The batting legend holds the records for most tests (3630) and most testing centuries (11) in India-Australia test matches overall.
Tendulkar’s 3,630 runs against Australia were scored in 39 events with a staggering 55 average, with 241 scored undefeated at Sydney in January 2004, his highest score.
Tendulkar, in fact, was the Indian captain when the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, named for legends Allan border and Sunil gavaskar, was introduced from the only test Australia played in India in October 1996.
As India and Australia prepare to fit the horns in a series of four tests in Australia, Sachin Tendulkar spoke to TimesofIndia.com about the impact. virat KohliThe absence could have in the Indian team after the first test, the Rohit sharma factor, his own favorite hundred of all the centuries he has scored in Australia and more.
The first test of the series begins in Adelaide from Thursday (December 17). That will be the only test Virat Kohli will play on this tour. She will return to India after that for the birth of her first child.
Speaking of the current Indian captain not being there for three of the four tests, Tendulkar told TimesofIndia.com: “He is one of the oldest players on the team, Rohit (Sharma), Ajinkya (Rahane), (Cheteshwar) Pujara, These are players who have been around for a long time, so it’s a good mix of seniors and juniors. So obviously when he (Kohli) has to come back for personal reasons the team has to be prepared, because normally a player is expected. playing a complete series but nothing is guaranteed. A player can also be injured, it is not just about returning for personal reasons, a player can be discarded from a tournament, it does not always have to be for personal reasons, players can also have injuries and the team has to play without them, for example, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was ruled out of the IPL, so that kind of thing happens, it’s about the whole nation, it’s about India, not individuals. together to build It is a wonderful team to go, so when he (Kohli) is there he will not be there, but I am sure that when the team does well in the remaining three test matches, he will be as happy as any other Indian. ”
Ajinkya rahane and Virat Kohli. (Fake images)
In Kohli’s absence, Test Vice Captain Ajinkya Rahane will lead India in the remaining matches. Rahane’s captaincy style is very different from Kohli’s. While Kohli is loaded and aggressive, Rahane’s demeanor is much calmer, although his field locations and tactical decisions can be aggressive when necessary. Incidentally, Rahane had led India to victory against Australia in the 2017 test in Dharamsala, which Kohli had missed due to a shoulder injury. India won that match by 8 wickets. Rahane was also in charge when India thrashed Afghanistan in two days in Bengaluru in 2018 in what was Afghanistan’s first Test Match.
When asked what advice he would like to give Rahane when leading the Indian team in Kohli’s absence, Tendulkar said: “Regardless of what you’ve seen of Ajinkya over the years, he’s a very sincere and hard-working guy who has a Good cricket brain. He is balanced, aggressive, understands the game, he is methodical. I have liked everything I have seen, so my advice would be: “be yourself.” He has to be himself more than anything else. ” Sachin told TimesofIndia.com.
‘Ajinkya and I are on the same page and I’m sure he will do a great job in my absence’, says #TeamIndia Skipper… https://t.co/FqEB4XfPwd
– BCCI (@BCCI) 1608106348000
Rohit Sharma, who departed for Australia early Tuesday, will be available to play the final two test matches of the series, if authorized by the physio in consultation with the BCCI medical team after his quarantine period of two weeks. Under. That assessment will only be done after the mandatory 14-day quarantine period ends.
For now, Indian cricket fans are hoping that Rohit will be fit to play the last two rounds, because his experience could be vital, especially in the absence of Virat Kohli.
Rohit Sharma. (Fake images)
However, the team management would definitely have made plans to tackle the test series without Rohit participating in it, because that scenario remains a possibility as well. After all, you will need a considerable period of time to enter trial mode after your quarantine period ends. The team management will have to take many things into account and make the right decision, based on the assessment of the medical team, etc.
Tendulkar echoed that sentiment.
