The Indian team held a private party at the team hotel on Sunday to celebrate Sachin Tendulkar's 20 years in international cricket. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni now wants the 36-year-old go out and cap the celebrations with his 43rd Test ton on Monday.
“Hopefully, he scores a century,” said Dhoni when asked about his thoughts on Tendulkar's achievement. “It can't get better than this… Sachin completing 20 years and getting a big score in this game.
“The passion and the way he has played and conducted himself, he has been a real role model for the past 20 years. It's really amazing. I am honoured to share the dressing room with him. Not even in my dreams did I think that I would be playing with him, so it is an honour for me,” added Dhoni.
Speaking about the pressure of defending the unbeaten record against the Sri Lankans, the wicket-keeper batsman said that the players were used to playing under pressure irrespective of the opposition and history. “Indian team and pressure go hand in glove. I have not played a series where it was said that we were not under pressure. That's nothing new,” he said. “We play the best side in the world, we are under pressure. We play the lowest ranked side in the ratings, then also we are under pressure. We are always under pressure, whatever opposition we are playing, so we are not bothered too much about that. We will try so that they are not able to create history to the best of our potential.” Dhoni as well as his counterpart, Kumar Sangakkara, seemed pleased with the wicket prepared for the match and felt that it would be a good track to bat on.
“You make a spot decision and then decide how it (wicket) will play. But most often than not when you really start playing you know how it behaves. So we have to really wait until the match start. But right now it look like a good Test wicket and should be good to bat on initially,” said Sangakkara.
{{/usCountry}}“You make a spot decision and then decide how it (wicket) will play. But most often than not when you really start playing you know how it behaves. So we have to really wait until the match start. But right now it look like a good Test wicket and should be good to bat on initially,” said Sangakkara.
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