Friday, August 07, 2009

Sachin targets Worldcup 2011 victory; 15000 test runs


He has played 129 Tests, 425 ODIs and scored close to 30,000 international runs over the last two decades, but Sachin Tendulkar insists that there is unfinished business before he winds up his international career. Sachin Tendulkar wants to take his Test scoring record past 15,000 runs and help India to win the 2011 World Cup before he considers retiring from cricket.While many of his contemporaries have retired, Sachin Tendulkar has no intention of applying the brakes on his record-breaking career.

The 36-year-old Tendulkar, also disclosed that he has been inspired by legendary Sunil Gavaskar to set the goal.Tendulkar said former opener Sunil Gavaskar, an all-time great for India, had urged him to carry on playing and stretch his lead in the scoring charts over the retired Brian Lara and current Australia captain Ricky Ponting.Tendulkar is the leading scorer in Test cricket, with 12,773 at an average of 54.58. Australian captain Ricky Ponting, 34, is closest to him with 11,193 Test runs so far.

Even as quite a few players have sounded the impending death-knell of Test cricket in the wake of the huge popularity of Twenty20, one of the game's icons, Sachin Tendulkar, has said he does not fear for the health of the game's most traditional form.The master batsman likened Test cricket as the main course in a meal and Twenty20 as its dessert and that one cannot survive on just the latter part of a meal.