Sachin Tendulkar Believes World Cup 2019 Pitches Will Be Batting Friendly

Sachin Tendulkar thinks the pitches during the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, which starts on May 30 in England and Wales, will be "beautiful to bat on". The former India legend, speaking at an event on Thursday, said that the ball will not swing much due to hot conditions that will prevail during the cricket's biggest tournament. The quadrennial tournament will see all 10 participating teams face each other once before the knock-out stages. Tendulkar, a veteran of five World Cups, believes the pitches to behave exactly the way they did during 2017 Champions Trophy, also played in England.

"I am told it's going to be a hot summer. Even in the Champions Trophy the wickets were superb when the sun was out. In the heat the wickets get really flat. I am sure they will give beautiful tracks to bat on," Tendulkar said on the sidelines of the inauguration of the MIG Club pavilion named after him.

"I don't think there will be much difference in the conditions unless there is a heavy cloud cover. If there is a cloud cover, the ball might go around a bit. Even if that's the case I don't see that happening for a longer duration just the first over if at all," he added.

Several Indian players, including captain Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul, are performing well in the ongoing Indian Premier League. Asked if that will help them in the World Cup, Tendulkar said: "A good performance in any format is good news because it gives the player confidence. If you are confident in any format, that's important.

"The players have time to make some adjustments according to the conditions. All of them have played enough cricket to know what to do to improve," he added.

(With PTI inputs)

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