I am no God, says Sachin

NOBODY can be god, says Sachin Tendulkar, laughing away the Australian opener Mathew Hayden’s celestial comparison. Having affirmed that he was a mere mortal, the Indian batting maestro points at his own weaknesses - he is tense virtually before every game, he takes defeat badly and he tries to over-attack bowlers.

Q: How do you react to comments such as the recent one by Australian batsman Mathew Hayden who wrote that Tendulkar is like god in India?


Tendulkar: Well I just feel that it is nice of him to have given that compliment. All I want to say right now is that I am very happy with the way things have gone. You know it is all because people have always supported me, encouraged me all the time. But I do not think anyone can become God or even come close to it. I just feel happy that I have done something for the country.

Q: You also think that God’s blessings are with you?

Tendulkar: Absolutely. Without that it cannot happen. It is also the family support and right guidance from the family members.

Q: So you are not a God. You are a mere mortal like anyone else?


Tendulkar: Yes, I am a normal person who plays cricket and you know people watch me play and they get pleasure out of it. So I am nothing more than that.

Q: Are you tensed up before any particular match?

Tendulkar: I am tensed virtually before every game. I feel that pressure all the time. Once I have gone in the middle then I am pretty okay.

Q: A doctor who examined you for your back problem during the Delhi Test against Pakistan (in 1999) said later that you are very tense which is not good for long term. Have you learnt to relax now?

Tendulkar: Sometimes little more and sometimes not as much. But this is always going to happen that way. But looking at the opposition I think it varies a lot, and I will have to cope with that and try and find a solution.

Q: When you finally hang up the bat 10 years, 12 years, 15 years from now what would be like to be remembered for most as a cricketer?

Tendulkar: Somebody who was a good trier for the country and did a decent job for the country. I will be very happy if people miss me after I stop.


Q: During this last series lot of people thought you had got under the skin of Glenn Mcgrath, that you got the better of him.

Tendulkar: I just felt that I should go out and play my natural game.

Q: You did not come out pre-determined and blast like you did in Nairobi?

Tendulkar: Not at all. Nairobi also it was not pre-determined decision. I just went there and analysed the situation. I felt if I do like this that will set the tempo. The other players will also continue to do so. That was surely going to help, I felt. So, it was a decision taken on the ground.

Q: One saw the unusual sight of you and steve Waugh recently getting into a bit of exchange of words...

Tendulkar: That is only to.... You know one has to do such things sometimes to unsettle the batsman, may be that was the reason.