BCCI should consult players before appointing coach, says Tendulkar

CHITTAGONG: Sachin Tendulkar wants the BCCI to consider the players' views while appointing the new coach for the Indian cricket team.

Speaking to newspersons after scoring his 36th ton in the first Test against Bangladesh, Tendulkar said he was not aware of the BCCI's seven-member coach selection panel holding a discussion in Bangalore on June 4 to find a successor to Greg Chappell.

"I have no idea. We did not have a meeting with the BCCI and we hope that our inputs would be considered," Tendulkar said.

Earlier in the day, BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah had said the final decision on appointing a new coach would be taken by the second week of June by the committee, which is headed by Board President Sharad Pawar.

The other members of the committee are three former skippers - Sunil Gavaskar, Shastri and S Venkataraghavan -Board Treasurer N Srinivasan and Joint Secretary M P Pandove. Shah is the convenor of the committee.

Tendulkar's comments assume significance in the context of Chappell's frequent run-ins with the players during his tenure.

Praising Shastri as a "very positive player and person," Tendulkar said the former all-rounder has been a great help during the tour.

"It always helps to have a positive person. Ravi has been a great help as I know what he expects from me and he knows what is to be expected from me," he said.

"We have played cricket together. He has a good cricketing brain. He played lot of Test matches and has got many runs."

Tendulkar dedicated his century, which came after a gap of 15 months, to his late father and said though the century has left him satisfied, he has no point to prove.

Visibly happy after coming up with a patient knock of 101 on the second day of the Test, Tendulkar said, "It is really good to get a century after a long time. It's always important to score a hundred."

Tendulkar's world record 35th ton had come at Delhi against Sri Lanka in December 2005, but since then he had gone centuryless despite walking out to bat 17 times in the longer version of the game.

"After South Africa we have not played Test cricket for a long time. I was looking forward to playing here.

"The century has come at the right time. I am looking forward to playing such important innings in future," he said.

To a specific query whether he wanted to prove a point by letting his bat do the talking, Tendulkar said, "I had no point to prove. After so many years I don't think I have any point to prove."

Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly were dropped from the Indian squad that played the preceding three ODIs. The BCCI, however, had claimed that the duo were "rested".

While Ganguly scored 100 of 165 deliveries, Tendulkar took 169 deliveries to make 101.

On whether he wanted to dedicate this innings to anyone, he said, "I would like to dedicate this to my father as it was his eighth death anniversary recently."

Tendulkar said it was tough to get over the disappointments of the World Cup failure.

India made an exit from the quadrennial event in the West Indies after the first round itself, losing to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, triggering widespread criticism and demonstrations back home.

Asked if the sharp reaction affected him, Tendulkar said, "During this entire career I have concentrated only on my job and my job is to go out and bat.

"We were disappointed at not having played well at World Cup. It was not because people had demonstrated. The ultimate dream was to go out there and play well.

"It did not happen and it was a huge disappointment. Anything else that happened didn't matter much. We lost out on the bigger goal we set for ourselves.

"Nobody wants to go out there and not perform, everyone wants to go out there and win. When it does not happen, it's tough to overcome the disappointment. It was tough," he said.

Praising Ganguly for his century, Tendulkar said it was a pleasure to bat with the left hander.

"It's always a pleasure to bat with Sourav. We have been together for so many years now. Sourav is a wonderful player. He knows how to take runs.

"We enjoyed our innings. We had fun in the middle. The idea was not to let the mind get bogged down. We basically remained focused and faced the balls.

"We tried to keep each other going. The conditions were tough. You had to encourage each other."

Asked about the plan they followed during their 189-run fourth-wicket stand, Tendulkar said "the plan was to score quick runs. The target was to achieve four and half to five runs an over. Thus I got out mistiming a ball."

Queried about the importance of the century, he said, "Century is not the only thing. How you play is more important.

"I had a couple of 60s and 70s. I didn't end up getting a 100 there. It does not mean I was not playing well. I was quite happy the way I batted in South Africa.

"I played the way I wanted to play and the team wanted me to play. Scoring hundred is always satisfying as the team wants me to do well."