ISLAMABAD, Feb 8: Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan on Wednesday dismissed speculation that Sachin Tendulkar is on the decline, saying the Indian batting master still has plenty to offer to the cricket world.
“You can’t judge Tendulkar on one or two failures, he has enough cricket left in him and has the talent to bounce back any time,” Imran said.
Imran was speaking at a reception attended by Indian captain Rahul Dravid, coach Greg Chappell, Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh.
India’s much vaunted batting line-up came under severe criticism after they flopped twice in the crucial third and final Test against Pakistan in Karachi last week, suffering their second worst defeat of 341 runs at the hands of their traditional rivals.
Pakistan won the Test series 1-0 and currently lead the five-match one-day series 1-0 after a dramatic seven-run win on the Duckworth-Lewis method, that sets a revised target for the second batting team, after bad light at Peshawar on Monday.
Tendulkar hit his 39th one-day hundred to lift India to 328 and in reply Pakistan notched 311-7 when bad light stopped play.
The second limited overs international match is scheduled for Rawalpindi on Saturday.
Imran believes India have no replacement on the horizon for Tendulkar.
“He is still the linchpin of Indian batting and would continue to supplement them until they find a suitable replacement, which I don’t see coming in the near future,” said Imran, who played 82 Tests for Pakistan.
Imran also passed useful tips to Dravid on how to be a successful captain.
“Dravid is a good student of the game and I think India will progress under him. India can tame England because they have quality spinners in Harbhajan and Anil Kumble,” he said.
India play England in a three-match Test series after their tour of Pakistan early next month.
Imran also advised left-arm paceman Zaheer.
“I have noticed flaws in Irfan Pathan’s grip and in Zaheer’s technique in bowling so I advised him how to use the non-bowling arm to get the maximum speed while bowling,” said Imran, who was a leading paceman.—AFP