“That is going too far (whether Rohit will play in the last two rounds), whether that will happen or not, but as I mentioned, Rohit is one of the most veteran players and when there are veteran players, it is always a problem. Good balance, one nice combination of having that senior player along with juniors around, that combination is a good combination to have. But if Rohit is fit or not, or if there is something else that needs to be done, the team leadership decides on the tour. sure the physiotherapist will be involved in this, the captain, the coach, the tour management will be involved, so one should leave it to them instead of assuming a lot of things. Right now, I don’t know exactly what the state is like so that I think they (the leadership of the Indian team) are the best people to judge in which direction they should go. ” Sachin told TimesofIndia.com.
Going into the first game of the series, both fields are missing key players. Australia will not have David Warner for the first test. The promising youngster from Victoria, Will Pucovski, who was set to make his Test debut after two consecutive centuries at the Sheffield Shield, will also not play the first Test. He suffered a concussion after being hit in the helmet during a warm-up match by a Kartik Tyagi goalkeeper. Who will open the tickets for Australia is one of the million dollar questions right now.
India also does not have Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma. The third pacemaker after Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, for the first test will be Umesh Yadav. India will play its first test day and night abroad and only the second overall. However, the Indian team did well in warm-ups, especially in the second.
So, by passing the Adelaide day and night test, who will have the psychological advantage?
“Both teams would want their full force squads. Not having their full squad is obviously something neither team wants. Ideally, everyone would want (their) full squad all the time. But that doesn’t happen sometimes either. Whatever is available, you have. You have to make the most of it, you need to make the most of it and think about how you can make it happen instead of what you don’t have. So I’m sure both teams won’t be thinking about what they don’t have. They will focus on the first test. And both teams will do their best to win the first round, because in a four-round match series or, for that matter, in any event series, you take a lead of one, which is a great psychological boost. So (the) first Test Match becomes important. ” Sachin further told TimesofIndia.com.
In his 51 centuries-long test record, Tendulkar scored 11 against Australia, and six of them were scored on Australian soil. When asked to choose a hundred among them as his favorite, the big hitter said: “My favorite hundred, I would say it would be the one I scored in Perth (114) in 1992, because I was only 19 at the time (he was 18 years and 285 days old on the day he scored this century, making him the youngest player to score a test century in WACA), it was a proper bowling alley at a lively wicket. For a 19-year-old , when you go to Australia and score a hundred in Perth against the best bowlers in the world, then you are more or less prepared to play anywhere in the world against any bowling attack. And that’s what I felt. It came at a critical stage. In my career, it happened at a time when I felt really wonderful. I felt on top of the world because that was an outing where whoever did well there, people have spoken kindly about those players. And that. will happen in my career at an early stage, I was only 19 years, to spend at that point in my career, where I had also obtained a sister in Sydney (148 *). Both Sydney and Perth were completely different surfaces, so being able to go out and hit well on those two surfaces gave me a lot of confidence and I felt like a different person after that, so it has to be the hundred in Perth. for me.”
Sachin Tendulkar celebrates his century against Australia in Perth on February 3, 1992 (AFP Photo via Getty Images)
On December 15, 2008, Tendulkar scored a magnificent undefeated 103 to lead India to a six-way victory against England at the Chennai Test. The test was carried out after the horrific Mumbai terror attacks in late November of that year.
“That was a great moment, because when it comes to talking about hundreds, I would say this was the most significant to me, because the mood of the entire nation was understandably different. England kindly came back to play the series. For almost three days and a half we were playing (the) game of catching up with them and then finishing the game on such a high note was great. England’s bowling attack was possibly the most complete bowling attack. They had (James) Anderson and ( Steve) Harmison to pitch with the new ball, (Andrew) Flintoff to pitch reverse swing, and they had (Graeme) Swann and (Monty) Panesar as spinners, so they had covered all the areas. And to be able to get out and 387 was a great demand for the team. And we were able to pursue that, so that made things really very special. And that’s why I dedicated those hundred in particular to the whole nation and also to the martyrs and people who lost. their lives and po That is why I consider that hundred the most significant and most important centennial month of my life, because this went beyond the reasons of cricket. Normally, two countries compete to win a test match or to win a series, but this was much more than that, “Sachin told TimesofIndia.com.
Sachin Tendulkar celebrates with Yuvraj singh his century and India’s victory over England in Chennai on December 15, 2008. (TOI Photo)
.
