“I am enjoying the way you are playing,” Sachin Tendulkar lavishes praise on Indian team

The Indian team reached for the skies as they handed a resounding defeat to England on their spiritual cricketing home, Lord’s. India began the final day with the hopes of securing a draw but soon enough turned the game on its head. The fiery Indian pace attack bowled out the home side in 51.1 overs to claim a monumental 151-run victory. The visitors have now taken a 1-0 lead in the series with three Tests remaining.

The sterling performance has left Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar in awe. We caught up with the legendary Indian cricketer and sought his views on some of the talking points from India’s triumph at Lord’s. Here’s what he had to say.

100MB: Could India have declared earlier rather than come out to bat for a few overs after lunch as well? What could have been the thinking behind it?

Sachin Tendulkar: Yeah, possibly. India could have declared a couple of overs before lunch and make the English openers go up and down the dressing room. It’s quite a walk to the dressing room. No opener likes to do that. And in case there was a partnership, one would have got those three-four extra overs. But Virat had different plans. On a lighter note, you saw what happened to both the openers, right? Both got out on zero.

Rohit has gotten out quite a few times playing the pull/hook shot. He also scored a lot of runs with that shot too. What can a batter do when his strength is being used to dismiss him?

For me, it’s a simple thing. A shot that has got you runs, you need to play that shot. And with Rohit, the number of times he has succeeded in playing the shot compared to his dismissals, he should continue playing that shot. And that (dismissal) only happens when he is batting well. If you noticed properly, he backed himself to clear the ropes, he was not looking to keep the ball down. He wanted to hit it in the stands and he has done that on a number of occasions. I know, Rohit also will be thinking about it but I wouldn’t worry too much honestly.

Who was your Player of the match?

I thought KL Rahul batted brilliantly, he was fantastic but also Siraj’s role was as critical. Getting 8 wickets in a match and finishing so strong, he came and got those crucial wickets on the last day also mattered a lot. In the end, they both are Indian so maybe a joint award..but hamare paas rehna chahiye… (the award should remain with us)

Your thoughts on India’s lower order contributing with the bat.

In both Test matches, our tailenders have batted well, of course, in the first Test, Jadeja was there. If you remember I had posted a tweet saying Bumrah has played the shot of his life when he pulled Sam Curran for a six. At Lord’s, that lower-order partnership changed the game. On the fourth evening, who would have thought we will put the pressure back on the English team and close the game so empathetically.  It was magnificent to watch. Fast bowlers charging in, eye to eye contact, the hostility, it was not just josh (passion) but it was hosh (presence of mind) also.

Bumrah came round the wicket to Ollie Robinson, bowled a couple of bouncers and then that top-class slower ball. Robinson had no clue what had happened to him. Those kinds of moments where you very clearly outsmart your opponent, stay with you for a long time. But those batting partnerships got us back in the match.

What has transformed our pace bowling attack?

With our fast bowlers, I think it is the bench strength. The IPL has given a lot of exposure to the youngsters. There is more awareness as far as their diet is concerned, training methods are concerned, their discipline, focus, everything has come together. And you need to earn these things.

A big congratulations to our fast bowling unit and the coaching staff. Everyone has put in a lot of energy and made things happen. As a unit, this is possibly the best fast bowling unit today in the world. And they deserve that title according to me. They have really bowled well in foreign conditions where there is not much help to spinners. The fast bowlers have raised their hands up and turn the whole game upside down.  There have been match-winning spells and they have done so in quick succession. They deserve all the accolades and the celebration going around the Indian team.

How according to you should Indian bowlers plan to dismiss Joe Root early?

Joe Root is a busy player. He is someone who likes to rotate the strike. He plays a couple of balls and then he likes to look for a single here and there. If you give him room, he will either steer it to the third man or punch it off the back foot. Possibly, bowl him tighter lines to make sure that fielders don’t allow him to pick singles. I know he doesn’t take many risks, he is not going to go over the top but at least he should not be picking those cheeky singles. So if he is going to punch the ball hard, that is when the hands are moving away from the body to generate power. And that’s when you stand a chance to nick him off.

You were part of the Test series win in England in 2007, what one message would you like to give to the Indian team?

To win matches, you need good partnerships while batting. To get 20 wickets, you also need to bowl well in partnerships. I know the opposition is going to come back and they will try to come back hard but so long as we stick to our brand of Cricket what we are out there to achieve, it really doesn’t matter what they plan. I have thoroughly enjoyed the brand of cricket. I am enjoying the way you are playing. All the best!