Tried to mix Sunny’s defence,Richard’s aggression: Sachin

Sachin Tendulkar said that he made a conscious effort to blend Sunil Gavaskar's defence with Viv Richards' ruthlessness to evolve a batting style of his own.

Sachin Tendulkar said on Tuesday that he made a conscious effort to blend Sunil Gavaskar’s defence with Viv Richards’ ruthlessness to evolve a batting style of his own.

Since his 1989 debut against Pakistan,Tendulkar has been lording over the bowlers,who continue to struggle to breach his near-impregnable defence and often find themselves at the receiving end of his aggressive hitting.

Tendulkar revealed he modelled his batting style on Gavaskar and Richards,two players he idolised.

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“Sunil Gavaskar,needless to say,and Vivian Richards are the batsmen that really inspired me,” said the champion batsman with more than 29,000 international runs under his belt.

“I wanted to be as solid as Sunil Gavaskar and as destructive as Vivian Richards,because that combination was always going to be lethal. I felt truly inspired by these two individuals on the field,” Tendulkar told a TV channel.

Over the last two decades,Tendulkar’s appetite for runs never waned and the Mumbaikar said he never ran out of motivation.

“I don’t need anyone to come to me or motivate me or prepare me before a big game,” Tendulkar said.