Physically I'm here but I am very much there with the team: Tendulkar
14 August 2001
A thrilled Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday described his inclusion in the
"dream team" of cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman as the "greatest
thing to happen".
"It is a great honour, the greatest thing to happen. It is important
when Sir Don speaks anything and especially when he selects me in his
team, there cannot be a better thing than that," a beaming Tendulkar
said in his first reaction after receiving the news of his inclusion
in the team envisioned by Bradman.
In an interview to Star News, the batting maestro said, "I am very
thrilled about it and very excited. There are some great names missing
and to see my name in it, I am more than thrilled. After Sir Don bats
and before Gary Sobers. What else can you ask for. All I can say is
that it's a great honour."
Tendulkar is the only cricketer still playing and the only one from
the Indian sub-continent who has been able to find a place in
Bradman's World XI - the all-time ideal team to beat the rest,
according to a book, 'Bradman's Best', chronicled by Roland Perry.
On his missing out on the current tour of Sri Lanka due to a foot
injury, Tendulkar said "it has been very difficult because in the last
12 years, I have not missed a single Test match and now I have to stay
away like this. I never wanted this till the end of my carrier. It has
been difficult. Probably I am physically here but I am very much there
with the team and I have watched most of the games and my involvement
is probably as much as the others," he said.
On a query whether there is still scope for improvement after being
preferred over so many greats, Tendulkar said "there is always room
for improvement. It is not that you are going to develop 15 shots
overnight but may be you have other avenues which could be used to
reach your destination. I can only improve if I work hard. I am
setting goals but it should not go to the extent where you forget
about your batting and just look it as what you want to do. If I go
out there and play, I am sure I will reach there," he said.
Describing his absence from the Sri Lanka tour as a "forced break",
Tendulkar, however, said "it surely did lot to recharge my batteries
and gave me time to think what actually happened on the Zimbabwe tour
and prior to that against Australia. It does give you time to think
about your game and analyse it and get better. I am sure it can help.
But just being out there is a different feeling altogether and when
you perform well it is a different feeling alltogether. You cannot
compare it to anything else."
On his reported strained relationship with Sourav Ganguly, he said, "I
think people are going to talk one thing or the other but provided the
understanding between me and Sourav is there, we don't have any
problem. It is a very transparent relationship. It has not affected us
at all."
Congratulating Virender Shewag for his magnificent innings during the
one day international against New Zealand, Tendulkar said, "I think he
batted exceptionally well. Since the start of the Sri Lanka tour, I
kept talking to him over the phone. I was thrilled. I was not
surprised because I knew exactly what he was capable of."
On other budding cricketers, he said "we have some promising
cricketers. What we have to do is to stick together and play good
cricket."
Asked if he was worried about his future after the break, Tendulkar
said, "I am not worried about my future. Yes, there is an eagerness to
get back but I am not really worried about my career. Everyday I am
learning as a cricketer. I will keep it to myself and get better," he
added.
© PTI