Thursday, 21 July 2011
As Sachin Tendulkar aims to bring up his 100th international hundred in the first Test between England and India at Lord's, his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has hailed him as an ideal role model.
While cricket is set to celebrate both the 2000th Test in history and the 100th between the two sides, the number most fans are interested in is the 99 centuries that Tendulkar currently has to his name - a full 30 tons more than Ricky Ponting, his closest challenger.
The 38-year-old batsman has more than 14,000 Test runs in a career that has spanned more than 21 years, but has shown no signs of slowing down over the past few years.
Asked what has motivated Tendulkar to keep playing at such a high level for so long, Dhoni replied: "He loves the game, he has a passion for the game.
"Every time he turns up on the field he wants to improve his game. He may have spent one and a half hours on the field (practising), but in that time he makes sure he is learning something and when he goes back to the dressing room he can proudly say 'today's time I utilised to the best'.
"He tries to keep it very simple, doesn't complicate things, overall I think he is the ideal cricketer to look up to with the way he has conducted himself on and off the field. He has remained the same for the last 21 years."
Dhoni's opposite number, Andrew Strauss, echoed those sentiments.
"He's been a fantastic ambassador for the game. You look at his statistics and they speak for themselves - you don't have to rush out with platitudes or superlatives because it's all there," said England's captain.
"The longevity, consistency shows he's one of the greatest ever. As a man and an ambassador, there's no one better."
With Virender Sehwag missing from the touring party as he continues his recovery from shoulder surgery, Abhinav Mukund is set to open alongside Gautam Gambhir.
Meanwhile Yuvraj Singh is expected to take the number six slot, with his left-arm spin a potential weapon against Kevin Pietersen.
The ICC confirmed on Wednesday morning that ball-tracking technology will not be used in the series after the BCCI vetoed it, ruling out any reviews on lbw decisions.
"We're not really convinced 100% as of now when it comes to the tracking system, especially with the spinners and the kind of bounce the ball generates," said Dhoni as an explanation for why India are against Hawkeye.
"Until we're 100% satisfied we won't go on with something that's not really satisfactory when it comes to our views.
"But of course we are quite happy with HotSpot. I feel that's a very good technology to be used."
Meanwhile, the wicketkeeper-batsman admitted that it was a big honour to play in the 2000th Test, and said that despite the modern world being very different to the one in which Test cricket was born he saw no reason why there won't be 2000 more.
He said: "The world has changed. It means you have to go to your job, with the privatisation and everything that is happening, the bosses want you to spend more time at your desk and look less at the television so all of these things play a big role in it.
"But there's no good reason why Test cricket can't survive or won't survive for the next 2000 games."
