'Organise more Tests for Tests to survive' - Tendulkar
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When I think batting, I think about smashing the ball
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Sachin Tendulkar believes the ICC needs to organise more Tests, if it wants the format to survive. At the same time, he feels, no player can be forced to play a Test match, because it is the format that will always catch you out if you are not mentally and technically prepared.
Speaking at the seventh annual ESPNcricinfo awards night, in Mumbai, where he was named Cricketer of the Generation, Tendulkar also pointed out how the game has evolved in recent times, in large part due to the influence of limited-overs cricket. Twenty20 cricket, he said, complements Test cricket.
"The ICC should take notice of it and organise more Test matches if they want Test cricket to survive," Tendulkar said, while accepting his award. "[But] I still believe Test cricket is in good hands, players are producing unbelievable cricket. If you see around the world, most matches have results, very few are drawn, which is probably due to T20s, so the formats are complementing each other. If you want more guys to follow cricket, T20 is an ideal format to introduce people to cricket. Gradually they can progress to one-day cricket and Test cricket."
There's no point forcing Test cricket down throats, Tendulkar said, since that would only eat into the quality of the game. "When it comes to players though, you cannot force someone to like Test cricket. If you are passionate about Test cricket, it has to be from within. And if it doesn't exist in some cases, don't force him, leave him, let him play one-day and T20 cricket. Test cricket is the ultimate format and it's one format where the bowlers are always going to get you out. In Tests, you require planning, vision and execution. It doesn't happen that much in T20 cricket, where you can be a hero in three balls."
The game changed, especially in the second half of his 24-year career, Tendulkar said. He pointed out innovations in field placements, batting and bowling styles. Some of those changes, Tendulkar said, resulted in him curbing his aggression as his career progressed. "The field settings were different. Later on in my career when I walked in to bat and I looked towards point, I thought, 'Point is catching so there's a gap.' But later I realised, 'No, no there's deep point already too'. With time, your style of play too changes. Today the kinds of shots played by batsmen are incredible.
"I saw [Zimbabwe batsman] Andy Flower play the reverse sweep consistently in a Test, he was 10-12 years ahead of his time. Twelve years down the line, it has become quite a common shot: [England captain] Alastair Cook was [in the 200s] at Birmingham, and he, of all people, reverse-swept Amit Mishra. The game has changed.
"Now consistently you see 300-plus totals, which is because of the rule changes and also due to T20 cricket. Batsmen are prepared to take chances, bowlers have to develop more variations. In the 90s, I don't think anyone bowled the slower ball bouncer like [South Africa pacer] Shaun Pollock did in the latter stage of his career, now it's a regular variation. So maybe 20 years down the line, who knows how the game will be."
Tendulkar was one of three nominees for the award, presented to mark the first generation of the existence of ESPNcricinfo, which has been online since 1993. Tendulkar recalled facing up to the other two, South Africa allrounder Jacques Kallis and Australian legspinner Shane Warne.
Kallis, Tendulkar said, was an ace planner. "His strength has been his focus and concentration. Kallis used to walk to the wicket and he would be looking down, and I used to jokingly tell our bowlers once he has realised which way the blades of the grass are, he is going to make us field for a long time, so get him out before that.
"Kallis pretended that he was tired, just come in there to bowl six balls and go back to the slips and field, but I knew that his effort ball would soon come. I always knew that one special ball was always round the corner and this was all part of his planning and he was about to execute that."
Tendulkar remembered the early days against Warne, when the two became "good friends". "I first played against Warne in 1992 and you could make that Shane was talented, but he wasn't consistent I felt in the first game," he said. "The next encounter against Warne was in Sri Lanka and I was beaten by his flight. But I decided to go for the big one, I picked the length and fortunately that one went for a six. But Warne being a tricky character he walked up to me and try to instigate me, he said something. My habit was to play the shot and walk over towards the square-leg umpire, that was part of my preparation - not that I wanted to not hear what Warne had to say.
"But I caught him after the game, he came to our dressing room, and I asked him 'Warnie, what were you trying to say to me? Now you can tell me.' From then onwards, we became good friends."
