Vivian Richards was my inspiration: Tendulkar

LONDON, MAY 7. Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar said he had drawn on the qualities of Sunil Gavaskar and Vivian Richards, but it was the West Indian great that he found inspirational.

``Gavaskar had incredible discipline and consistency and the technique to match and Richards had such aggression. He could destroy the best bowling anywhere. I suppose I like to think I've got the qualities of both those players, but it was Richards who, I suppose, I found inspirational,'' said Tendulkar, who at 16 dreamt of being the best player in the world, in an interview to The Daily Telegraph published on Monday.

Of his contemporaries, Tendulkar believes Steve Waugh and Brian Lara are the best.

Describing him as a rarity in modern sport, the newspaper said that many, including England's greatest all rounder Ian Botham who believes Tendulkar could go on to be, ``the finest of all time,'' feel his best years may still be ahead of him.

Tendulkar felt match-fixing in cricket was a, ``horrible phase and was surprised by the depth of the problem. I think a lot of cricket fans felt badly let down and disappointed. Although I think the game is far too big to be damaged long-term,'' the young stalwart said.

Tendulkar told interviewer Sebastian Coe, ``I didn't expect to read those kind of things in a paper. Luckily it didn't affect the morale of the (Indian) team and I think we all felt our great challenge was to start a new chapter. We were also lucky that our team was a young team and the Indian public did really get behind us.''

Tests are more challenging

Although he enjoys the cut and thrust of one-day game, he recognises that the five-day distance is more challenging and, ``provides the real test for a batsman or fast bowler.'' Tendulkar considered himself to be a product of the one-day game. Not for him the tortuous arguments of traditionalists versus modernists, said Coe.

``The one-day game has advanced, not hindered, the traditional Test series. It has made cricket far more positive. It has improved, without question, the standard of fielding. It has brought massive changes to the game, but it has made it much faster and has changed the fitness level of everybody.

``I don't see a problem in picking two different types of teams and if the player can't adapt he should be left out.''

The batting genius felt his greatest innings was his 141 against Australia in the Wills International Cup quarterfinal in Dhaka in 1998. ``Nobody expected us to win. It was the day that everything came together. I can still remember almost every stroke I played that day.''

His total came from 128 balls with 13 fours and three sixes. It also got him his 30th man-of-the-match award at international level, and he followed this up with bowling figures of four for 38 off little more than nine overs.

In the same year, at the age of 25, he set a world record when he scored his 18th limited-overs century, relegating Desmond Haynes to second place in the record books.

The daily said Tendulkar's talent was all too briefly on show when he played a season for Yorkshire in 1992. ``It was a tremendous experience and exposure and, in many respects, a highlight for me particularly as I was the first overseas player to play for Yorkshire,'' he said, although Sir Len Hutton was probably turning in his grave.

``I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer, but there was just no way I could combine five months' commitment to the Indian team with a county season. I don't think it will be possible for me to play for a county.''

Tendulkar is keen to go on chasing records and, in the process, rip the heart out of the world's best bowlers. He has established unquestionable supremacy over them all, including Australia's Shane Warne, who he placed among a handful of great bowlers against whom he has played, including Sir Richard Hadley, Malcolm Marshall, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, although he is unwilling to rank them.

According to Coe, there is little hinterland in Tendulkar's life. Cricket is all-consuming and, apart from devotion to his family, everything else is on hold until he retires. ``I want to stay as fit as I can for as long as possible and focus all my energy on scoring runs. I don't like living in the past or the future and I certainly can't think five years ahead,'' he said.

Only at the end of his career will he make any real attempt to develop his commercial potential which, given his profile in India, is immense. It will be some time before he feels it is right to develop his interests away from cricket. ``I would like to be remembered as somebody who tried hard for my country - very hard,'' he said.

In the piece `Tendulkar at the peak and looking forever upwards,' Coe describes the maestro as a great Indian batsman who remains dedicated to a winning team. ``Sachin Tendulkar is a rarity in modern sport. He will freely talk about the great teams in which he has played and even the great players he has played against. But ask him about his extraordinary gifts at the wicket and he digs in, Boycott fashion,'' Coe wrote.

It is not that he is unaware of his status on the international cricket scene, just that he genuinely has derived ``the most pleasure when being a part of a winning Indian team.'' And beating Pakistan in the '92, '96 and '99 World Cups has given him ``three great moments'' in his career.

Tendulkar, who made his one-day and Test debut for India at the age of 16, is the only player to score five Test centuries before the age of 20 and the youngest player to score 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 runs in both formats.

His biggest daily challenge comes not in the chaotic carnival atmosphere of India's cricket grounds, but in maintaining a private life, away from the constant glare of a grateful but fanatical nation, Coe said.

A supportive family

His early interest in the game was nurtured by his elder brother Ajit, who although 10 years his senior, recognised his younger brother's precocious talent. Ajit was a competent player who has, throughout Tendulkar's career, been a friend, confidant and, on occasions, assumed the role of coach.

``He will still discuss the finer points of my game. There is nobody that knows more about my batting than Ajit. He never speaks publicly about the help he has given me; in fact I don't think he likes talking! And he certainly doesn't like watching any match I'm playing in.

``It has become quite a joke, because we can never find him when he knows I have to play a big innings. I scored a hundred in a school match and he has not been back since. Somebody rings him up after I have played to tell him what I've done and then he'll watch it on tape.''

His father, Ramesh, took a more paternal and laid-back approach to his youngest son's talent. ``He was a writer and poet, not particularly interested in sport, but was always supportive, without putting any pressure on me. He would say `whatever you do in life, be sincere and honest,' I think I have inherited my father's inner calm.''

It is that inner calm that provided such a vital foundation for his debut for India in 1989 against Pakistan in a one-day match at Gujranwala and later that year in a Test at Karachi, against the pace-bowling of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

``I remember walking into the changing room and wondering how I would cope with all the famous names around me and they were all about twice my age. My captain, Krish Srikanth was a great supporter. He sat down before the game and told me that I belonged in the team, and they were all very proud of my achievement. Nobody made me feel like a teenager.''

It soon became obvious that Tendulkar was no ordinary teenager. It was his uncompromising mental and physical approach to the game that set him apart.

``I was too young at 16 to be frightened by anything. I went out to play as hard each time as I could. I dreamed of being the best player in the world, but you don't disclose that. I just wanted to score more runs than anybody else. I know now that it is mental discipline that sets people apart, the ability to think differently and to generate energy in the right direction. Everybody is trying hard, the players who succeed are the ones who push themselves a bit harder.''

- PTI

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