London: Sachin Tendulkar on Tuesday described the Indian cricket team’s newly-appointed head coach, Anil Kumble, as a “fabulous” player who will teach the players how to “win big moments”.
Tendulkar, alongside another former captain Sourav Ganguly, was part of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) that selected India’s highest wicket-taker and former Test captain for the coaching job.
“Anil is a fabulous player, a hard competitor who will not make any compromises on the field.
He will be out there to win each and every moment. Anil has a lot to share… everything that he has learnt from this wonderful sport having played for almost 20 years,” Tendulkar said here Tuesday.
“There are always big, crunch moments in any match and how to approach those moments is important. We may plan a lot of things but eventually execution matters.
“In sport, over a period of time what you learn is not every day you are successful, sometimes you have to face failures. “It is all about being a tough character and be able to stand back on your feet again and to compete the next day. Every day is a fresh day, new beginning.
That is something I feel Anil will teach them (players),” he said.
On a personal note, he described his experience playing alongside Kumble as “fantastic” and how the bowler had been a “big match winner”.
“To the players, I would say go out and grasp as much information from him as possible and enjoy cricket above all.
“Let it be competitive, play it in the right spirit and enjoy the game,” he said. Pressed further on former Indian team director Ravi Shastri’s disappointment having lost the job of head coach to Kumble, Tendulkar simply said “whatever we discussed in that meeting room stays confidential information”.
“Ravi’s contribution has been terrific and he’s done a fabulous job. He is someone that I have played cricket with and understood the way he approached cricket,” he added. Kumble was recently announced as the Indian team’s head coach on a year-long contract, a job Shastri had also applied for with the CAC made up of Tendulkar, Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) convenor Sanjay Jagdale.
Tendulkar also called for wickets in international cricket to be made more bowler-friendly.
“Wickets need to change. They need to be more helpful for bowlers,” he said “I see in T20 format the greatest of the fast bowlers are being reverse swept at times. In One-days, a 300 total is no more a competitive total.
“There should be at least one format in cricket where the bowlers have a better chance of executing their skills and it becomes more interesting for spectators as well,” he said.
The master batsman was asked for his thoughts on former Australian captain Ricky Ponting’s call for greater regulation of bat sizes, something he said he wanted to put “more brains behind” as he announced a new partnership with sporting gear firm Spartan International.
He explained: “I personally played with a heavy bat. That was because me and my elder brother shared one bat and it was his bat. I had to hold the handle right at the bottom so the weight was not out of control to manage.
Players make their own adjustments. “The size of the bats that I played with and those I see today are different.
It is all about developing equipment and the bats have certainly developed a lot. (PTI)
