England Test captain Andrew Strauss has warned Sachin Tendulkar to expect a rough ride when the Indian maestro goes in search of his 100th international hundred. Tendulkar will be firmly in the spotlight in the first Test at Lord's next week as he aims to reach his landmark century in the 2,000 Test in the history of the sport and the 100th between England and India.
Although Strauss is a huge admirer of Tendulkar's talent, he is focused on leading England to a series victory over the world's top side and promised to pile the pressure on India's star man at a ground where he has never scored more than 37. "Clearly he deserves a lot of praise for what he has achieved in the game. But out there in the middle we will be even more determined to get him out cheaply, because of what he has achieved," Strauss said.
"I know our bowlers will look upon it as a fantastic challenge for them - and it is a challenge they are definitely up for." England's respect for Tendulkar will not prevent them from treating him with the same aggressive intent they would any other opposition batsman.
"I don't like the word sledging but what I would say is we will be trying as hard as possible to make all their batsmen feel as uncomfortable as possible in the middle - and he is no exception to that," Strauss said. Strauss does not expect Tendulkar to be side-tracked by his impending century of centuries, yet he lives in hope that he just might take his eye off the ball.
"His record at dealing with pressure situations has been pretty good in the past," Strauss said. "But if he is five percent off his game, we need to exploit that. "He is a hard man to get inside his head. He bats with a lot of calmness, but I'm sure in his mind he would love to get a hundred at Lord's.
"It would be a fantastic way for him to reach 100 hundreds. It would be a fairytale for him. "But I'm not a big fan of those sort of fairytales, to be honest. We prefer to create our own fairytales.
"I've had a few chats with him over the years and he is the ultimate ambassador for the game, very humble, very polite, and enjoys talking about the game. "He is genuinely still in love with the game, and that is what drives him on." Tendulkar proved fallible on India's last Test trip to England - when two members of Strauss' current team, James Anderson and Chris Tremlett, both had their moments.
"Jimmy got him out a couple of times lbw and Tremlett made life uncomfortable for a few of their batsman," Strauss said. "Obviously we will be looking at footage of that series - while we are aware a lot changes in four years."
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