India's cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar believes there will be flat tracks on offer at the World Cup in England; IPL performances will provide always-welcome confidence to Virat Kohli's men
Sachin Tendulkar receives a guard of honour during the naming ceremony of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar, who has six World Cups including a victorious one in 2011 on his cricketing CV, reckons batsmen-friendly pitches will be dished out at the forthcoming edition in UK. "I am told it's going to be hot summer. Even at the Champions Trophy [in 2017], the wickets were superb. When the sun is out and it is hot, the wickets get really flat. I'm sure there will be beautiful tracks to bat on," the cricket icon said on the sidelines of the Tendulkar Middlesex Global Academy camp at the MIG Cricket Club, Bandra (East) yesterday.
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Tendulkar played the 1999 World Cup in England where he scored 253 runs in seven matches. His highest score was an unbeaten 140 against Kenya at Bristol, scored on his return from his father Ramesh's funeral. Tendulkar Sr passed away during the World Cup and Tendulkar was forced to miss the match against Zimbabwe at Leicester where Mohammed Azharuddin's men were stunned by the Zimbabweans, who won by three runs. This batting great felt a good show in any format — like in the ongoing IPL T20 competition — will help boost the players' confidence for the May 30-July 14) World Cup.
Several World Cup-bound Indian team players including captain Virat Kohli (448 runs in 13 IPL games for RCB), Kings XI Punjab's KL Rahul (520 in 12), Delhi Capitals' Shikhar Dhawan (470 in 13), CSK's MS Dhoni (358 in 11), Mumbai Indians' Hardik Pandya (355 in 12), RCB's Yuzvendra Chahal (17 wickets in 13), Kings XI Punjab's Mohammed Shami (16 in 12) and MI's Jasprit Bumrah (13 in 12) are in superb form with the 10-nation tournament just a few weeks away.
When mid-day asked Tendulkar if IPL form will help Team India in the World Cup, he said: "A good performance in any format is good news because it gives the player confidence. Confidence in any format is what matters." He added: "When we go there, we [Indian players] will still have time to make some adjustments to the 50-over format. All of them have played enough cricket to know what to do to improve."
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