Sachin Tendulkar did not want to bat at number 4, says Sourav Ganguly

Sachin Tendulkar(L), Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly(R)

Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly revealed that Sachin Tendulkar was not too happy when he was asked to bat at number four in One-day internationals back in 2002-03.

“You say, please, do it for a short while; of course you’ll be back up, let’s see how long it goes. Once he settled down to the idea and saw it work, it was fine. When things went a bit wobbly at the 2003 World Cup, he was back up straight away,” Ganguly said.

In an article featured in ESPNcricinfo’s new anthology ‘Sachin Tendulkar: The Man Cricket Loved Back‘, Ganguly added that Sachin Tendulkar’s record as Indian captain is better than what people make it out to be.

“He led on some very tough tours – South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia – and it must be said he didn’t lose eight in a row. This when he didn’t have a very good team around him. The older players were fading and the newcomers were too raw.”

“When it came to being Sachin’s captain, it was about giving him due respect: treating him like a team-mate but also as the special player he was. He was central to the side doing well. He had to feel relaxed and comfortable,” Ganguly added.

Other legendary cricketers like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman also paid tributes to Tendulkar in the book.

Rahul Dravid, fondly known as The Wall, said: “One sure indicator that [Tendulkar] was in good touch was when he played the flick to the leg side. Cricket is a game where you naturally have more fielders on the off side, and especially in limited-overs cricket, bowlers like to bowl tight lines.”

“Tendulkar would be on his toes, on top of the bounce, and would often beat midwicket to the fielder’s right. Sometimes he even beat square leg to his right with that flick, not to the full ball but the ones pitched short of a length. That made you marvel from the other end.”