God of cricket Sachin Tendulkar will bounce back, says Ganguly

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has backed under-pressure Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar to bounce back after recent poor run of form.

Ganguly said, "There is a lot of talk about God of Cricket Sachin Tendulkar, more than the 2-0 Test series win by India. People have started saying that it is time for him to go after the three innings in which he did not live up to the high standards he's set for himself.

"This is not the right assessment. He is one player who knows when to go. Sachin should not be judged on the basis of three innings but over a period of eight to 10 Test matches."

The former Indian captain feels Tendulkar, in the past, has silenced his critics, whenever his form had been questioned.

Ganguly wrote in his column for Hindustan Times, "In the past, he has been castled, but every time Sachin has found a way to bounce back. I will keenly watch him during the England series and I believe the great man of Indian cricket will silence one and all, like the way he has always done."

Sachin Tendulkar knows when to call it a day, says McGrath

Former Australia cricketer Glenn McGrath believes that Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar knows the best when to retire.

McGrath said Tendulkar is a legend and he has a lot of faith in Tendulkar and he'll know when to retire.

Meanwhile, former New Zealand cricketer Martin Crowe said Tendulkar will struggle against pace bowlers.

"Hand-eye reaction is not Tendulkar's problem; he probably is better and faster with his hands than he was in 1992. But the one thing that he can't escape from is that the body is naturally slowing down," Crowe, one of New Zealand's finest batsmen who scored 5444 runs in 77 Tests, said.

"Firstly, the back and hamstrings are probably 10 percent less flexible, and his agility and speed down by 10 percent too. Tendulkar will naturally find that he is not as quick as before. In particular, it is against fast bowling that his feet and body will find it increasingly hard to move quickly enough into position," Crowe wrote.
Crowe felt that Tendulkar, who has scored 100 international centuries, won't face any problems whatsoever from the spinners as he is as good as anyone in the world.

Sachin Tendulkar adds value to batting line-up, says Manjrekar

Sachin Tendulkar 's vulnerability against full-length deliveries in the New Zealand series may have raised a few eyebrows, but Sanjay Manjrekar, a former Test batsman and Tendulkar 's teammate, feels the days of batting maestro at the highest level are not yet over.

"To me, the way Tendulkar got out in his three innings against New Zealand does not suggest by any stretch of the imagination that he is finished as an international batsman," he said.

"I will stand by what I've said all along about Tendulkar - that his run-making at the international level will stop only when he stops playing. Until then, he may not dominate as he used to but he will still be a good enough batsman to get runs at the highest level, and to add value to the Indian team, especially in Test cricket," he told cricinfo.

Sanjay Manjrekar felt that Sachin was aware of the difficulties an ageing batsman has to face and he will soon find an answer to it.

Tendulkar, 39, was clean bowled three times out of three in the just-concluded two Test-series between India and New Zealand, triggering a spate of negative comments. Even Manjrekar and Sunil Gavaskar, who were doing television commentary when Tendulkar was bowled in the first innings of the second Test, questioned his lack of foot movement.

Now, Manjrekar says Tendulkar still adds value to the batting line-up and must be part of the team in the four-Test series against England at home.

Also a Mumbaikar like Tendukar, Manjrekar argued that the maestro was not first one to have struggled with full-length deliveries.

"I have seen with great players as they age that it's the full delivery that seems to bother them more than short ones. Short balls land on the pitch well before full-length ones do, so their mystery is revealed to the batsman earlier," he pointed out.

"Watching a ball from the point of release to almost right under your eyes is not easy to do. Great batsmen do it as a matter of habit, but with age they have to remind themselves to keep doing it right through their innings."