It is always nice to be among the runs: Tendulkar
© CricInfo Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was happy but hardly overjoyed after his stupendous 146 against Kenya at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday
Ashish Shukla
25-Oct-2001
|
Both Tendulkar and Indian captain Sourav Ganguly smashed individual
hundreds and put on 258 runs for the first wicket, a new world-record.
They also went past the 5150 aggregate of Desmond Haynes and Gordon
Greenidge. Excerpts from an interview with the little master after his
match-winning innings for India which was his 31st one-day hundred in
his 279th game.
Q: You must be pleased after your knock today?
A: It is always nice to be among the runs. I really wanted to make a
contribution today. This was an important game for us. Of course, the
next one is going to be even more important.
Q: It seemed that you and Ganguly had taken the defeat against Kenya by
70 runs last week to heart...
A: We couldn't play to our potential at Port Elizabeth that really hurt
us badly. We wanted to come back and win this game convincingly.
Q: You didn't seem very happy after getting out at 146 to a rank fulltoss?
A: Nobody likes getting out. I too wasn't too happy but then it is all
part of the game.
Q: Were you aware you needed 12 runs going into today's game to overtake
the record of West Indians Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge?
A: I didn't know as such that we needed 12 runs for the record but I was
aware we were close to this landmark.
Q: Why do you think you and Ganguly have had great success as one-day
openers for India. Is it because you are a right-left combination?
A: Well, I think the important thing is we are both hungry for runs.
That is important. We are both not satisfied with what we have achieved.
We are still hungry.
Q: Anything else which you would like to point out about your
association?
A: I think we have developed a good understanding over a period of time.
But for us, rather than our individual and combined performances, it is
more important that the team wins.
Q: Did you, at any stage, think you could have a double century from
this game?
A: I never thought about a double century. I just wanted to bat through
the 50 overs and achieve the best we could.
Q: There was a strong breeze blowing across the ground. Was that the
sole reason why you seemed to try and avoid hitting over the top?
A: There was a strong breeze and it was a little difficult to clear from
one end but at the other end, one could do so and play (lofted strokes).
Q: It seemed both you and Ganguly wanted to bat through the Indian
innings?
A: From the 25th over, we knew it was going to be a 300-plus total. None
of us wanted to get out. We wanted to hang around for as long as
possible.