Sachin Tendulkar Impressed With New-Look One-Day Squad

[Desi Cartman]

Melbourne: Sachin Tendulkar continues to be the lifeblood of Indian cricket. He is still the most soughtafter face in the Indian dressing room, a darling of the crowd wherever he goes and a great ambassador for the sport. While he has done more than enough over the years, somehow he still retains the hunger to score runs and the passion to play for the country. The latest addition to his long list of accomplishments is the 16,000-ODI run mark, another tribute to his aura at the batting crease. Typically, Tendulkar chose the celebrate the milestone by having a quiet dinner with his young colleagues. In all his 18 years of international cricket, he has been a man of few words. He’s only too happy to let his bat do all the talking. ‘‘It’s been a very satisfying year and a pleasure to get past 16,000 runs,’’ Tendulkar told TOI on Wednesday. Talking about the current tri-series, Tendulkar said he was confident India would have done well had rain not intervened. ‘‘We were well-placed in both the matches. Against Australia, the bowlers were doing a great job. In the match against Sri Lanka, (Gautam) Gambhir and (Mahendra) Dhoni put the runs on the board with a fighting stand. Our total was much better than the average score at the Gabba, which is around 230.’’ The rains may be frustrating for the young guns in the side but Tendulkar has seen it all before and is happy to take things in his stride. ‘‘Rains can be frustrating at times. But it has always been a part and parcel of the game. There’s nothing new about that, I’ve seen rain like this in Australia before as well,’’ he said. Tendulkar is also optimistic of the young Indian team delivering the goods and has given a thumbs-up to the new-look side. ‘‘The youngsters have a lot of promise and they’ve been doing well,’’ he said. However, he played down his selfless role of a ‘mentor’ and said he was just helping younger colleagues with ‘vital tips’. ‘‘I keep doing that all the time. As a senior in the side you have certain responsibilities. That’s just one of them, drawing upon my experience and helping them learn,’’ he said. Most of these promising youngsters openly confess that they are a privileged lot. Last year in June, after completing 15,000 runs, Tendulkar had said: ‘‘When I hold a cricket bat in my hand, I have a tougher and bigger job to do. That’s what I will always concentrate on.’’ True to his word, his journey from Belfast to Brisbane, from 15,000 to 16,000 in the last eight months, has been delightful. During the period, Tendulkar has scored 1,156 runs in 24 matches at an average of 48.17. But more than these figures, his breathtaking form has helped him roll back the years and provide more joy to his die-hard fans. Despite being the senior statesman of world cricket, his humility continues to endear him to all his teammates, most of whom love and respect him. But perhaps the only un-Tendulkar-like feature in the last eight months has been his failure to add to his tally of 41 One-day hundreds. Rather uncharacteristically, Tendulkar has been dismissed six times in the 90s. Thrice, in fact, on 99, one of them a heartbreaking run out. But having scored back-to-back hundreds in the Test series Down Under, Tendulkar is quite cool about it. He is sure e normal service will resume soon. ‘‘Most of the time, we were on the winning side. To me that’s what is important, to see the smiles in the dressing room. “That’s why you play the game. There’s no point scoring a hundred and see your team lose,’’ he said.

[Grim Reaper]

Woot! Ummm... Sachin's next benchmark is 18,000. 17k is too little and he'll make it quickly, hence the skipping. lol

[siddhu]

hmmm 1156 runs in 24 matches at 48+ and still people want to see him dropped....:finger:

[Chandan]

