Sachin Tendulkar pulls out of T20 games in NZ, says tour
will be a challenge for the inexperienced squad.
India have always fared badly in New Zealand. So what awaits the team when MS Dhoni & Co embark on a 45-day tour from February 20? “Challenge,” said Sachin Tendulkar, who has toured the country six times. “Coping to the conditions in New Zealand will be a challenge,” Tendulkar said.
“We have a fairly new team and the challenge is definitely there,” the Little Master said on Thursday. “Playing in New Zealand, where the conditions are going to be tough, is a completely different experience.”
The Indians are set to leave for New Zealand on February 20 to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches.
Tendulkar, 35, may have toured New Zealand for half a dozen times but for rest of the team, it will be a completely new experience. “In places like Wellington, from one end a bowler comes at 135kph with the breeze behind him, and then suddenly you are facing someone else who is very slow and there is no wind,” Tendulkar said.
“With the wind behind the bowler it affects the batsman as he can’t keep his eyes open for long. So it becomes tough as one needs to change the bat swing, balance and the rest of the things. It is going to be a learning experience for the first-timers. But we have a good balance of experience and youth and the seniors and coaches will guide the newcomers.”
India were beaten 2-0 in the Tests and 5-2 in the one-day series when they last toured New Zealand in 2002-03.
Tendulkar, who opted out of the inaugural World Twenty20 Championship in South Africa in 2007 which India went on to win, also said he will not be turning out for the Twenty20 matches in New Zealand.
“It was a conscious decision not to play then (in 2007). I do not want to disturb the present winning combination. The team is doing well and I do not want to be part of the Twenty20 set-up.”
Tendulkar is the world’s leading batsman with 12,429 runs in Tests and 16,440 in one-dayers. He has played in only one Twenty20 international — against South Africa — in 2006.
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