight before the interview even starts. We are in the Opus store near Covent Garden, where Tendulkar has been the subject of an interminable photo shoot as part of the launch of his latest website. On the pavement outside there is an ever-burgeoning group of Indians pressing their noses to the glass, astounded to find that their country's supreme sporting mega-star is inside. As soon as the shoot is over, Tendulkar is ushered over to meet me. But with a shy smile he apologises and instead steps out of the shop door to meet the people who would lie in the middle of a motorway for him. Only once he has chatted to them all does he return to my waiting tape-recorder. He is famously diddy, only 5ft 5in tall. But a giant of a man, nonetheless.
Also, he happens to have scored more Test centuries against Australia than anyone, so with the Ashes series imminent it seems relevant to ask him the secret of mastering the Aussie attack, but first things first. He is 36 now, and has been playing first-class cricket for more than 20 years. Is he beginning to contemplate life after cricket?
"To be honest I haven't thought about that at all," he says. "I'm still enjoying it, my body is holding up nicely, and I have no plans to stop playing. When I do, I will do something connected with cricket. That's what I'm good at." Good at! It is like saying that Helen of Troy was a bit of a looker. Tendulkar has scored more Test runs than anyone in the history of the game, 12,773 of them at an average of 54.58. He also has a record number of one-day international runs, 16,684 at 44.37. Nobody has scored more Test centuries (42). He has even claimed almost 200 Test and one-day wickets. Moreover, when Sir Donald Bradman was persuaded in 1998 to pick his all-time XI, the Little Master from Mumbai was the only modern inclusion. But what will he do with all that talent when the curtain finally falls on one of the epic cricket careers? Will he coach? "I don't know," he says flatly. "This is not the right time to think about it."
Perhaps, I venture provocatively, coaching won't come naturally. He wouldn't be the first sporting colossus to struggle to refine in others what to himself has always come instinctively. How easy, for example, does he find it to instruct his young son in the batting arts?
He smiles. "He is only nine and he just wants to smash the ball. I encourage him to do that, because above all he should love the sport. If he loves it, the rest will follow. I have not forced him into it. We hardly discussed cricket for the first four or five years of his life, but it seems to be in his heart. It is hard to judge how good he will be. Cricket is not just about physical ability, it is also about mental ability, adapting to different conditions and situations. It is hard to judge the mentality of a boy of nine."
Indeed, yet Tendulkar was only five years older, a 14-year-old schoolboy, when Dilip Vengsarkar, then the Indian captain, judged him ready to play first-class cricket. Of his subsequent 208 centuries in all forms of the game, can he single out one that has given him more satisfaction than any other?
"I think the one against England in Chennai last year," he says, without hesitation. "After what happened in Mumbai [the terrorist attacks], the mood of the entire nation was low. Something was needed to put smiles on people's faces. I am by no means suggesting that the people who lost near and dear ones could forget their terrible loss, but if we as a team were able to make them smile for just a couple of seconds, that was an achievement. And thanks to the England cricket team who came back very graciously and played against us. You know, cricket in India brings the entire nation together, from the poorest child to a billionaire. We are in a position to make everyone happy, which is very special for me and the whole cricketing fraternity."
The excited throng of people still outside the shop rather proves his point, and this is Covent Garden, not Mumbai. What must it be like to be Sachin Tendulkar in India? I ask the only man who knows. "It is difficult to move out and about, to do normal things, like going for a walk in the park. I sometimes take my car (of his extensive collection, his current favourite is a Lamborghini) out at five o'clock in the morning, and drive 25 miles. It is nice to be alone. But I also enjoy the attention. There are pros and cons, it's a package deal. My life has been fantastic and I have always had huge support from my family. My father was not a huge follower of cricket, but he was 100 per cent behind me every step of the way."
The late Professor Ramesh Tendulkar, a novelist and poet, must nevertheless have been rather mystified by his boy's prodigious cricketing talent, which flowered extraordinarily early. "You asked about important innings," Tendulkar continues, "and I would say that there were a couple in my schooldays that changed my life. In the semi-final of an Under-17s tournament I scored 326 not out, which is when everyone in Mumbai took notice of me. I then scored 346 not out in the final, with Dilip Vengsarkar and Sunil Gavaskar watching. I was only 14 at the time, but Vengsarkar wanted me to join the Mumbai first-class team, which contained nine Test players. He had to be sure I was ready. So he invited me to play in the India nets. The Indian team had a camp in Mumbai, and he made Kapil Dev and all these guys bowl at me in the nets. After that session he gave a green signal to the selectors. He said 'I think he's ready, you can pick him'. And in my first season I scored the highest number of runs for the team. There are three trophies in India, and in all three I scored a century on my debut, so my performances were very good, but also the timing was perfect."
Two decades on, there are those who insist that Tendulkar is diminished as a batsman compared with his glorious youth. I cite one of them, the former Australian captain Ian Chappell. "If he says that then he's not watched enough cricket," says Tendulkar, evenly. "There is no player who does not change over 20 years, and that depends on your changing role in the team. When I was 17 there were others to take the kind of responsibility I'm taking now, and at 25 I was playing differently again. One has to be wise and mature enough to understand this changing role. I am quite happy with where I am now, and I think my performances in the last couple of years have proven the so-called experts wrong. I think my reflexes are the same as ever. But I am a feel player. If I feel good I do not practise much. Before the 2003 World Cup (when he was player of the tournament) I had only one net session. But before the last New Zealand tour I hit thousands and thousands of balls in the nets, to give me confidence."
