Tendulkar can continue as long as he wants: Ganguly

Tapan Mohanta

Kolkata, Aug 14 (PTI) Age might be catching up with
Sachin Tendulkar but former India captain Sourav Ganguly feels
the Mumbai veteran is the best cricketer in the world right
now and can continue as long as he wants.

The iconic left-hander said his 36-year-old former
opening partner is a better batsman than him and can pick the
time to call it quits.

"To be honest, he is a bigger player than I am. He
deserves to go whenever he wants to. He is probably the best
in the world with (the retired) Brian Lara. He can play until
anytime he wants and I am sure his performance will remain
consistent," Ganguly told PTI in an interview Friday.

Ganguly said he enjoyed partnering Tendulkar at the top
and doesn't regret quitting earlier than him.

"We have enjoyed a lot together at the top of the order
and contributed thousands of runs. But I have taken a decision
to quit. So, there is nothing to regret. I am sure he would
also take the decision (to call it quits) at some stage," the
37-year-old player said.

Tendulkar recently stated that he is aiming to accumulate
15,000 Test runs and also play in the 2011 World Cup. Ganguly
said fitness permitting, the seasoned right-hander will
accomplish the twin aims.

"Why not? If he is fit and looks after his body, he will
keep getting runs. He just needs to look after his fitness and
he will remain to be an asset to the team," he said.

Ganguly said players like Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and
Rahul Dravid had been performing consistently over a period of
time and would be an asset for the team at any stage of their
careers.

"As long as he (Tendulkar) is fit, nobody can stop him
performing. Players like him, Dravid and Kumble just can't
stop performing at any stage of their career," he said.

"They have come here because they have performed
consistently over a period of 12, 13, 15 and 20 years. That's
why they are great players and would continue to perform," he
added.

India would miss the services of opener Virender Sehwag
and pace spearhead Zaheer Khan in the upcoming tri-series in
Sri Lanka but Ganguly said Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men would
still start favourites.

"India still is the team to beat among Sri Lanka and New
Zealand. Sachin (Tendulkar) is back and hopefully Rahul will
be back. We have the strength and combination to beat the
other two teams," he said.

On his stand on the controversial WADA anti-doping clause
that requires players to disclose there whereabouts even when
they are not playing, Ganguly refused to comment.

"My job, time of thought in this is over. So, I don't
want to comment on this.

"If I was a player, I would have thought about it. But I
am not a player any more, so I would like to keep away from
it. I don't want to give an opinion about something which I am
not sure about", he said.

On his Indian Premier League team Kolkata Knight Riders'
decision to sack coach John Buchanan, who criticised the
entire team management after being ousted, Ganguly said the
Australian was a thing of past for the side.

"For us at KKR, Buchanan is a story of the past. We have
not played well last year and we need to get everything right.
We need to play good cricket and that's important, rest does
not matter. It's a thing of the past," he said.

Asked what went wrong in the last season when Buchanan
was at the helm, a seemingly annoyed Ganguly said, "I don't
want to go back and think about what went wrong in the last
season. I just don't want to talk about it."

"It happens in sport, it does not work at times. But as I
said, it's past for us and we need to look forward," he added.

On the IPL season III, Ganguly said the team has set its
sights on signing some former Indian Cricket League.

"We will decide shortly. It's just been announced
yesterday that the ICL players can be a part of any franchise.
Like any other franchise, we will also try to get players. It
depends, who has already signed up and who has not," he said.

"We have the Bengal ICL players in mind as well. As I
said we are trying to make a better team and everybody will be
seen," he added. PTI TAP
DDC
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