Before Tendulkar was presented the award, his former India team-mate and captain Rahul Dravid and the former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe aired their views on his career. "He was the kind of cricketer whose respect you wanted to earn," Dravid said. Crowe said: "[West Indies'] Viv Richards was the greatest batsman I played against and his footwork lasted 15 years. Sachin's lasted a decade longer."
It must have been extremely tough to single out the Winner for the panel. Kallis a great All Rounder, Warne an exceptionally talented leg spinner & Sachin one of the greatest batsmen after Bradman. I felt the choice of little Master was a wise one. In terms of longevity alone there is no cricketer who played & was "Hero worshipped" in his Native country as Sachin Tendulkar! He commanded respect of one and All Cricketers from which ever country & generation they originated from. To maintain your Cricket skills & stretch them over 3 generations alone is a fest. The game changes so much & adaptability to the changing scene is not that easy from what you learnt in your generation. Sachin was always a gentleman on & off the field - a rare quality these days- but he still "adapted to remain in the Present"! Hats off to the little Master & congratulations for the great Honour amongst the thousands of other Cricketers. Sachin is a rare unforgettable Cricketer with superior human qualities!
Those who say Test cricket is boring have no clue. Test cricket has given me some of my favourite cricketing memories...ODI cricket has got extremely boring and more geared to batsman whereas T20 cricket whilst fun requires minimum skill...I'd take a 5 match test series over a T20 World Cup any day
Should not have had this "Cricketer of the Generation" award. How much is a generation anyway? 20 years? 30 years? 40 years?
Its more suitable to have "Cricketer of the Decade", "Bowler/Batsman/Keeper/Allrounder of the Decade" or at least "Cricket's 5 of the Generation". Sachin was a legend no doubt but Lara, Murali, Warne and Kallis were very close if not equal to Sachin.
The shortlisting process alone showed bias. I mean how on Earth can Warne be selected over Murali? Big Three Influence? I don't know.
But why is it necessary to bolster a dying format............If Sachin has g8 test career it doesn't mean it should survive for ever. .............T20 & ODIs r popular with world............The very low attendance in world's finest tests b/w SA & Aus with 2 of the test g8s saying goodbye, itself is enough evidence that test cricket is taking final breaths
Test cricket is entertaining only when it is played in Aus, Eng & SA. Subcontinent pitches are dead, they produce dull cricket. There are T20 lovers, there are test match lovers too but few are like me who are cricket lover whether its test, odi or T-20 so we want all form of cricket. ICC should ensure that each team must play a minimum 7-8 test matches, 20-25 ODI & 10-12 T-20 matches per year
uhhh ... i watch sports for entertainment, test cricket is boring.
why why why?? Sachin of all the players is "Generation" player?? He has taught Indian fans to be so proud that they now think India is the best team in the world..he has in fact spoiled cricket. A pace bowler like MCGrath or may be Lara would have been more suitable.
Hey Don't worry buddy. Its just his opinion. Its not necessary that ICC is going to follow his opinion !!! Just enjoy the existing cricket format.
It is a shame that Indian people, who have such a huge appetite for cricket that they prefer the hit and giggle version of the game. It is like preferring a cartoon over a movie. T20 has a place but the great cricketers are the ones who master Test cricket not slog a quick 20 in 10 balls. The fact so many mediocre cricketers make huge money out of the IPL ridicule it as a spectacle.
Play more test for survival of Test cricket. Well Mr Tendulkar, I disagree with you. Test cricket will only survive only when there is demand for it. If people don't want to watch, please don't force on them. If I find T20 entertaining, I don't care a heck whether it's a "pure" form of cricket or not.
Everything which can be said about Sachin has already been said, when he retired. And even during the waiting period for his retirement. Now, can we move on? With all due respect to Sachin and his long association and great contribution to Indian cricket, which started losing its shine only in the last few years of his illustrious career.
Hails Master ! Only Sachin is rEAl ... Match Winner , Heart winner , and the list goes on.
Tests were mostly ending up in Tame Draws after all involved , having consumed 5 full days, taking the precious time of the spectators and so Test Cricket started to lose its charm gradually.
But after the emergence of of the the shortest format, which is indeed a blessing in disguise, Test cricket matches, [being the format with real class and also testing the temperament and the hidden talents in players] started giving the Results, except one or two and of these, some of them having the spoilsports villain was Nature !. So TEST Format needs to be accorded its due place & importance for its long survival, as rightly pointed out by Tendulkar, the Legend !
