New Delhi : India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni Wednesday requested the media not to put pressure on Sachin Tendulkar for scoring his 100th international century and said the milestone was round the corner.
Tendulkar fell 24 short of his 100th international century but his fine 76 gave India a five-wicket win over the West Indies in the first cricket Test at the Ferozeshah Kotla here.
“We are not under pressure as a team. The media is putting pressure on him. Let him score his hundred and he will do that at some point of time. He is pretty good at doing that (scoring centuries). Let him score the hundred without pressure,” Dhoni told reporters at the post-match press conference.
Dhoni said expectations from Tendulkar are as high as “Everest” and that the batting maestro was very much aware of it.
“If you are talking about the gentleman, expectations from him by the people have been as high as (Mount) Everest. Since his second year in international cricket he has been the star. When he scores 50, people say he had not scored runs and it has been like that each and every match,” Dhoni said.
“What we have seen is that any individual, when he reaches a milestone, he may take a little bit longer time than usual. But I think it’s around the corner. We have to wait and see,” he added.
West Indies captain Darren Sammy said he would be happy to see Tendulkar achieving the milestone during next month’s tour to Australia but not against his side.
“As I have said, we admire Tendulkar, he is a great cricketer. But I would want Tendulkar to score his hundred against Australia. I would want to watch it and enjoy and not when playing against him,” he said.
IANS
