Well, for the millions of die-hard fans of team India, this observation of Master blaster Sachin Tendulkar appears to be most realistic assessment based on ground realities. Sachin Tendulkar, who was the second highest run scorer in the World Cup 2011 and a part of that winning team, has justified the basis of his prediction.
Sachin has guided Team India towards making their way to the semifinals of the cricket World Cup which is scheduled to begin in Australia and New Zealand on Saturday. He opined that captain Mahendra Singh could play a lead role in this most prestigious event.
Sachin Tendulkar, who’s having experience of playing in 6 World Cups, said, “According to me, the top four teams that I would put them in the semis would be Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India.”
Although he has emphasized for the need of team India playing as one compact unit, but also feels that Dhoni’s experience and calm leadership would play a key role.
He said, “Yes, I think MS Dhoni is the guy because he has the experience of competing at this level for close to 10 years and he is calm and composed. You know, even on the biggest of the stages he is calm and composed and that is what you expect from a leader. A leader should not panic, a quality which he has, and you know it’s equally important for a captain to be in a good form also to take his team forward, only one individual cannot make you win the trophy. You need the support of the entire team”.
The 41-year-old Indian icon who has retired from international cricket in 2013 had almost all the batting records accredited to his name. He also defined Kohli as one of the asset to the Team India whose skill will further shine in the event.
Sachin Tendulkar said, “I think Virat Kohli is brilliant, his biggest strength is that he analyzes the situation very well and also analyzes the conditions, the pitch, the surface that he is going to bat on. He picks that very quickly, and then he is sure about when he’s going to collect his runs and how he’s going to collect his runs”.
Also expressing his unbiased opinion on struggling opener Shikhar Dhawan, Tendulkar said, “Shikhar has not had a great time there in Australia, but when he gets going, his game is suited for those hard and bouncy wickets. I think Shikhar, when he gets going early on in the tournament, he will be a key factor.”
With the encouragement from many former Indian legends, we hope that team India will make us proud.