400 just a number, says Tendulkar

He has done that for 18 long years and when Sachin Tendulkar walks down to take his guard against Australia on Thursday, he will become only the second player in the world to feature in 400 One-Day Internationals.

It will be yet another milestone achieved by the master craftsman who chose the momentous occasion to drive down memory lane and relive every moment of that fascinating journey from a cherubic school kid to a legend.

Team India ready to rumble

Tendulkar, who will follow Sri Lankan great Sanath Jayasuriya into the one-day record books, said that Thursday will be no different. He would aim to do what he has done in these 18 years — score runs and help India win the game.

“I am hoping I will perform well and get runs to help India win the game,” said the 34-year-old batsman in Vadodara ahead of the fifth ODI against Australia.

“My approach would be the same. I would treat it as just another game. 400 is just a number and my approach to it would be as normal as ever,” the soft-spoken Tendulkar said.

“I am taking each match at a time. The 400th one-dayer happens to be against Australia. It could have been against any other team. My preparations are not going to be any different,” he added.

He said that the series against Australia is going to be a very competitive one.

“Our preparations have been good so far and I am hoping is that we can implement our plans tomorrow,” he said.

The only time Tendulkar got flustered during the chat with the media at the team’s practice area was when a scribe asked him why his performance had been more downhill than uphill during the current year.

“Please check your records,” he retorted.

Asked to single out a few memorable ties, Tendulkar listed some of the most memorable moments that fans would recount with great relish.

The 1993 Hero Cup semi-final against South Africa at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, his desert storm-interrupted attacking knock at Sharjah against Australia in 1998 and the subsequent final against them. The superb innings of 98 with 12 boundaries and a six against the fiery Shoaib Akhtar [Images] and company of Pakistan in the 2003 World Cup tie at Centurion Park in South Africa were Tendulkar’s best and he fondly recollected those moments.

“The Hero Cup semi-final in Kolkata when I bowled the last over. I have a very strong memory of that. Then the matches in Sharjah in 1998 [when he smashed 143 and 134 in successive matches against Australia including the final which India won] and the World Cup match at Centurion against Pakistan.

“These have been some very important matches. These are some wonderful memories,” said the holder of the record for the most number of Test and ODI centuries.

The Hero Cup was the tournament where his magical bowling arm won India the semi-final against South Africa.

The last over of that match was surprisingly bowled by Tendulkar who, watched by a capacity crowd of over a lakh, persuaded his captain Mohammad Azharuddin to give him the ball.

The Proteas needed six runs to win and the batsmen at the crease, Brian McMillan and Allan Donald could get only three against the little champion.

Lee to record album in India

Australia fast bowler Brett Lee plans to record and release his first studio album in India during breaks in his playing schedule over the next 12 months and is also looking forward to charity work and movie offers in the country in future.

Lee has returned to India with the Australian one-day side for a seven-match series and, to his amazement, the game’s popularity has only grown in the country.

Lee’s night out!

“This has probably been the series with the most interest since I’ve been coming here,” Lee said adding “I’ve been on a few tours now with the Australian side, and it’s always been massive, but the last couple of weeks have been huge.

“I think the Twenty20 [World Cup victory] has had a lot to do with it, which is great for world cricket and great for India. This is where cricket is, this is the home of cricket. There would have been a couple of thousand people waiting for us at the hotel,” he told Australian newspaper The Age.

Following the success of his debut single with Asha Bhosle last year, Lee will record and release his first studio album in India during breaks in his cricketing schedule. Also, having fielded and rejected several approaches from movie producers due to time constraints, Lee hopes to grace India’s silver screens after his cricketing career.

He is also in the process of forming a charitable fund in India.

“Steve Waugh is loved over here because he has done so much charity work, and that’s how I would like to be remembered as well: someone who enjoyed his cricket, but also put a fair bit back in,” Lee said.

“Hopefully, I’ve only scratched the surface. There’s heaps of other things as well I want to do over here, like may be a movie.”

The fast bowler was effusive in his praise for the cricket-crazy public of India and said they gave him a feeling which he never encountered while playing anywhere else.

“Even though there are so many people, never once have we felt threatened. We’re never worried about going anywhere.

“It’s different when we tour England, South Africa or New Zealand because they love the home side, and that’s not a bad thing. But here they just cheer you, and you get goose bumps when you walk onto the field. It’s just ‘Wow’. You don’t see that in Australia,” Lee added.

Like life, cricket is a great leveller

The beauty of sport is nobody knows what is going to happen, what comes next, which way the ball will roll. India won the Twenty20 World Championship though few thought it possible. But, in cricket and in life, there is a catch.

This is not pessimism, just cold realisation of reality. Cricket has demonstrated that as soon as anyone thinks he is on top of the game, events prove him wrong. Cricket is a leveller (Sanath Jayasuriya, in hot form at one time in T20, made three successive zeroes towards the end!) it bites back, hard.

Last month, momentous (and completely unanticipated) developments have shattered conventional wisdom.  Experience is considered precious but events suggest we over value this quality. When India appointed a new, raw and untested captain, doubts were raised but observers now think Mahendra Singh Dhoni is India’s answer to Imran Khan – strategy savvy, spunky and with the right touch of confidence.

When Rohit Sharma, Joginder Sharma and Yusuf Pathan were picked ahead of seniors, and trusted, there was apprehension but no disaster unfolded, the kids coped.

Experts thought Twenty20 would be a wild slog but cricket surprised everyone. Shahid Afridi and his disciples who tried to belt every ball out of the park failed to make an impact. Instead, Yuvraj Singh hit not one crude shot as he despatched bowlers into outer space.

Bowlers, under severe pressure because of the short format, were expected to be slaughtered but they responded admirably. Pace bowlers retaliated by bowling straight and full and mixing pace, The success of Tweny20 lies in its ability to deliver tighter, more competitive finishes.

