Lalchand Rajput, India's coach at the 2007 World T20, drives home some truths
Lalchand Rajput, India's coach at the 2007 World T20, drives home some truths
Such is Sachin Tendulkar's aura that one never seems to get enough. And when he is playing at the peak of his powers, even Kapil Dev, who has been watching him for 20 years, wants more.
The legendary all-rounder said yesterday that Tendulkar should play in the T20 World Cup that follows the IPL as his rich vein of form will bolster the Indian batting.
Tendulkar has already stated that he will not be playing T20 internationals and since he doesn't figure in the probables for the ICC event announced earlier, he cannot be a part of it now unless someone in the list is injured.
But more importantly, Tendulkar could well use the rest to allow the body to recover. After all, it's the breaks in the last two years that have allowed Tendulkar be at his best and notch up scores like 175 and 200 in ODIs and four successive Test hundreds without a hint of the body breaking down.
Lalchand Rajput, who coached India to the T20 win in 2007 and was captain of the Mumbai side when Tendulkar made his debut in the late 1980s, said: "If he has been able to play the way he is playing, it is only because he has opted out of tournaments from time to time. Earlier, he used to show signs of discomfort when he was in the middle of a long innings. Now you don't see that happening," Rajput said.
"So, it really makes no sense for him to go back to playing non-stop cricket and decrease his longevity. If he picks and chooses, it is only going to help India in the long run. Also, Sachin has been around for many years and is one of our icons. He has so much experience that we should let him decide where and how much he wants to play. He surely deserves that much," the former India
opener added.
