New Delhi, November 29: The Indian cricket board (BCCI) said on Wednesday that it would stand by the under-pressure Sachin Tendulkar, whose poor form and possible retirement have become a topic of hot debate after India's humiliation by England in the Mumbai Test.
Some BCCI sources had initially indicated that the board would take a call on Tendulkar if he failed in both the upcoming Tests against England, in Kolkata and Nagpur.
However, a top BCCI official told TOI that the board is not reading too much into Tendulkar's recent string of failures.
When asked what the board's stand would be if Tendulkar fails in both the Tests, the official said he was convinced "Sachin will come good" in the Kolkata Test staring on December 5.
"Tendulkar is a champion cricketer and there is no question of not supporting him when he going through a rough patch," the official told TOI. "He has always delivered when his detractors have ruled him out," he added.
Tendulkar himself chose to stay away from the controversy, but his close friends told TOI that the batting great had rebuffed reports that he has told chief selector Sandip Patil that the selectors could drop him if they felt he was not making runs and letting the team down.
"It was but obvious to ask him about what TV and newspapers were saying. Sachin simply smiled and said, 'It's untrue. I have never done such a thing (speak to selectors), so why would I do it now. My job is to try and give my best on the cricket field and that's what I intend to do'. I would always believe what he says rather than what the media says," a former teammate of Tendulkar, who met him on Wednesday afternoon, told TOI.
When BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale, who is also the convenor of the selection committee, was asked to comment on media reports about Tendulkar's conversation with Patil, he simply said: "I am not aware of it."
Tendulkar's close friends insisted that the batsman is unfazed by all the criticism surrounding him despite going this bad patch. However, some BCCI officials conceded that the champion is under pressure.
"Tendulkar is under tremendous pressure and he knows that he has to score to survive at this level because there are others waiting in the wings," said an official.
The good news for Tendulkar is that Team India is with him, all the way. His teammates' logic is simple: The Mumbai defeat at the hands of the England was not because of Tendulkar alone.
"The entire batting unit failed to deliver. Singling out Tendulkar is not right. It is unfair," a player who did not wish to be named said. The player added that the senior players have taken full responsibility for not scoring 400-plus runs in home conditions in the team meeting.
Another player said that Mumbai was a "terrible loss" but there was a lot of cricket still to be played in the series. "There is no crisis as such and the team is now focusing on putting enough runs on the board in Kolkata. We won't let one defeat pull us down."
Meanwhile, BCCI defended the selectors' decision of not changing the team after the Mumbai thrashing. "Chop and change is not the way out after losing a Test match. This team is going through a transition. Two top cricketers like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have retired from Tests this year but this team will surely turn it around. We can't have knee-jerk reactions to everything," a board official said.
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