In good health, Sachin shares wealth Special | HT in Australia Atreyo Mukhopadhyay, Hindustan Times Melbourne, February 08, 2008 First Published: 01:36 IST(8/2/2008) Last Updated: 02:43 IST(8/2/2008) Amid endless talk and reams of writing on how inexperienced this Indian team is, the most senior player in world cricket is trying his best to share his knowledge with the younger lot. Sachin Tendulkar had been seen paying extra attention to the juniors on this tour and it was no different at the nets on Thursday. Virender Sehwag is the second in terms of seniority in this team, having made his international debut in 1999 and that was 10 years after Tendulkar had cut his teeth in the world of topflight cricket. Having relinquished captaincy, he is playing the role of leader cum mentor in his own way and the juniors are enjoying every moment of it. “He is sharing his experience and passing on tips all the time,†said a player to have joined the squad after the Test series. “He is telling us what sort of adjustments to make in these conditions, how we should grip the bat and how to tune ourselves mentally. It’s fascinating because he has such a wealth of knowledge.†A day before the start of the tri-series in Brisbane, Tendulkar was seen taking Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa and Manoj Tiwary to a corner and speaking to them. It was learnt he spoke on how to prepare against each bowler, how to play shots and also, how not to play them. “He said that it’s important to back your instinct and equally important to curb it as well,†said a player. “He spoke about getting the right balance.†Even on Thursday, the players surrounded him in a circle of sorts before the practice session. “His experience is vital to the players. These players don’t know much about conditions in Australia. Among other things, Sachin told them to approach this nets session as if they were batting or bowling in a match,†said cricket manager Lalchand Rajput. “It’s amazing to see how easily approachable he is. I’m not surprised because I had seen him being so down to earth earlier,†said one of the junior members of the squad. “If there is something stunning about him, it’s his unrivalled ability to explain situations and how to conduct yourself in such situations.†To his own admission, captaincy was something he was not comfortable with. If helping others learn how to go about their job in international cricket is a part of captaincy, Tendulkar is doing that with the exuberance of a youngster in what seems to be the last lap of his career. Going through a critical phase, Indian cricket can only thank him if his efforts bear fruit. --------------------------------------------------- Hope few of the youngsters come of age this tour!!

[Ram]

How much, how very much would I give, to share the dressing room with Sachin once, just once ! Gaad I am jealous of these young boys !

[msb1991]

If it is good enough for the best Indian ODI player ever and their longest serving international player, it is good enough for me.

[coverpoint]

guys just a pointer ... if you are putting an article you should also add a link to the original place where the article was published. I think that covers the site legally. Just a pennies worth.

[Rajan]

Sachin's technical tips to Rohit,Gautam,Manoj, Robin ... http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/cbs/content/current/story/335700.html Sachin Tendulkar has offered valuable technical tips to the younger members of the Indian team in the training sessions in Melbourne ahead of the ODI against Australia on February 10. Tendulkar advised Robin Uthappa and Suresh Raina on techniques to adapt to the conditions and the pitches in Australia, suggested tips to Rohit Sharma to improve his front-foot drives and counselled Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary on their stance. Gambhir was told not to have a completely side-on position at the crease, and instead open up his stance for a slightly two-eyed look at the bowler. This would allow him to offer the full face of the bat, and help him play through the on side more effectively. "The plan is simple, see the ball, hit the ball and play in the 'V," Gambhir had earlier revealed his theory of batting in Australia. "The conditions here give a batsman full value for his strokes, though you need a lot of courage and determination. It's difficult to get on to the front foot when you are facing genuine quick bowlers like Brett Lee or Mitchell Johnson but there is very little chance when you are sitting on the back foot." Tendulkar's tips are designed to enable Gambhir score more freely in his preferred area down the ground. It is learnt that Tendulkar, while praising Rohit for his back-foot play, was keen that he leans more on to his strokes while driving through the off side to add more power and punch. After his session with Tendulkar, Rohit had his batting video taped by the team's computer analyst Dhananjay. Rohit considers Tendulkar his favourite player and has sought his advice in the past too. In an earlier interview with Rediff, Rohit said, "It [Tendulkar's advice] was very different from what you always hear from coaches. I mean what he said was practical, based on his own vast experience. He also told me when to take singles and twos and also when and how to accelerate, and so on and so forth. Believe me, it was very, very different from what we juniors hear from others almost every day." Tendulkar worked with Uthappa and Manoj Tiwary too. Uthappa's tendency to commit himself to the front foot came in for scrutiny, and Tendulkar suggested a slight sideways trigger movement instead of a big stride forward. Tendulkar noted that Tiwary places his feet too close to each other in his stance, which inhibits his movement either forward or back. Like he did with Gambhir, Tendulkar suggested that Tiwary open up in his stance which would help him drive towards mid-off and mid-on rather than committing himself to a cover drive. Tendulkar has also advised the youngsters to opt for lighter bats on the bouncier pitches of Australia as it would allow them to move more quickly into position. ============================== good, very good. Shows that he analyses the game a lot when he is batting, unlike so many batsmen who just go boom, boom and fall.

[novpj]

Thats why I think SRT should become a coach when he retires