I have played with a lot of passion: Sachin

Just before he began a TV interview, Sachin Tendulkar requested the two technicians sitting behind the camera in front of him, not to move. If they did, it was possible he would get distracted and look at them rather than his interviewer. The men nodded and the conversation began. Something else also happened for the next 45 minutes. Seventeen other people in the room behind the glare of lights on Tendulkar's side also froze - out of instant obedience.

It is what Tendulkar has done over twenty years of international cricket: striking the ball, scoring the runs, giving India floods of joy, bursts of hope and a renewed shower of spontaneous respect.

Just before Tendulkar's 20th international season began, he spoke to India Today about his international career, his opinions on the modern game and his hunger and competitiveness for cricket.

A tri-series in Sri Lanka and the Champions Trophy was to begin his season which will be followed by a seven-match ODI series against Australia. The Sri Lankans will then arrive for a Tests, ODI and T20 series just when November 15 will mark 20 years since Tendulkar's Test debut in Karachi. It was the only time he confessed he felt like he did not belong,"I felt this is not my cup of tea", he said to India Today. After that first Test though, Tendulkar was able to find his confidence and then invented and create a personal path which changed the way India follows and plays its cricket.

After the Australians will arrive to begin the series on October 25 and when November changes India's weather and season, all the time and all the talk will focus on Tendulkar. Tendulkar himself will focus on his batting, his fitness and his concentration on every match day.

What has been as remarkable and singular as the man's cricket, full of sparkling strokeplay and entrenched consistency, is been his strength of mind and high threshold for physical pain.

Answering a question about a recent injury, Tendulkar held up his left hand and showed his twisted-looking index finger that had broken following a catch he took in the first Test in New Zealand. He did not get an x-ray done in at the time, "I'd said anyway I was going to play" and played with the broken finger for three months, getting it checked only when his hand refused to stop hurting weeks into the IPL.

Looking fitter, leaner and ready for the twentieth season, Tendulkar brushed off the unusual damage to the finger, shrugged off the episode and talked to India Today about his past and cricket's future, his dreams for Indian cricket and the one-day international game and his life as cricketer, superstar, parent.

Excerpts from the interview:

Q. November will become the 20th year in international cricket for you. Only Gary Sobers has played non-stop international cricket for that long a period. Do you remember it all? Does it feel that long?
A. I feel that time definitely flies. I remember on my first tour Kapil Dev challenged me, he said 'you play for ten years.' It was a healthy bet which I won. When I completed ten years, Kapil Dev was the coach so I caught him and said I've won our bet. I'm glad today I'm almost very close to doubling that. I remember things clearly, even though time has flown. I remember most of my dismissals and I don't think any cricketer forgets that...I remember the great shots too.

Q. What part of your 16 or 20-year-old self would you like to have in your game today?
A. Mentally, it's different, now. When I was younger, there have been times where I've gone out thinking of attacking just from ball one, that wherever the ball is I'm going to attack, wherever the ball is I'm going to hit a six, literally, that kind of thought process. But I'm glad that doesn't happen today, that was different...you think differently in various stages in life and you react accordingly. So obviously I think differently at this stage and I don't feel like that, like I miss miss anything.

Q. What would you say is the single biggest lesson cricket has taught you? Which would save younger guys a lot of trouble if they knew about it?
A. I think to respect the game and to respect fellow cricketers. I was made to realize that very early on by a friend. In the early years of cricket, you have done everything possible thing under the sun to achieve your target. All of a sudden you have the India cap and India t-shirt and you start thinking that, oh I'm somebody special. I remember just after I started to play for India, a very close friend of mine conveyed a message through another person.

Around that time it was "just tell him that I've noticed that he is probably starting to think differently, the sooner he realises that the better it is.' And I sat back and I realised that, yes it was true. I wouldn't want to say who the person was. But it happened and that really helped me. I normally tend to tell all the youngsters who just get in the team, I know that it's good that you are here but learn to respect the cricketers who actually played with you before. That would help you to stay on the ground more than anything else.

Q. More than the runs or records, it is your consistency that has stood out for two decades now - what's the secret? If a young player asked you, 'I've got the game, I've got the fitness, how do I stay consistent,' what would you say?
A. I don't know how to answer this. I wish I knew the answer, I've just gone out and played and played with a lot of passion and I spent a lot of time preparing myself. Not only physically but mentally I spent time preparing. There have been ups and downs in everybody's career but I would much rather… when there are disappointments, I would much rather convert that negative energy into positive energy and use that somewhere else.

In training harder or spending more time in the nets. The set-backs have actually motivated me. My thinking is simple - I want to convert those disappointments into positive energy and use it and get even more determined. That is what I've done, nothing else.

