Sachin Tendulkar has stuck to his decision of not playing Twenty20 cricket at the international level and hence will not be part of the ICC World T20 Cup in the West Indies from April 30 to May 16
Sachin Tendulkar has stuck to his decision of not playing Twenty20 cricket at the international level and hence will not be part of the ICC World T20 Cup in the West Indies from April 30 to May 16.
Shahid Afridi, skipper of defending champions Pakistan, believes Tendulkar's absence will be a big advantage for other teams at the World Cup.
Mumbai Indians' Sachin Tendulkar during his match-winning innings
against Chennai Super Kings at the Brabourne Stadium on Thursday. PIC/SURESH KK
The way Tendulkar has batted in the third Indian Premier League, he has proved that he is a champion at Twenty20 cricket as well. The Mumbai Indians skipper has won the man of the match award in three of their five games.
"That Tendulkar is not part of the Indian T20 team is certainly a big advantage for other teams. His form and fitness is amazing. He is playing like a 23-year-old," Afridi told MiD DAY yesterday. Like many around the world, Afridi is a great admirer of Tendulkar's batting. The drawing room of his Karachi home has two shirts pinned to the wall, one is leg-spin legend Shane Warne's and the other is an autographed Tendulkar T-shirt.
"Twenty20 cricket is not about going there and hitting 20-25 balls here and there. A player who can bat right through is invaluable to the team. Tendulkar has that ability. In times of a collapse, you need experience to carry the team through," said Afridi, who was the man-of-the-match in both the semi-final and final of the 2009 ICC World T20.
"It's the World Cup and, personally, I would want all the teams to have their best players and Tendulkar is a class act," added Afridi.
Tendulkar is averaging 62 after five IPL games and aggregates 248 runs with a strike-rate of 150.30.
Twenty20 cricket is supposed to be a young man's game. More than the runs, what has amazed experts is the fitness the 36-year-old Mumbai batsman has shown to shine in this fast-paced game.
Afridi said: "It's only a 20-over game, but it is so intense that sometimes it becomes a struggle to last 20 overs. Tendulkar is batting extraordinarily well. He has the fitness to bat 20 overs and if he contributes around 90 runs, what else you want?" added the batting stalwart, who played for Deccan Chargers in the first IPL.
"He's been outstanding in all three forms of the game, and the hunger he has shown is something every youngster should learn from," said Afridi.
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