India great Sachin Tendulkar says he wouldn’t change his game even if he was playing today.
The cricket legend has backed his ability to score runs in any era and thinks it is more important to work on consistency and flexibility to make yourself a better batsman, even in the modern game.
“I would have continued to be myself in today's cricket, I don't think I would have changed anything,” said Tendulkar to espncricinfo.com.
“I don't see there would have been any need to do something out-of-the-box different. Because if I had continued doing [what I did] the same way, the boundary line is only 70 yards.
“So if you are going to back yourself to clear [it], then you work on consistency more than anything else, depending on the surfaces. There are surfaces that compel you to play differently, I would have been flexible in my mind, my thought process. I think that flexibility has to be there.”
However, he also backed the innovation shown by today’s cricketers that continues to push the game forward.
He added: “Like how bowlers have developed the slower-ball bouncer, the knuckleball and the wide yorker – they have developed various things. So have the batters. In time to come, maybe eight-ten years down the line, we will be looking at a totally different game – the bat swing could be different, the stance could be different. Or the loading up. A lot of elements which we are not thinking of today because it's not demanded by the game today. But in time to come, it may change.”
Cricket strange without crowds
Meanwhile, amid the on-going coronavirus lockdown, Tendulkar finds it hard to image cricket in India without its adoring fans.
He said: “That would be odd (behind-closed-doors). Because you get so much energy from the spectators also. If India is to win a crucial game, you want people to be around you to celebrate – to amplify that. But no one inside the stadium? It's not going to make anyone feel special. It is going to be a weird feeling, and I don't know how players will react.
“Can you imagine Roger Federer and [Rafael] Nadal playing on the centre court of Wimbledon with nobody there? It's going to be such a strange thing to watch. Not just cricket, any sport needs to have that energy.”