Q. They say as athletes get older their body starts to break down, give them trouble but their mind gets sharper about their game, they find out new things. What have you learnt as you've become older?
A. You discover a lot of new things and I've been able to do that. If earlier obviously there were just a couple of ways to deal with a particular bowler, then today there would be four ways. You just know how to use what and when. It's about not accepting every little challenge thrown at you and going after that. Sometimes you hold back and when it's needed you go for it. You just calculate better and it comes with age and experience.

Q. How much was opening the batting in one-day cricket a factor in your success, at taking your game up another level?
A. Yes, I thought it was an important phase. I remember in 1994 when Sidhu was not fit for an ODI game in New Zealand, I walked up to Azhar and Ajit Wadekar and told them give me one chance. I told them, 'I know I can hit the fast bowlers and if I fail, I will not come and ask you again.' I could say that to Wadekar - 'if I fail I will not ask you again, give me just one chance.' They agreed and I scored 82 runs of 48 balls. From there on things started looking different for me. Obviously it helped in a big way.

Q. Why and how do you think that happened?
A. Because I was consistently facing the new ball and playing the first spells. And also had to play shots, there was that freedom too.

While doing that, I thought I developed a few shots batting up the order, like the punch off the backfoot and the short-arm pull. I used to play those but opening the batting there was more opportunity to do that so I did and I started using that in Test cricket more than what I would earlier.

The switch worked for me. To go out there and face the first spell and look to play shots… It was good for my game because I was always thinking positively. On very few occasions did I look to just play out the first spell, otherwise I was looking to hit the ball.

Q. You say that essentially you express yourself when you're batting, but without a bat in your hand you're not really aggressive, you're quite calm…
A. Well, I was very naughty. In school days I was always very naughty, always up to mischief. If I get to know a person I cannot be serious with them, I'm always up to something.

Then, I've always been competitive. It's extremely important for a sportsman to be highly competitive, one should not be able to take defeat just like that. I mean I don't believe in, you know, oh, it is just another game. When I'm out competing, I want to go all the way to the end. I would want to compete hard but compete hard in the right spirit.

Q. Do you ever think about your place in history? Where you will stand in the reckoning of the great batsmen who have played cricket for a hundred of years?
A. I don't honestly. I haven't thought about that at all, I've not...

Q. What criteria are paramount to you when you assess yourself or other players: that they entertained, won matches, were master of their craft or played the game in the right way?
A. Playing the game in the right spirit is extremely important and then somebody who obviously gave his best for the team and was able to adapt to the situation. Adaptability is very important too.

Q. A lot has changed in Indian cricket since you made your debut. What about Indian cricket has not changed in all these years which disappoints you?
A. Yes, sometimes we used to feel that, you know, a lot of things are not right, but over a period of time a lot of things have changed, so I have no complaints. Most of the things have changed now. Right now if I have to say then maybe the only thing which needs to be worked on or looked into is providing facilities to players in rural areas to spread the game as much as possible and provide equal opportunity to everyone playing it.

I know it's not going to be equal because someone living in Mumbai or Bangalore or Delhi or the heart of Chennai, will have better facilities than someone who stays in some remote place, but a certain basic standard has to be there.

Q. Twenty20 is the new format that has caught everyone's fancy. Do you worry that kids won't want to learn basic skills of the longer game like say, the forward defence because they're not going to use them in T20?
A. Well I'd say probably even Test cricket is changing. Now very rarely will you see three maiden overs in a row. I mean you know that five-six dot balls and in the next one the batsman will probably walk across and do something to ease the pressure. It's just progression; the game has changed and that's fine, I feel it's fine as long as Test cricket doesn't get neglected. The innovations are going to be there. Now in one-day cricket people play over the keeper's head and past short fine leg and play reverse sweep to fast bowlers. It makes the game exciting, it's fast.

Coming back to the guys not wanting to play longer cricket because they are all looking at T20 because there is more glamour, well for Test cricket you get a different crowd. For T20 there are so many who come there because it is exciting. They don't understand the game, but the atmosphere is such that they want to be part of it and it is fantastic for the game. You want as many people inside the stadium as possible because that makes the match more exciting.

Q. How would say your son Arjun take to this new environment? Is he going to want to learn the skills needed for Tests and long games when there's the glamour of T20 around?
A. Arjun actually likes both, he wants to wear whites and hit sixes. So it's a combination of both. I have to keep telling him that when you wear coloured clothing you can hit the ball up into the air and when you wear whites you have to keep the ball on the ground. (smiles) But I basically want him to enjoy the game more than anything else - if he enjoys the game then he is willing to go to any extents to achieving his target.

