Sydney, Dec 4(ANI): Former cricketer and a cricket journalist Dereck Pringle has said veteran Sachin Tendulkar needs to score runs in the ongoing series against England to save his dignity and legendary status.

Tendulkar has been under pressure for failing to score big in recent Test matches, and the little master hasn't scored a century in the last 28 innings.

"Cricket is a numbers game and, after 23 years as India's most revered sportsman, the Little Master's scores have dwindled as murmurs of his vulnerability have grown," Pringle wrote in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald.

"Granted they are only murmurs. Most people here are in denial, along with Tendulkar, but then an all-time great of the game rarely admits defeat - for that is what led to their greatness in the first place," he added.

"It is impossible to see anyone beating his combined records. It would not only require someone to play for at least 20 years, but they would need to be at the pinnacle of the game as well. It is essentially long public service," he further wrote.

Pringle added: "India captain M.S. Dhoni's insistence that the matches be played on "rank turners" has not helped Tendulkar's cause this series, and he struggled like a novice against Monty Panesar in Mumbai, though he did get two pearlers."

"Calcutta is set to be 10 degrees cooler than Mumbai and it is unlikely that the pitch, also used 20 days ago for a four-day match, will spin as much as that one," he wrote.

"He needs a score though, and soon, if he is to justify his place and maintain his dignity," he further added. (ANI)