Sachin hits critics over the top

Tendulkar hit a stupendous 169 against Worcestershire yesterday including over hundred runs in the final session and then made his point in a humble manner.

‘‘I think people are just over-reacting, I know what I am doing,’’ said Tendulkar as he made his way to the team’s coach bus wading his way through hundreds of spectators seeking his autograph.

Tendulkar failed in both the innings of the Lord’s Test, scoring 18 and 16 runs, as India crashed to a 170-run defeat against England to be one-down in the four-Test series. ‘‘I am worried about what I need to do rather than worry about what people write about me,’’ said the maestro. ‘‘I just want to go out and play my game.’’

Tendulkar said he understood the expectations were high where his performance was concerned but added ‘‘expectations are high because people write these things… People just worry.’’

Tendulkar mentioned his performance in recent matches, both in Tests and one-day internationals, to drive home his point. ‘‘In the last five or six Tests, I have scored over 400 runs. Even in the one-day championships, I have scored 350 runs so I am not bothered.’’

Tendulkar had a moderate series by his standards in the West Indies recently and even suffered the embarrassment of three ducks, including two in succession.

He still scored 331 runs in five Tests at an average of 41.38 with one century and two fifties. He also played a winning role in the final one-day game, smashing 65 runs.

In the Natwest triangular series in England, Tendulkar played several quality innings and made 337 runs at 56.16 with two centuries but failed to make a mark in the final.

Tendulkar, having made his point, then talked about his innings yesterday which had a sizeable crowd in raptures and drew wide praise from bowler Alamgir Sheriyar whose left-arm pace was genuinely sharp and also moved considerably.

‘‘I wanted to spend some time in the middle. I think it is always important for a batsman to spend some time in the middle.’’ Tendulkar said the wicket helped seam bowling but his intention from the start was to hang around rather than worry too much about the runs he would score. ‘‘It was seaming around a bit but I wasn’t worried about how many runs I would score.

‘‘My intention was to spend more time in the middle and I am pretty happy I was able to achieve it,’’ he said. (PTI)