I don’t play for numbers: Sachin

Aug 01, 2010 |

Correspondent

Tags:

sachin tendulkar

Aug. 1: A good 20 years after his Test debut in Pakistan, Sachin Tendulkar continues to prepare for a Test match with no drop in intensity. High expectations follow Tendulkar everywhere but the veteran had continued doing what he does best. When the master blaster takes the field on Tuesday he will surpass Steve Waugh’s record of 168 Test matches.

Much has been said and written about Tendulkar’s age. “The tennis ball does not know my age when I am hitting it,” tennis legend Martina Navratilova had once said and it describes Tendulkar’s journey perfectly. “I have scored a double hundred in ODIs at the age of 37, and that proves I am fit,” said Tendulkar.

For a nation that is obsessed with numbers, Tendulkar’s remarkable journey making him the most capped cricketer of all time has gone unnoticed. His plethora of records makes it difficult to keep track. “I don’t play for records. It’s the people who keep track of them. My job is to play well, make runs and contribute to the success of the side,” added Tendulkar.

It is not that Tendulkar had an injury-free run. From a career-threatening tennis elbow to fractures and tears, the body has taken them all. What has kept the champion going is his boyish hunger for runs. “All these records are a tribute to his fantastic work ethic. This longevity could not have been achieved without commitment and determination. I am sure he has a good three years of cricket left in him,” said Tendulkar’s first captain and chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth.

Perhaps the greatest compliment Tendulkar has received recently came from Virender Sehwag during the second Test. “When Sachin and Raina were batting it was difficult to see who the debutant was.”

Post new comment

<form action="/comment/reply/25504" accept-charset="UTF-8" method="post" id="comment-form"> <div><div class="form-item" id="edit-name-wrapper"> <label for="edit-name">Your name: <span class="form-required" title="This field is required.">*</span></label> <input type="text" maxlength="60" name="name" id="edit-name" size="30" value="Reader" class="form-text required" /> </div> <div class="form-item" id="edit-mail-wrapper"> <label for="edit-mail">E-Mail Address: <span class="form-required" title="This field is required.">*</span></label> <input type="text" maxlength="64" name="mail" id="edit-mail" size="30" value="" class="form-text required" /> <div class="description">The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.</div> </div> <div class="form-item" id="edit-comment-wrapper"> <label for="edit-comment">Comment: <span class="form-required" title="This field is required.">*</span></label> <textarea cols="60" rows="15" name="comment" id="edit-comment" class="form-textarea resizable required"></textarea> </div> <fieldset class=" collapsible collapsed"><legend>Input format</legend><div class="form-item" id="edit-format-1-wrapper"> <label class="option" for="edit-format-1"><input type="radio" id="edit-format-1" name="format" value="1" class="form-radio" /> Filtered HTML</label> <div class="description"><ul class="tips"><li>Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.</li><li>Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd></li><li>Lines and paragraphs break automatically.</li></ul></div> </div> <div class="form-item" id="edit-format-2-wrapper"> <label class="option" for="edit-format-2"><input type="radio" id="edit-format-2" name="format" value="2" checked="checked" class="form-radio" /> Full HTML</label> <div class="description"><ul class="tips"><li>Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.</li><li>Lines and paragraphs break automatically.</li></ul></div> </div> </fieldset> <input type="hidden" name="form_build_id" id="form-659c0e26db8a89d7a2995b6144fb2b61" value="form-659c0e26db8a89d7a2995b6144fb2b61" /> <input type="hidden" name="form_id" id="edit-comment-form" value="comment_form" /> <fieldset class="captcha"><legend>CAPTCHA</legend><div class="description">This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.</div><input type="hidden" name="captcha_sid" id="edit-captcha-sid" value="89364466" /> <input type="hidden" name="captcha_response" id="edit-captcha-response" value="NLPCaptcha" /> <div class="form-item"> <div id="nlpcaptcha_ajax_api_container"><script type="text/javascript"> var NLPOptions = {key:'c4823cf77a2526b0fba265e2af75c1b5'};</script><script type="text/javascript" src="http://call.nlpcaptcha.in/js/captcha.js" ></script></div> </div> </fieldset> <span class="btn-left"><span class="btn-right"><input type="submit" name="op" id="edit-submit" value="Save" class="form-submit" /></span></span> </div></form>