English legends pay tribute to Sachin

Former England captains Michael Vaughan, Nasser Hussain, Mike Atherton and Graham Gooch have paid tribute to the outstanding career of Sachin Tendulkar.

The master batsman has featured on the cover of the world’s best-selling cricket magazine, 'The Cricketer'.
In a special feature devoted to international cricket’s heaviest run scorer, Michael Vaughan, who captained England against India in 2007, says that Tendulkar is a different player from that last tour four years ago.
“Sachin’s a different player now from 2007; the best players in the world change little things about themselves to keep themselves in the game. In the last two years, he’s become more aggressive, he’s gone back to his old way of trying to score when for a period he tried to survive.
“Chris Tremlett bowled well against him in 2007 and he’s a miles better bowler now. But Sachin doesn’t have any weaknesses although every batsman is vulnerable on and around the off stump early on. England might go aggressive at him, test him with a few short balls – I’ve seen people do that over the last two years and it hasn’t affected him,” said Vaughan.
Nasser Hussain agrees that Tendulkar has rediscovered his aggressive instincts in recent years: “Technically and mentally, Sachin has changed little over the years but he has changed his game plan. He began as a flamboyant, extravagant stroke-maker who had all the shots and simply loved the game.
“Once the records and the hundreds started to be racked up, he turned into a run-machine. The Indian public became driven by his stats and consumed by a Sachin infatuation. His priority was his wicket. Once Sehwag arrived, he was happy to let him tee off. In the last couple of years he has rediscovered his flamboyance and is playing shots again,” Nasser feels.
Mike Atherton says: “I dropped him in the gully at Trent Bridge, in 1996, and he went on to get a big hundred. He’s not a man you want to put down early on. He was calm at the crease, difficult to get out of his bubble. There weren’t any flaws. He was just a very solid, orthodox player.
"One of the most remarkable things is that he has hardly changed at all – exactly the same set-up, very few changes to his method. He’s trusted in his technique and power all this time. He’s stayed true to his game.”
And Graham Gooch writes: “No one had ever seen him in 1990. As a 17-year-old, it was evident that the lad had great skill, great balance, great timing, an eye for the ball. You could see he had all the attributes to make a top player. For one so young he had a poise and composure about his batting. You don’t often get that in young players; you get the talent and the stroke-making but poise, authority and composure normally come.”