That confidence has rarely flagged against Australia down the years, despite or more likely because of the Aussie status, for most of his career, as the pre-eminent cricketing power. On India's 1991-92 tour of Australia he marred Shane Warne's Test debut with an unbeaten 148 in Sydney, and hammered another century in Perth, causing the vulgar but undoubtedly prescient comment from Merv Hughes to Allan Border that "this little prick's going to end up with more runs than you, AB."
It delights him, he says, to have been such a thorn in Aussie sides. "There are times when I have been very attacking against them, times when I have been defensive." And the $64,000 question: who does he fancy for the Ashes? His smile gives nothing away. After all, he's a multi-millionaire, he doesn't need $64,000. "It's a tough call. I'm really looking forward to it. Pietersen is obviously a very important player for England but I think Flintoff is just as important. As a bowler he's a very handy customer."
A handy customer who has given him much trouble? He purses his lips. "There have been many such bowlers, so many guys from Imran Khan, Richard Hadlee, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Allan Donald, Walsh and Ambrose, Malcolm Marshall, Shane Warne, Muralitharan ... but the ones who got me most were not the strike bowlers but the irregular bowlers. Hansie Cronje got me out more than Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock."
So much for the bowlers. Who have been the batsmen who most inspired the master of the art? "Viv Richards and Sunil Gavaskar were my heroes growing up. I liked Gavaskar for the way he applied himself, and Richards for his aggression. He was just super, and his body balance was special. I always wanted to be a mixture of both of those guys. And I also think that Brian Lara is a class apart."
Not, though, a class apart from himself, indeed even Lara once opined that he was only mortal, whereas Tendulkar was a genius. Sir Donald Bradman didn't quite go that far, but he did say, and Lady Bradman reportedly agreed, that the little man from Mumbai reminded him more than anyone of himself. To have made the Don's all-time XI must have been a notable thrill?
"Oh, it was. And me and Shane Warne got to meet him on his 90th birthday, just the two of us. We sat with him for 45 minutes or so, and he said he thought the standard of cricket, the field settings and planning, are much better today. We asked him what he would have averaged today, and he said 70. Naturally I asked why 70, why not 99? And he said '70 is not bad for a 90-year-old man'. Tendulkar chuckles. "So he had great humour."
And is it coincidence that both he and Bradman, perhaps the two greatest batsmen in history, shared a diminutive stature? "I don't know. Perhaps. The centre of gravity is lower and that increases the balance. Batting is about balance."
In more ways than one it is hard to imagine a more balanced man than Sachin Tendulkar
Numbers game: Sachin's statistics
1973
Born on 24 April in Bombay. His father was a novelist and named him after his favourite musical director Sachin Dev Burman.
664
In a schoolboy match in 1988 he shared this unbroken partnership with team-mate Vinod Kambli who also later played for India. This remained a world-record partnership in any form of cricket until 2006, when it was broken by two Under-13 batsmen, also in India.
5ft 5in
Tendulkar's height, hence his nickname, 'the Little Master'.
16
Tendulkar's age when he made his Test debut, against Pakistan in 1989. He made 15 runs in the first innings, did not bat in the second, and the match was drawn.
54.58
His Test average after 159 matches.
12,773
Aggregate Test runs scored – the world's best, ahead of Brian Lara (11,953), Allan Border (11,174) and Ricky Ponting (10,960).
42
Test centuries, the world's best – ahead of Ponting (37), Sunil Gavaskar and Brian Lara (both 34). Plus 53 half-centuries. His highest score is 248 not out against Bangladesh in 2004.
16,684
One-day International runs scored, including 43 centuries – again, both are world bests.
3 for 10
Best Test bowling figures (against South Africa in 2000), but his average is 51.63.
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/c...r-1719775.html
Great one :clap: :clap: Thanks AF :D
:clap:
Chappel, padicheengala?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvJy8V0vpLc
Watched Thalaivar's classic capetown innings of 1996/97. Talk about playing an perfect innings until being clutched out of thin air by Adam Bacher and sir does exactly the same. Sir plays cricket in the manner it should be played. Classic Front foot on drives(Sir should get a cricketing patent for this), blistering cuts and some superb pull shots. When he scored a 100 the innings contained 16 fours. The only man which gave him some able company was Azharuddin. Donald, Pollock, McMillan, Klusener, Paul Adams and even Hansie wasn't spared eventhough McMillan got the last laugh. This is my fav test knock of sachin.
:clap:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
Thanks for the video maams. :clap:
:clap:Quote:
Originally Posted by ajithfederer
ethana on drives ... :notworthy:
Ippadi great -greater-greatest nu solli solliye
udamba punnakiteenga
Mr.Kaipulla naanga engga thalaivara great greater greatest-nu sonna ungalukku eppadi punnaagudhu? :roll:Quote:
Originally Posted by sankara1970
Btw punnu aaranum-na burnol podunga! :twisted:
idha sivaji fans solla koodadhu...Quote:
Originally Posted by sankara1970
Ada, idhu Nakeeran'bA :lol2:
Feddy, thanks for the Capetown innings. One of his top 5 certainly.
-Director's Cut-