Sachin Tendulkar: India Cricket Legend Wishes He Could Have Been Captain For Longer

Sachin Tendulkar had perhaps the best career of any cricket batsman, but when it came to serving as captain for India’s cricket team the legend fell short.

Tendulkar is now speaking out about his regrets regarding the captaincy periods, calling it a “big disappointment” and saying he wished he could have served as captain for longer.

“To me, cricket is team work and not about individuals. There are stages where captain come into play and captain will guide, take important decisions on the field but eventually the batsmen would have to go out and score runs and the bowlers have to land the ball in those areas,” Tendulkar said at the India Today Conclave on NDTV.

“I was dropped from captaincy after only 12-13 months in my first stint. That was a disappointment because you select the captain thinking that he is going to take the team forward and then if that stint is not long enough, then the success rate becomes zero. If you play four matches, you lose two, then you are 50 percent successful, so on and so forth.”

“My tenure was not long enough and it was a big disappointment for me to overcome,” Tendulkar revealed.

Sachin Tendulkar first took over as captain in 1996, but by the next year was dropped from the position after some overall poor play from the Indian team.

As Tendulkar recalls, the low periods from his tenure with the team, the Indian squad is reaching toward a new high. After winning the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, the team looks like in strong position for a run in this year’s tournament. Despite coming in on the heels of a long losing streak, India has turned up its play in the tournament and won all six matches, earning a spot in the quarterfinals.

Much of the success has been attributed to the team’s current captain, MS Dhoni.

Dhoni, however, credits the team’s strong play to its experience in big tournaments in the last few years.

“It’s quite easy to deal with, the experience that we’ve got,” he said. “Yes we don’t have that many players who’ve played 150 games or 170 games, but we have that experience in that we’ve played the Champions Trophy well and it’s almost the same side. Then also the World T20 last time. They know in the knockout stage they have to lift their game.”

That is something that Sachin Tendulkar actually knows quite well. He was leading the Indian team that won the World Cup in 2011 — with Dhoni serving as captain.

[Image via Getty]