Tendulkar not finished yet, feels Manjrekar

Sachin Tendulkar’s vulnerability against full-length deliveries in the New Zealand series may have raised a few eyebrows, but Sanjay Manjrekar, a former Test batsman and Tendulkar’s teammate, feels the days of batting maestro at the highest level are not yet over.

“To me, the way Tendulkar got out in his three innings against New Zealand does not suggest by any stretch of the imagination that he is finished as an international batsman,” he said.

“I will stand by what I’ve said all along about Tendulkar — that his run-making at the international level will stop only when he stops playing. Until then, he may not dominate as he used to but he will still be a good enough batsman to get runs at the highest level, and to add value to the Indian team, especially in Test cricket,” he told cricinfo.

Tendulkar, 39, was clean bowled three times out of three in the just-concluded two Test-series between India and New Zealand, triggering a spate of negative comments. Even Manjrekar and Sunil Gavaskar, who were doing television commentary when Tendulkar was bowled in the first innings of the second Test, questioned his lack of foot movement.

Now, Manjrekar says Tendulkar still adds value to the batting line-up and must be part of the team in the four-Test series against England at home.

Also a Mumbaikar like Tendukar, Manjrekar argued that the maestro was not the first one to have struggled with full-length deliveries.

“I have seen with great players as they age that it’s the full delivery that seems to bother them more than short ones. Short balls land on the pitch well before full- length ones do, so their mystery is revealed to the batsman earlier,” he pointed out.

“Watching a ball from the point of release to almost right under your eyes is not easy to do. Great batsmen do it as a matter of habit, but with age they have to remind themselves to keep doing it right through their innings.”

Manjrekar felt that Tendulkar was aware of the difficulties an ageing batsman has to face and he will soon find an answer to it.