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London, August 12: Sachin Tendulkar's
impressive performance in the ongoing Test series against
England has made Michael Atherton eat his words as the former
cricketer has expressed "great admiration" for the Indian,
admitting he had matured to be "a very fine player now".
"Watching Tendulkar bat throughout this series has been a
curious business; his decline at once obvious and yet, since
that decline has been accompanied by two telling innings, there
comes with it a greater admiration," Atherton wrote in a British
newspaper 'Daily Telegraph'.
"'Decline' is a relative term, of course. It
is simply that Tendulkar is now a very fine player rather than a
very great one," he said after the Indian scored 217 runs and
also picked some crucial wickets in the three-match series.
Atherton had joined the intense debate started by former
Australian captain Ian Chappell on whether Tendulkar should call
it a day in the aftermath of his poor showing in the World Cup
by writing a column in the paper under the headline ‘Sachin
Tendulkar, now just a comic hero’.
Atherton had also doubted that if sponsorship
deals were among the reasons that were keeping Tendulkar going
in cricket. "The truth is that Tendulkar has been marketed as a
brand for some time. There are many interested parties who are
keen to see Tendulkar wearing India's colours for a while yet...
"There are only two reasons for carry on playing: if you are
good enough, and if you still love the game. Only Tendulkar
knows whether that love is alive. Everyone else is painfully
aware that, despite his new super-hero status, his powers are
very much on the wane," Atherton had said. (Agencies)
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