Shastri hopes Tendulkar to come good against Australia

February 17, 2013 08:28 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 10:28 pm IST - Melbourne

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar during  a practice session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday. Photo : K. Bhagya Prakash

Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar during a practice session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday. Photo : K. Bhagya Prakash

Former India cricket skipper Ravi Shastri is backing senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar to come good in the upcoming four-match Test series against Australia, starting in Chennai on February 22.

“He’ll be hungry, he’ll be really hungry. If Australia allowed him to score in the first two Test matches this will be a very big series for Tendulkar,” Mr. Shastri said. “He will come out a little nervous, there will be nerves in the first couple of innings but if he gets a 50, 60 or 70 in one of the first two innings then this could be a big series for him,” Shastri was quoted as saying by the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’

Tendulkar had last December retired from One-day International cricket to concentrate in Tests. Since then he has scored two centuries in first-class cricket, including an unbeaten 140 against an attack, comprising Pragyan Ojha and Harbhajan Singh, who are both in contention to play in the first Test against the Aussies.

The batting great is without a century in his past 31 Test innings, spanning 17 matches and over two years, which also includes a poor outing in the last Test series at home against England.

But Shastri feels that Tendulkar is still the best bet in the Indian batting line-up. “England bowled extremely well, but I get the feeling that the break he’s had for a couple of months, he’s gone back to the kind of preparation he’s used to. I want him to be positive and not get into a defending kind of mode. He has to play his natural game, if he does that we’re in for some entertainment,” he said.

India might have lost their last Test series Down Under 0-4, but Shastri felt the visitors could struggle in the sub-continent in the absence of quality spinners.

“I think you need two quality spinners to keep things tight and do the job,” he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.