This is not right. Brian Lara and Shane Warne are better cricketers than Tendulkar. In his last 10 years Tendulkar rarely smashed the ball. Lara and Warne remained attacking cricketers throughout their careesr. Kallis doesn't belong here. He is an average cricketer in mind. He never had the guts to take on the opposition.
I loved the interview...hearing Sachin Speak after his farewell Test was a delight...But I thought the answer to the last question about the survival of Tests in the future was a bit naive-players with passion for Test cricket will not emerge if the BCCI which makes the schedule does not care about Test cricket. As Sachin has mentioned, the key is to organize more high quality Test cricket regularly to keep Test cricket alive.
"But I caught him after the game, he came to our dressing room, and I asked him 'Warnie, what were you trying to say to me? Now you can tell me.' From then onwards, we became good friends." Wow!! What a way to make friends..you are a true gentleman SRT.
@shivek. Check the statistics you will see who deserves it!
@Ajantha Shantiratnam: When they are more deserving, then.
a true lover of cricket.his life can be a lesson to the students in the worldwide.a perfect gentleman even amidst of much accolade and fame.see the gods offootball pele and maradona and how badly they attack each other and behaves.then we will understand why cricket is known as gemtlemen game.just because of some players like sachin,dravid,jayawardane etc...
Good Sachin but you should also tell ICC to include more Nations to Test Club. And please don't put New Nation against top 6 Immediately. Let them play bottom 4 for 2-3 years then let them play top team if they improve.
ICC should have a Vision 16 Test Teams by 2020 . Ireland has already proved their worth and Afghanistan is next . Scotland will be next in contention , May be game develops in PNG . Even Nepal will get stronger. Kenya Dutch Canada,Namibia can bounce back again.
Congrats! to Tendulkar! But there is only one thing that i will add to this page! .. i just checked the statistics, there are 24 instances when tendulkar made 50+ score and India Lost the match.It shows that he is only MEDIA CREATED HERO!. For me He is not HERO FOR LAST YRS, There are better players than him.
great words.... love you sachin!
When do we start to award some cricketers other than Sachin?
He should have aware the next generation from the bad effects of this lady's format(T20) of Cricket, not to give speeches about survival of Test Cricket... He should have remember that this format(Test) of cricket is much much greater than him
When I think batting, I think about smashing the ball.. but, when I used to be in 90's, I don't think about smashing the ball.. doesn't matter what the team's condition is..What a Legend!!
Tendulkar is right. Test cricket must NOT be forced upon youngsters. If they embrace it, they should play more test matches. Same applies to the other formats. Well said Little Master.
he is absolutely correct
Good One... Lets Move Ahead...
Cricket Test matches league should be introduced to run through out the year according to the teams schedules, as we see in soccer that leagues are played :-)
@Sachin: Master and you are really the master of the game. Tests are the core 'n' heart of cricket which most of us follow to see how a player sustain in true challenge of cricket. If ICC and other boards run for money on T20s and 50 over matches, soon there will be very minimum of cricket followers. Am just 26 but still looking for best battles in cricket.... Steyn vs Pujara, Johnson vs ABD, Morkel vs Kohli , Ojha vs Clarke and Ajaml vs English batsmen to name few..... Hope test cricket stay alive for next generations as well......
Only looking at these comments you can say that this guy was a great. I disagree that he was the cricketer of the generation even though I am an Indian fan. I don't think that title belongs to any cricketer because it was Tendulkar Dravid Ganguly Kallis Ponting Lara Gilchrist Warne McGrath Wasim Waqar Inzy and many more who made it the golden generation of cricket. So many quality cricketers not only in one side but in all eight major sides there were at least a few very good players. Since the latter half of 2000 s onwards though we have seen retirements of many of these greats and now there is a feeling that the quality of players is not good in most teams. Flat track bully and bowler who excels in helpful conditions are new words and also the emphasis on the pitch is the biggest excuse ever. Maybe the unfair rules of both ODI and test also have something to do with lack of quality.I don't think there used to be so many whitewashes before .At least these guys won one game or fought.
The Master Class - Sachin - The Cricketer the game loved more than anything..