EXCLUSIVE: Sachin debunks T20 as young man's game

DLF Indian Premier League
EXCLUSIVE: Sachin debunks T20 as young man's game

PORT ELIZABETH: Experience, they tell us, separates the men from the boys. It gives a whole new perspective to life. And it is points at the best way forward. But when it comes to Twenty20 cricket, these words of wisdom do not always apply. Or, so they started saying, when the shortest format of cricket gained popularity around the world.


Very quickly T20 was passed off as a young man's game, without anyone offering any definite reason so. Fielding was an important factor as were running between the wickets and agility.


But one look at the top performers in DLF Indian Premier League in South Africa and you could start asking if T20 is really a young man's game. Why else would you have the over-30 players topping the batting charts. Even in the bowling department, a certain Anil Kumble started off as the Purple Cap winner. The wise heads have managed to show their younger rivals how to bat on the tracks in South Africa.


Obviously, one of them is master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who is showing that T20 is as much about big-hitting as it is about copybook cricket. Both Tendulkar and his partner Sanath Jayasuriya, who is pushing 40, handed out a stern lesson to one and all in Mumbai Indians' win against Kolkata Knight Riders.


At the end of it all, Tendulkar and Jayasuriya also put up the highest opening partnership of the tournament. Just earlier in the day the other senior pros, Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Herschelle Gibbs showed just why they are still feared.


Let's hear the maestro himself if T20 a really young man's game? "I don't know who says that it's a young man's game. Clearly, he doesn't know much about cricket. It's a cricketers' game so it really doesn't matter whether you are young or old. It is a cricketer's match," Tendulkar told iplt20.com .


Tendulkar certainly showed while batting just why he believes T20 is for all. The cheeky shot that he played off Chris Gayle certainly showed that age has nothing to do with this format. He scooped the ball from close to the short third man and got himself a boundary.


If T20 is about innovation, Tendulkar certainly ticked that box with that shot. "That was an innovative stroke. I wouldn't say it is the most innovative one ever that I have played. But it was something different," said Tendulkar.


Tendulkar shared a stand worth 127 with Jayasuriya and certainly cannot stop praising his old comrade in arms. "It's fantastic, even last year I enjoyed batting at the other end and it was fantastic. He has got excellent hand-eye co-ordination, very quick feet, very quick hands. Needless to say that he is one of the best strikers in the world," said Tendulkar.


Tendulkar lived by the sword and also perished by it as Mumbai Indians pushed the scoring along. He missed out on a hundred but did not seem too hassled about it. "I am not playing for 100s, I am playing for the team. And, if I score a hundred even better for the team. The idea is not to chase a 100. If it comes my way it's fine. As long as my contribution is there for the team, that is what matters. If it has helped us to get to a good total, I am a happy person.''


Tendulkar is climbing up the Orange Cap charts and is just 52 runs behind the leader Hayden at the moment. His innings on Monday took him close to Hayden's but the man played his individual contribution down. "It was not the most important innings, all the innings are important. I would put this as one of the important ones because we needed to win today.''