Sachin Tendulkar Backs India To Dominate World Cricket For Next 15-20 Years

With the Virat Kohli-led Indian side dominating world cricket like no other Indian team in the past, former India batsman Sachin Tendulkar had made a bold prediction by backing the team to do well for the next couple of decades.

India have looked almost invincible under Kohli’s captaincy since he led the team to a historic 2-1 Test series win in Sri Lanka in 2015 in what was his first full series as permanent captain. Since then, he led India to series wins over South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, England, Bangladesh, Australia and twice against Sri Lanka to help the team reach the top of the ICC Test rankings. In ODIs too, he has been equally impressive, leading the team to wins over England, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand in addition to the march to the final of the Champions Trophy.

Impressed with the consistent performance of the current Indian team, Tendulkar compared the side with the all-conquering Australian team of the early 1990s and early 2000s.

“We are doing exceedingly well. What I feel is, what Australia was for 15-20 years in the 1990s when I toured Australia, they were a tough side to beat. A tough side to compete with. And wherever you travel, you beat everyone. I see that phase coming in Indian cricket because the balance is so good,” Tendulkar told former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee on the latter’s “Up in the Grill” show on his Youtube channel.

Tendulkar further cited the team’s depth behind its brilliant performances in recent times.

“If you see the batters, they can come and roll their arms. And the bowlers can come and contribute those important runs. And we bat quite deep. You get a number nine player turning up in Test cricket and scoring runs. That is luxury,” he noted.

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One of the best batsmen of all time, Tendulkar went on speak about his career, stating that he could not imagine his life without cricket.

“Really really hard to imagine my life without cricket. Cricket was like oxygen for me. Impossible to survive without cricket. It is my passion and continues to be my passion. And I don’t have any regrets. So many guys ask me ‘you missed out on those beautiful days – from age 16 to 19’. I was just happy playing cricket for India,” he said.

“How many guys get to do that, play at 16 for India? It was a huge honour and above all my lifestyle was very simple. My requirements were not big. I was really happy if I got time to be on cricket field. And that gave me all the satisfaction and happiness,” he added.

The youngest player to play for India, Tendulkar went on to play a world record 200 Tests, and 463 ODIs, and retired with almost all the major batting records to his name. The only player to have scored 100 international centuries, the first batsman to score a double century in ODIs, the holder of the record for the most number of runs in both ODI and Test cricket, Tendulkar is the most decorated batsman in the history of the game.