Gavaskar cites Sachin Tendulkar's 'preparation' example after India's series loss

Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar cited Sachin Tendulkar’s example of preparing for a series after Rohit Sharma’s India lost to Tom Latham’s New Zealand 0-3 in the recently-concluded Test series. On Sunday, India lost the third Test by 25 runs at the Wankhede Stadium and was whitewashed in a Test series at home for the first time since 2000.

Before the red-ball series, there were talks about whether the Indian cricketers should have taken part in the domestic games at the Duleep Trophy and Irani Cup to prepare for the international assignments. Gavaskar talked about Australia’s tour of India back in 1998 and lauded the Master Blaster for preparing well.

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He said that Tendulkar made special preparations to counter the legendary Shane Warne, who was at the peak of his powers back then. Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 204 for Mumbai against the Australians at the Brabourne Stadium in the practice game before the three-match series. Mumbai went on to win the game by 10 wickets.

“That’s the reason why Sachin Tendulkar was Sachin Tendulkar. He was so fiercely proud of what he could do and what he wanted to do for the team. Don’t forget the 200 at the Brabourne Stadium for Ranji champions Mumbai and the visiting Australian team.

“Then when he went to Chennai, he asked Laxman Sivaramakrishnan to come and go around the wicket, create a rough around that area so that he could practise that slog sweep and the inside out shot against Shane Warne,” Gavaskar told India Today in an exclusive interview.

Focus on preparations

Tendulkar finished as the series as the top run-scorer after he racked up 446 runs from three games at an average of 111.50 with a top score of 177. Tendulkar won the Player of the Series award after India bagged the series 2-1 with wins in Chennai and Kolkata. Gavaskar said that it was Tendulkar’s dedication towards preparation that helped him grow in stature as a quality cricketer.

“So that is the kind of preparation why Sachin Tendulkar has got almost 16,000 runs in Test cricket and 100 international centuries. So, I think that is the kind of preparation that everybody needs to do. If you don’t do it then the gaps that are there will always be that little body speed and back speed situation, which takes a long time to get back,” Gavaskar said.

“So it is not just in cricket. It is in any sport. You look at tennis, those who are in their thirties, and then they suddenly take a break. If it's an injury break, it's even worse. If it's not an injury break and it's just to refresh themselves, when they come back, it's very, very difficult to win tournaments after that,” Gavaskar added.

After India lost to the Black Caps, they are set to lock horns with Australia in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy from November 22 onwards in Perth. India also lost their top spot in the points table for the World Test Championship (WTC) and are with a tough task to qualify for the finals.

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