Tendulkar, Ganguly bat for T20s

Bangalore (PTI): Sachin Tendulkar has said that the changes brought into cricket including T20 format has made the sport more exciting and helped getting more results in Tests. "Cricket is the only sport to have three formats and its only getting more exciting not only for players but also for spectators. There is creativity and more results are coming by (in longer version of the game). The batsmen are willing to take chances ...," he said in an interaction at KSCA's Platinum Jubilee Celebrations here. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said T20 has impacted the longer version of the game as players are playing aggressively and there have been many results too.

"It has brought innovation to the game. When it comes to Test cricket you need to adjust and no two players are similar in technique wise. Players have to stick to their basics, that are important," he said. Former Test captain Rahul Dravid said with many T20 games being played, cricketers need to adapt to the demands of this latest format.

"You have to learn to play a few shots. You just can't block it which I did in Test cricket," he said. "Good players learn to adapt and if we look Chris Gayle, Michael Hussey or an AB de Villiers in last IPL, these guys who sort of dominated are all really good test players. So, we need to have our basics right," he said. Talking about adapting to different technologies being used in the sport, Tendulkar said he was astonished to see the sight of a laptop in the dressing room for the first time in 2003.

"I wondered how this technology would help us learn cricket, but over the period of time figured out its importance. It helped us plan our innings," he said. Replying to a query, Tendulkar said the first thing he would do as a selector is to analyse whether the player has the potential to withstand the pressure inspite of the failures and replicate his talent at the international level.
"Selection is not about looking at the scorebook. A selector can pick up players who have scored heavily. But that does not work out. For the past many years that I have been part of the Indian cricket, I have seen players who were exceptionally good at domestic level, but somehow could not replicate it at the next level," he said.

Tendulkar further said basics are more important in Test cricket and to a certain extent in one-day cricket. However, he said it doesn't matter in T20 format because the players have to just go out and swing their bats. "This is the only format in which in three or four deliveries you can become a hero," he said. Tendulkar said the passion for cricket keeps him going and added he dreamt of playing for the country when he held the bat when he was five years old.