Q. Do you think coaches of the future will really want to teach older skills to kids who are going to come to the game in the next ten years?
A. I think it's extremely important for coaches to be teaching kids the right techniques, the right fundamentals. You can't be practicing just forward defence for seven days. Maybe you do that for a day, then it's one on playing reverse sweep and over fine leg's head… maybe one day in a week can be set aside for innovation.

There are different kind of skills - to leave a ball outside the off-stump and to know where your off stump is, that is an art. Similarly to beat short fine leg is also an art, but that is considered an art in a different format.

As long as we respect formats and just keep our thoughts and expecatations for that particular format, we should be okay. There is no mixing of formats because then there are always going to be bumpy rides. It good to be multi-dimensional and that can only open various doors for you.

We've got to be realistic, probably there are 25-year-old guys who know that it is difficult for them now to play Test cricket for India. Even one-day cricket might be difficult. So why not grab this opportunity for playing for an IPL team where you get to play cricket that is exciting it provides. It has the ideal recipe, it has recognition, following, pace, the game moves at a phenomenal place and you also earn money out of it and you live your passion.

Q. What do you think is needed to save one-day cricket these days?
A. I was thinking about it. I said why not think of introducing a different format if everyone is talking about it and probably this thought came to my mind because of the 2002 Champions Trophy final. We played for couple of days in the final against Sri Lanka. Both days Sri Lanka batted happily for 50 overs and when our turn came to bat we batted for five-seven overs and it rained. We ended up playing close to 110 overs and there was no result.

So why not also do something which solves the problem all across the world and give teams the chance to play their 25 overs in two lots? There are times in the afternoon when the wicket is the slower side and the ball doesn't come onto the bat so it's difficult to bat.
The spinners come into play but at night, the ball starts getting onto the bat and there is dew and you can hit through the line and the game changes.

Even if you score 280 you can still go and chase. So why not then give 25 overs to one team and then the other side can use the 25 overs the way they want to? If you want to exhaust all your ten wickets in the first 25 overs and score 230 runs, thinking that it might rain, you can do so.

So if you score 240 runs all down in 25 overs and the other side says fair enough I'm going to play out and play whatever 25 overs and score 150 runs, and again we start batting and it rains, you've won the game because we've scored more runs in the first 25 overs.

You get only ten wickets in 50 overs, use them whichever way you want and that makes it exciting. To know when to send which player is equally important and the weather also becomes important. You're sure that if you get 40 overs therein, you will definitely have a result.

Q. Would you like to see more technology in umpiring? What do you think of referrals now?
A. I think for the basic line decisions you have to have the laser or something like that. It is tough for the umpires to also watch the no-balls and watch what's happening in the front. They don't need to look at the line decisions, they just need to focus on what's happening. That should be left to the umpires.

The no-ball is like tennis… you can call it by the machine. They should use the Hot Spot for the bat-pad deicision so the main umpire has to only make the LBW calls. We are still using technology for close catches. The umpire has to only concentrate on LBW decisions because for the caught behind and all, the Hot Spot will come. Close in catches… again the Hot Spot will come. For the bowled you don't need a machine, so only the LBW decisions is what the umpire has to concentrate on. Maybe we could have umpires doing a session each and so have three umpires for a game, so umpires do get time off also.

Q. And the referrals?
A. I'm not particulary happy with the referrals because I'm not convinced of the angles and all. I'm not convinced. I wasn't happy when we first went through it, but I'm quite happy with the Hot Spot because that establishes the contact.

Q. How should a lot of young cricketers handle what they think of Indian cricket today - that its fans are too fickle and too extreme, that its media has too many channels and too much scrutiny?
A. Along with cricket, the things that happen around with cricket have also changed. You just have to accept that. It will continue to change and you have to accept and take it in your sporting stride - that is how it is going to be in India. As long as nobody sort of interferes in your personal life, that is fine. I feel that a players' personal life should not be intruded upon, by anyone else. A player time which with his family should always be respected.

Q. At the moment, what is your dream for Indian cricket?
A. Obviously I would like Indian cricket to be right at the top. Indian cricket should be regarded as the best cricket played in the world. The standard of playing India also is going to take time. It won't be right away but I think that with the introduction of IPL there are so many foreigners playing here that domestic players getting the chance of playing with and against them. That it is going to eventually improve the standard of playing in India.

There are one-day players and T20 players who are also playing IPL. The whole of Indian cricket, back-up bowlers and batters are also playing IPL along with and against the foreign players, so it will help Indian cricket in time to come. It has to help Indian cricket.