While cricket is levelled in this manner, it has also made a giant technical leap forward. Now on, it will forever be sharper, slicker and more refined. But the new series is a new ball game, Australia will certainly come hard at India. Cricket has a tendency to bite back.

Whatmore takes on Indian role

AUSTRALIAN cricket coaching continues to export to India with the appointment of Dav Whatmore to the position of director of operations at India’s national cricket academy.

The former Bangladesh and Sri Lanka coach had earlier been seen as a successor to Greg Chappell, who quit as coach of the India team.

However, Whatmore was surprisingly left off the shortlist for the post when South African Graham Ford turned the job down in June.

Whatmore was apparently offered the position as the first director at the new academy by Ravi Shastri, who sits on the coach appointment board.

India has been without a coach since early April and the board has advertised the post.

Whatmore guided Sri Lanka to the World Cup in 1996 and helped unfancied Bangladesh reach the World Cup second round for the first time this year after a shock win over India.

“The contract is for three years and I’ll be in Bangalore by the end of this month,” Whatmore told a local paper.

“The specifics have to be worked out, but I expect the NCA to be operational for 8-10 months (a year). Eventually, one would like Indian coaches to impart all the training but, if needed, one may call specialists from overseas. However, one doesn’t have to cross that bridge right now.

“I know Ravi’s on the coach-appointing committee, but I didn’t bring up what happened in June. I’ve known Ravi for a number of years. We understand each other well and I’m looking forward to a formal association with him.”

Chappell recently accepted an appointment to the Rajasthan training academy, while Dennis Lillee has long run a fast bowling institute in Chennai and Australian John Gloster is a physio with the Indian team.

* Test captains Graeme Smith of South Africa and New Zealand’s Daniel Vettori will play in the official Indian Premier League next year according to officials.

The Twenty20 league, to be organised by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in April, has also signed up South Africa opener Herschelle Gibbs, West Indian veteran Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf.

Other new players in the official list are Chaminda Vaas of Sri Lanka, former Australian opener Justin Langer, Scott Styris of New Zealand and current South African internationals AB de Villiers and Ashwell Prince.

The induction of the 11 new players takes the count of international cricketers joining the IPL to 22.

Fleming vows to let Vettori rule

Stephen Fleming has promised he will not be a de facto captain on New Zealand’s Test tour of South Africa following his demotion from the leadership after a decade in charge. However, Fleming will try to relieve the pressure on his successor Daniel Vettori by giving him advice on when to bowl himself.

“It’s more just giving him the confidence to come on and bowl because I think that’s his biggest adjustment,” Fleming told the Press. “It’s up to Brendon [McCullum] and myself to give him the confidence or [suggest] maybe that a change is required. That’s probably the only time I would look to influence his captaincy otherwise I would give him his space and let him work his magic.”

Fleming is back with the national squad after a lengthy stint in county cricket during which there was constant speculation over his future and whether he would sign with the Indian Cricket League. He said he was slightly uneasy about returning to New Zealand but his concerns had quickly disappeared.

“It’s been surprisingly relaxed,” he said. “I wasn’t nervous but I guess a little apprehensive about how I’d slide back in but it’s a pretty good squad, a good group of guys. I’ve no axe to grind. I was disappointed I was not captain anymore but it was a small component of what I want to do and where I want to be.”

Fleming will bat at No. 3 in South Africa and he sees the two-Test series as a good opportunity to lift his average, which sits at 39.64 after 104 matches. “My Test average should be up higher than 40 and that’s something I want to achieve but I’ve never been a great goalsetter,” he said. “I tend to put my energy into match situations rather than goals or achievements.”

After the South Africa trip Fleming will settle into the Wellington first-class side to prepare for home Test series against Bangladesh and England.

Sport in Brief

Collins joins Surrey

Cricket Pedro Collins, the former West Indies left-arm seam bowler, has joined Surrey on a two-year contract as a Kolpak player. Collins, the 31-year-old half-brother of Fidel Edwards, has taken 106 wickets in 32 Tests, but was overlooked for this summer’s tour to England. “We have been looking for a quality left-arm seamer and Pedro fits the bill,” Alan Butcher, the Surrey cricket manager, said.

New deal for Lemi

Rugby union David Lemi has signed a contract extension with Bristol that ties him to the West Country club until 2011. The Samoa wing has scored 27 tries in 41 appearances for Bristol and was the leading tryscorer in the Guinness Premiership last season. Richard Hill, the head coach, said that Lemi’s transition from sevens specialist to the 15-aside game has been “sensational”.

Whatmore India role

Cricket Dav Whatmore, the former Sri Lanka and Bangladesh coach, has accepted an offer to become director of operations at India’s national cricket academy. Whatmore, 53, had been seen as a successor to Greg Chappell, who resigned as coach of the India team after their first-round exit at the World Cup in the Caribbean in March. India have yet to fill that post.

Fielden cut adrift

Rugby league Tony Smith, the Great Britain coach, has dropped Stuart Fielden and Gareth Hock and included only one Wigan Warriors player – Sean O’Loughlin – in his training squad for the forthcoming series against New Zealand. Hock has been handed a two-match ban after a dangerous tackle in his side’s 36-6 defeat by Leeds Rhinos in last Friday’s Grand Final eliminator.

Torre feels the heat

Baseball Joe Torre’s future as manager of the New York Yankees is in doubt after they were knocked out of the MLB play-offs by the Cleveland Indians. Torre took the Yankees to the play-offs for 12 successive years, but they have not won the World Series since 2000. Before Cleveland’s 3-1 series win, George Steinbrenner, the Yankees owner, said that Torre’s job was “on the line”.