Tendulkar slates his critics

Sachin Tendulkar was in belligerent mood after his matchwinning allround display against Bangladesh, saying that those who said that the joy had disappeared from his batting were clueless about the game. "People who are talking about me not enjoying my batting, better get it right," he said after making an unbeaten 82 to go with bowling figures of 3 for 35. "It's a wrong perception. Those who understand the game wouldn't be talking about it."

And he laughed off suggestions that Sunday's crucial encounter against Pakistan would boil down to a duel between him and Shoaib Akhtar. "I don't look at it that way," he said. "It's the same when we play against Australia, then its vs McGrath or Shane Warne. It's an important game and more than one factor will come into play."

He was more keen to focus on India's own bowling star, Irfan Pathan, who rattled Bangladesh with a superb spell at the Sinhalese Sports Club. "He has an ability which not many left-arm fast bowlers have," said Tendulkar. "He can swing the ball in, it's a gift from God.

"He can bowl it consistently and knows its value. But there is no need to put additional pressure on him. We want to stay right behind him and be there when he requires support."

Tendulkar himself has six wickets from the two games in which he has had a bowl, and he revealed how he has been putting a little extra effort into his legspin recently. "Harbhajan Singh has been goading me to be more regular with legspin in the nets than the seam-up bowling I do," he said. "I was not bowling legspin in the nets because whenever I practiced it there, I never used to land it right in match situations! But lately, I have begun to practice regularly."

He suggested however that he wouldn't always be able to run through ten overs. "I have noticed whenever I bowl regularly I get blisters in my fingers and the skin around it peels off," he said. "That's why I am not Anil Kumble."