Physically I'm here but I am very much there with the team: Tendulkar
14 August 2001

A thrilled Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday described his inclusion in the "dream team" of cricket legend Sir Donald Bradman as the "greatest thing to happen".

"It is a great honour, the greatest thing to happen. It is important when Sir Don speaks anything and especially when he selects me in his team, there cannot be a better thing than that," a beaming Tendulkar said in his first reaction after receiving the news of his inclusion in the team envisioned by Bradman.

In an interview to Star News, the batting maestro said, "I am very thrilled about it and very excited. There are some great names missing and to see my name in it, I am more than thrilled. After Sir Don bats and before Gary Sobers. What else can you ask for. All I can say is that it's a great honour."

Tendulkar is the only cricketer still playing and the only one from the Indian sub-continent who has been able to find a place in Bradman's World XI - the all-time ideal team to beat the rest, according to a book, 'Bradman's Best', chronicled by Roland Perry.

On his missing out on the current tour of Sri Lanka due to a foot injury, Tendulkar said "it has been very difficult because in the last 12 years, I have not missed a single Test match and now I have to stay away like this. I never wanted this till the end of my carrier. It has been difficult. Probably I am physically here but I am very much there with the team and I have watched most of the games and my involvement is probably as much as the others," he said.

On a query whether there is still scope for improvement after being preferred over so many greats, Tendulkar said "there is always room for improvement. It is not that you are going to develop 15 shots overnight but may be you have other avenues which could be used to reach your destination. I can only improve if I work hard. I am setting goals but it should not go to the extent where you forget about your batting and just look it as what you want to do. If I go out there and play, I am sure I will reach there," he said.

Describing his absence from the Sri Lanka tour as a "forced break", Tendulkar, however, said "it surely did lot to recharge my batteries and gave me time to think what actually happened on the Zimbabwe tour and prior to that against Australia. It does give you time to think about your game and analyse it and get better. I am sure it can help. But just being out there is a different feeling altogether and when you perform well it is a different feeling alltogether. You cannot compare it to anything else."

On his reported strained relationship with Sourav Ganguly, he said, "I think people are going to talk one thing or the other but provided the understanding between me and Sourav is there, we don't have any problem. It is a very transparent relationship. It has not affected us at all."

Congratulating Virender Shewag for his magnificent innings during the one day international against New Zealand, Tendulkar said, "I think he batted exceptionally well. Since the start of the Sri Lanka tour, I kept talking to him over the phone. I was thrilled. I was not surprised because I knew exactly what he was capable of."

On other budding cricketers, he said "we have some promising cricketers. What we have to do is to stick together and play good cricket."

Asked if he was worried about his future after the break, Tendulkar said, "I am not worried about my future. Yes, there is an eagerness to get back but I am not really worried about my career. Everyday I am learning as a cricketer. I will keep it to myself and get better," he added.

© PTI