Sachin Tendulkar to play ODIs against Pakistan and England

NEW DELHI: Sachin Tendulkar has intentions to play in the upcoming one-day series against arch-rivals Pakistan and the subsequent series against England, a television channel claimed on Friday.

'Headlines Today' claimed that Tendulkar, who was woefully out of form in the recent four-match Test series against England in which he averaged a poor 18.66, had a discussion with chief selector Sandeep Patil over his future.

The veteran batsman expressed his intentions to play in the ODI series against Pakistan and England and the selectors were willing to go by his plans, the channel said, quoting an unnamed source for the story.

Tendulkar has not played in too many ODI series since India's World Cup triumph in April last year.

The channel said he wants to play in the ODIs to regain form ahead of the high-profile Test series against Australia in February-March next year.

When contacted, chief selector Patil said his contract did not permit him to talk to the media on selection issues.

The channel talked to former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly on Tendulkar's decision to play in the ODIs.

"I am not surprised with that. It's good for him. If he needs to keep playing at the end of the Australia series, he needs to be in form and ODI are the best way for him to get in-form", Ganguly said.

"If he needs to continue, he needs to play all formats of the game and not have a start-stop career".

On the criticism about Tendulkar's form, Ganguly said "critics don't matter. It's what selectors think and BCCI think. Sachin is too big for everyone. What he has achieved is beyond everybody's reach. He has the ability and the right to call the shots", he said.

"I don't think any selector will ever ask him to retire or drop him. Don't know if it's right or wrong. He will decide whichever way he wants to go", Ganguly said.

Ganguly said if Tendulkar has decided to play the Test series against Australia, taking part in the ODIs will help him to get back to form.

"If he has decided to play the Test series against Australia then I think the eight ODIs will help get back the confidence which is required to get runs. If you score runs you go with much better frame of mind into Test matches. If he does well in the one dayers it will help him do well in test matches", he pointed out.

"I think Mahendra Singh Dhoni from his inside knew that he (Sachin) would play against Australia being in the dressing room, being captain of the side you get to know even if it's not spoken or no words are exchanged that this man is going to go on and I think it's not bad.

"It's about runs, performance and not names. He just hopes Tendulkar performs as he has done that in 23 years and hope for the best. Performing Sachin Tendulkar is an asset to every team", he added.


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