Tendulkar speaks out

The aftermath has begun. In the wake of India’s upset exit from the 2007 World Cup, the media has started speculating who is going to go up against whom before the administrators meet to discuss the reasons for a forgettable tournament campaign and measures to prevent such from happening again. As expected, two names that have been thrown into the limelight, but quite surprisingly against each other, are Sachin Tendulkar and Greg Chappell.

Following reports from local media in India that Chappell has come down strong against senior players and is going to bring up the issue of commitments of several of them in front of the cabinet that meets later this week, Tendulkar has reacted strongly suggesting that it hurts him if the coach is questioning the attitude of senior players including himself.

Speaking to The Times of India, Tendulkar said, “I’ve given my heart and my soul for 17 years. No coach had mentioned even in passing that my attitude was not correct. Cricket has been my life for all these years and will always be.”

A reportedly shaken Tendulkar also said, “Tell me, the world has gone on talking about all this (our defeat and exit), but has anybody spared a thought for us? Did they try to find out what we have been going through? I am shattered beyond words and I feel helpless. I’ve never felt so bad in my entire career.”

India, World Cup winners in 1983, crashed out of the on-going tournament in the first round itself, after losing to Bangladesh in their opening match by five wickets, and then failing to defeat Sri Lanka in a “do or die” match. Tendulkar, who before the tournament had said that winning this World Cup was the team’s dream, said, “No matter how many Tests or one-day series you win, nothing else even comes close to a World Cup triumph. The World Cup was our passion, our collective goal, our dream and that has been shattered. And we all are terribly disappointed over it. Again, it’s not that we are defending ourselves. We do realize that we played badly and, as a team, we take full responsibility for that. But what hurt us most is if the coach has questioned our attitude.”

The reactions of the fans has been tough on the players too, with nation-wide calls of sacking Rahul Dravid as the captain, and the removal of several senior players, who have been accused of underperforming in matches that matter. However, some of the players are so aggrieved by these personal attacks that they are planning to ask for a separate meeting with the board chief Sharad Pawar to present their side of the story, just before the cabinet comprising of former players like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri and S Venkatraghavan and the board members meets with the coach and the manager of the team.