Inspired by Tendulkar, Ponting wants to keep going

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Former captain Ricky Ponting says he'll quit Test cricket before he's dropped from the Australian team, but is not considering retirement at the moment.

The 36-year-old veteran of 156 Tests told reporters on Friday, "I totally understand why I'm being asked the questions I'm being asked but, by the same token, I believe I'm good enough, one, to be in the team and that I'm good enough to win games for Australia.

He said he if he keeps doing the work he doing and not getting the results, "then maybe it's time but, at the moment, I don't feel that time is here just yet."

Ponting made 62 in the second innings of Australia's second Test against South Africa this week to contribute to its series-levelling win and end a long from drought which had led to calls for his retirement.

He said he took heart from the examples of India's Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid who's longevity showed he could still expect to perform at Test level.

"I feel there's enough there to want to keep working hard," Ponting said. "Having spoken to a lot of the other guys that have retired in the last few years -- I was captain when Langer, Gilchrist, Warne and all those guys stood down -- so I know the things that were going through their minds.

"What they said about it was they just didn't have the drive or desire to work as hard as they needed to work to get their games back on track again. With me, there's no doubting that at all."

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Sachin, Aamir, Jackie being roped in by Railways

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Sachin Tendulkar and Bollywood stars like Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff are being roped in by Railways to create awareness among road users about following safety rules at railway crossings.

The move comes amid heightened concern about frequent accidents at unmanned crossings and forceful opening of gates at manned ones, claiming several lives in recent past.

"We have decided to rope in Sachin Tendulkar, Aamir Khan and Jackie Shroff as brand ambassadors to sensitise road users about safety rules at level crossings," said Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi, who has also written letters to state chief ministers for their support in sensitising the masses.

Addressing a press conference here today, Trivedi said the script for the launching the awareness campaign is being written by filmmaker Pritish Nandy.

As per figures available, there are 32,694 level crossings across the country, of which 14,853 are unmanned level crossing.

Officials said that apart from unmanned crossings, what worries them is that such "mindless" acts of forecefully opening manned level crossings poses a grave threat to rail passengers too.

Last week, an engine and two coaches of a Delhi-bound passenger train derailed when it collided with a truck at Bharmankuti railway crossing in Bhagpat when the gate of the railway crossing was forced open by some people.

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To have got Sachin Tendulkar out is a great achievement: Edwards

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He has grown up admiring the genius of Sachin Tendulkar but now that Fidel Edwards is bowling to him, the West Indian pacer says he would do all he can to ensure that the Indian batting icon does not get his 100th international ton against his side in the ongoing Test series.

The speedster, who trapped Tendulkar leg before for 7 in the first innings of the opening Test in Delhi, said tongue-in-cheek, "I would want him to score nought for the rest of the series."

Edwards took his 150th scalp in the form of Tendulkar in the Delhi Test and said it was a big achievement for him to bowl at the veteran Indian cricketer.

"Sachin Tendulkar is a great player, you can't deny that. As a youngster having watched him on television and coming to bowl against him now is a great achievement for me, and to have got him out as well. We have to stop him from scoring runs against us," he said.

Fresh from a successful Bangladesh tour where the 29-year-old bagged eight wickets in their 1-0 win in the two-Test series, Edwards said, "I am very attacking as a bowler and it's important for us to get him out, especially on these wickets."

Trailing 0-1 in the three-Test series against India, Edwards said it would be a tough proposition to bounce back.

"It's going to be very tough for us as a team, playing against the No. 2 team in the world and seeing that they are one-up."

But Edwards said the Caribbeans have a few positives from the first Test in which they pushed India on the backfoot after taking a 95-run first innings lead.

"But as you saw, we pushed them in the first Test, we did well as a unit and fought well. We have come here to play good cricket and hopefully we can push them again and you never know what's going to happen," Edwards said.

The pacer said it's really difficult on Indian slow wickets so the plan is to get the odd bouncers.

"You have to be smart on your feet. It's going to be hard on wickets where the ball will keep low. Hopefully you can get one to fly and that puts doubts in the batsman's mind," Edwards, who will play his 50th Test Monday, said.

"The wickets have kept pretty low. It's been pretty hard, playing against Dravid, Sachin, Laxman to an extent. These guys are great, these guys have been scoring runs all over.

"They are playing on home ground. So it's going to be very tough. But once the ball starts to reverse, we can put them under pressure. So if we can get the ball to be reversing as soon as possible then we can get them out."

On the Eden Gardens strip that drew some harsh criticism in recent past, Edwards said: "It has some grass on it. We have wait and see how it turns out on the first day, come Monday."

He further said their fast-bowling unit was doing a good job.

"We've been doing very well as a bowling unit. We've been sticking to our plans, doing what the team requires at the moment and just bowling together as a batch."

Asked about bowling against the aggressive Indian opening duo of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag, he said, "The plan really is to get them as quickly as possible. Keep them from scoring and get them as quick as possible will be good for us." 

Sachin's wicket is a big achievement : Edwards 

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Sachin Tendulkar creates one more world record

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Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, has added another feather in his cap. Just when everybody thought he has conquered all the records that are there in the annals of cricket, he just established a new one.

Sachin Tendulkar, when on 69 during the course of his second innings knock of 76 against the West Indies on Wednesday, created a record for aggregating most runs in the fourth innings in Tests, going past Rahul Dravid's tally of 1507 runs.

Tendulkar has 1515 runs to his name at just around 40 per match. Among the players who have scored atleast 1000 runs in the fourth innings in Tests, Geoff Boycott has the highest average of 58.76 followed by Sunil Gavaskar with 58.25

Others to have an average in excess of 50 include Ricky Ponting, Graeme Smith, Gordon Greenidge and Mahela Jayawardene.

Gavaskar, Ponting, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Younis Khan with four centuries each, have the record of registering the most hundreds in fourth Innings in a Test match.

In successful run chases in fourth innings, the list is headed by Graeme Smith who has 929 runs at 77.41 with three hundreds. Ponting also has three hundreds and averages almost 93. Tendulkar on the other hand aggregates 653 runs in eighteen innings at 72.55, which is also the highest by an Indian.

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Don't put pressure on Sachin: Dhoni to media

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Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Wednesday asked the media not to put any pressure on Sachin Tendulkar for his 100th international century which was "around the corner". Peoples' expectations from him are as high as Mount Everest, Dhoni said adding that the media was also putting pressure on him.

"We are not under pressure as a team. The media are putting pressure on him. Let him score his hundred and he will do at some point of time. He is pretty good at doing that and he will do it. Let him score the hundred without pressure," Dhoni said at the post-match press conference.

"If you are talking about the gentleman, expectations from him by the people has been high as (Mount) Everest. Since his second year in international cricket he has been the star. When he goes to a cricket field and score 50, people say he had not scored runs and it has been like this each and every day", Dhoni said.

"And 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.

Tendulkar looked like finally getting the feat on the fourth day of the first Test against the West Indies at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium but fell short by 24 runs and Dhoni said the team was not perturbed by the veteran batsman not being able to do it.

West Indies captain Darren Sammy said he would be happy for Tendulkar to score his 100th international ton, 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.

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