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NEWS Pakistan in India 2005>My aim is to serve the team, not to please everybody: Sachin 27th Apr 2005 22.03 IST By Agencies Batting Genius Sachin Tendulkar has reacted strongly to criticism that he had become a pale shadow of his former attacking self, saying his aim was to serve the team, not to please everybody. Sachin, the fourth-highest scorer with 10,134 runs in 123 Tests with 34 centuries, has recently been under fire for shedding much of his flamboyance, a hallmark of his batting for long.
"I batted with a certain style when I was 16. At 20, I batted differently. It again changed when I was 25 and again when I turned 30, with age, my role in the team changed too," The Maestro said in a chat with the Hindu newspaper in New Delhi. "It's not that my batting has assumed a new character now. Please try to read my role and contribution in a team where I am the most senior player. Like others, I too think differently as I grow. Today, maybe (Mahendra) Dhoni would think and do what I did at 20. When I was 16 I saw Kapil (Dev), (Dilip) Vengsarkar, Ravi (Shastri). They had a certain role to play, and I had my own." "Look, I've played as I wanted to. Not to please some individuals, but to serve my team and my country. It's difficult to please all the people. So why worry about them." Sachin, who has spent an amazing 16 of his 32 years in international cricket, said he was not worried over the latest criticism as long as he was convinced he had been serving his team. "It's a process that everyone experiences. In the past too, batsmen have made changes when compelled by certain factors like age," said Tendulkar, one Test hundred short of smashing compatriot Sunil Gavaskar's world mark of 34. Sachin is also the world's highest run-getter in One-Day Internationals with 13,642 runs in 348 matches and a record 38 centuries. "I can't fight these changes. They are natural. It's easy for these so-called experts to talk from outside," said Sachin. "And who are these people. Look at their records. Honestly, I don't think we need to even discuss them and their comments. I know what my job is. As long as I am convinced that I have done my job honestly, why should I lose sleep over what people have to say about my cricket." Sachin, who made his Test debut aged 16 in Pakistan in 1989, said he had now been experiencing different pressure and relishing it. "The pressures vary with time, and why not," he said. "The pressure on me is not to score runs but to see that my side needs to perform. My philosophy is simple. If you are concerned about the team's performance, you are bound to attract pressure. And I don't mind such pressures at all." Sachin, who starred in the Gursharan Singh-benefit tie in Delhi on Tuesday, said by making an appearance in the match, he was only repaying a debt. Sixteen years is a long time but Sachin’s memory is sharp. And he is not known to break a promise. On a sticky afternoon at the Wankhede Stadium, Sachin, 11 runs short of a century, watched Gursharan emerge from the dressing room with his right hand cast in plaster. His middle finger fractured, Gursharan was in acute pain. He batted 16 balls with one hand and contributed to his 16-year-old partner's immense joy of scoring a century on debut in the Irani Cup. To this day, Sachin remembers that eventful afternoon vividly. "It was a splendid gesture by Gush. That hundred meant a lot to me and I had told him then I would like to reciprocate his unforgettable act," said the Master. Sachin, on the basis of that brilliant century against Delhi, got picked for the Pakistan tour and grew into a legend with his batting exploits. By making an appearance at the Ferozeshah Kotla for Gursharan's benefit match, Sachin was only repaying a debt. "I owed it to him," he said. To accommodate Gursharan's request, Tendulkar did not mind delaying his departure to the US with his family by a day. Also View In-Depth Coverage: Pakistan in India 2005 Team Page: India Team Page: Pakistan | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
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