Undue pressure forced Sachin out

By Shreyas Sharma | Mail Today – Sun 6 Jan, 2013 10:16 AM IST


Hanif Mohammad was born in Junagadh, Gujarat, played his ( and Pakistan’s) first Test against India in Delhi in 1952 and went on to establish himself as one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

He is also a big fan of India’s great batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, and believes the latter’s recent decision to retire from ODIs was taken under undue pressure.

“ There was something which prompted him to announce his retirement from the ODI cricket but we don’t know what the circumstances were. The timing of his decision was not correct,” the genial great said at the Ferozeshah Kotla on Saturday.

Sachin’s retirement has affected the team badly. Sachin announcing his retirement just a day before the commencement of the Indo- Pak series surprised many, including me. It was a wrong decision.” But the original ‘ Little Master’ once again paid rich tribute to the Mumbai maestro, calling him ‘ better than Bradman.’ He has done so much for cricket and India. For many, Bradman is the greatest to have ever graced the cricket field, but for me, Tendulkar is a step ahead of Sir Don,” the 78- year- old former batsman said.

Hanif also defended MS Dhoni, who is under fire for failing to arrest India’s slide across formats.

“ Dhoni as a captain has done a lot for Indian cricket. He has also improved as a batsman. There is nothing wrong in his captaincy.

It’s a different thing that the team is losing matches. Winning and losing is part of the game,” he said.

Talking about the current series, Hanif said he was proud of the way Pakistan had performed, and credited their bowlers.

“ Our team has a good combination. We have a good bowling attack and the team has also clicked as a batting unit, with Nasir Jamshed proving to be a class player. Our bowling attack has performed at a high level, and should get the credit for the series victory,” he said.

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