Pakistan Opener Abid Ali Seeks Batting Advice From Sachin Tendulkar For World Cup

Pakistan opener Abid Ali received his maiden call-up for the World Cup 2019 and wishes to make a name for himself. Ali has been a prolific run scorer in Pakistan's domestic cricket and broke into the national one-day squad for the marquee tournament after smashing a century on his debut against Australia in Dubai last month. He has followed cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar from the beginning and seeks batting advice from him. The 31-year-old also believes Tendulkar won't turn him down if approached for an advice and will give him a positive reply.

"It's my wish and hope that I meet Sachin Tendulkar," Abid said.

"Definitely, I would like to hug him and I am sure that just like all great players meet youngsters I am sure that he will not turn me down.

"I am sure that if I want to get any information on cricket from Sachin, he will give a positive reply."

Abid said it will be a memorable day when he meets his idol.

"It will be the best day in my life when I meet him (Tendulkar) because he was one of the best batsmen.

"West Indian Viv Richards was also a great so I want to meet all the great players and learn from them," said Abid.

Abid is almost the same height as Tendulkar and bats in a similar style, but has a long way to match the Indian maestro's phenomenal record of most Test runs (15,921), most one-day runs (18,426), most Test hundreds (51) and most one-day centuries (49) to name a few.

He compared Tendulkar to the likes of Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf.

"Actually I have followed Sachin's technique from day one of my career and after watching him I tried to play like him. He was a great player, just like our own Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mohammad Yousuf

"I adopt their good things and leave any bad thing. If I meet him I will try to talk to him and get some advice, mentally and technically, so that it helps me improve my batting."

Abid said he will do his best to be known as a good batsman.

"Tendulkar's record is awesome," said Abid of the Indian master who retired in 2013.

"I will do my best as and when I get a chance to play for Pakistan and make a name for myself."

(With AFP inputs)

Topics mentioned in this article

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