Tendulkar gives thumbs down to UDRS, prefers Hot Spot

Tendulkar said instead of UDRS, he was more in favour of the usage of new 'Hot-Spot' technology, which is an infra-red imaging system used in cricket to determine whether the ball has struck the batsman, bat or pad.

"I am not fully convinced with the referral system (UDRS). When I was here last time I was not convinced with many decisions. I did not feel comfortable, it was an experiement which I felt," Tendulkar told reporters here after notching up his fifth double hundred in Tests. "I would rather go with the Hot Spot because that establishes the contact between the bat and the bowl. That it is far better system according to me. The Hot Spot is much better," he said.

The UDRS has recently got some supporters in Australian captain Ricky Ponting, Sri Lankan spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan and former ICC umpire Rudi Koertzen, who called for the use of the system in every Test match. Tendulkar guided India with a classy 203 and helped his side end day four of the second Test at 669 for nine in reply to Sri Lanka's first innings score of 642 for four declared at a placid Sinhalese Sports Club wicket.

"When I was in the middle, it was important to go for a partnership and I am happy the way we played well. I was tempted to play my shots but at that time the match was at a critical situation and we had to hang in there," said the champion batsman. With over 1300 runs scored in four days at the loss of just 13 wickets, he said the SSC wicket was not an ideal pitch for Test cricket.

"From a batsmen's point of view the pitch is definitely the best in the world. It is a batting paradise but it is not result oriented. It is a tough track to bowl on," Tendulkar said.
Although he is 37, Tendulkar is still going strong and the right-hander said it is his love for the game that keeps him fresh and rejuvenated all the time. "I am enjoying every bit of it. I don't count the number of runs that I scored. It is nice to score runs and I am enjoying as much being in the middle as it is being in the past. It is fantastic," he said.

"I don't think much has changed but with age obviously you change your thought process. It's not only in cricket, also in life. You make decisions differently. You just get to know more about cricket. The learning process never stops, everyday you learn," Tendulkar said.

Tendulkar said that he has no qualms of not scoring a triple hundred yet in his career because he never played cricket for record. "People look at records but I don't. Whenever it (triple hundred) has to come, it will come. It is never too late. I will keep trying, but that is not the end of the world for me. There are many more things in cricket and that is where the focus is. It's not on records," he said.

Tendulkar was full of praise for Suresh Raina, who made his maiden hundred today and became the 12th Indian cricketer to score a century on debut. "I was very happy for him (Raina). Many guys doubted whether Suresh was a good Test player or not. He has done well, I am very pleased. The way he batted was fantastic," he said.

"All I told him was, enjoy this moment. You have earned something special. This will always be the highlight of your career. You will have many more hundreds, you will achieve many more things in your life, but this will always be something special.

"When playing with debutants it is important to make them comfortable and understand their mind set. Raina having played 98 matches before his Test debut debut helped a lot. I played with him and knew exactly what to expect from him also," he added. Tendulkar was of the view that Sri Lanka possesses a decent bowling despite retired Muttiah Muralitharan, who quit Test cricket after the first match of the series against India at Galle with 800 Test wickets.

He also said that it would be unfair to compare any present day bowler with Muralitharan as it took the champion off-spinner years to achieve his 800 Test wicket mark.
"It's a decent attack. Obviously nobody is going to come overnight and get 800 wickets. It took Muralitharan 18 years to achieve the feat. He has worked hard, and similarly other guys playing for Sri Lanka will have to do that.

"It's tough to achieve what Murali has achieved. It would be wrong to comapare other Sri Lankan bowlers with Murali," Tendulkar said.