Sachin managed himself well: Dravid

MUMBAI: Staying away from controversies has been one of the hallmarks of Sachin Tendulkar's 24-year-long glittering career and former skipper and long-time teammate Rahul Dravid on Monday called it "incredible" the way the retiring legend managed himself "despite so much happening around him".

"It's incredible the way Sachin has managed a lot that happened around him. With so much going on around him, with so much happening around him, he never said in his career that 'I want to do other things, I should move on or it's too hard'. His love of the game stood out above all, he's been able to maintain that balance," said Dravid.

Speaking about their ability to stay clear of controversies, Dravid said they changed a lot of things in Indian cricket without making a hue and cry.

"Depends how you read it, a lot of people have said that staying of controversy is easy, if you don't take a stand and a lot of things. We have taken a stand where we felt it needed to be. When we felt that it could make a difference. A lot of times, without needing to shout or scream, we changed a few things in the Indian cricket with the help of others...in lot of ways, we got the job done," Dravid said.

Asked about his abrupt declaration in the Multan Test of 2004 series which left Tendulkar stranded only six runs short of a double century, Dravid said, "We had sorted it out after having a conversation with each other. It's something personal between us and we would like to keep it that way. We continued respecting each other after that and it's still that way."

Dravid, who spent more time with Tendulkar on the cricket field and shared numerous partnerships with him in the middle, said the batting legend will miss the camaraderie he shared with his colleagues and the dressing room environment.

"He will miss the bonding that you get in a team, the camaraderie. He will miss that focus, that goal, striving for something, excelling in it and try to become better at it. When I tried to do something out of cricket after my retirement, I found out that I am not good at them."

Dravid said Tendulkar always looked at getting the best out of his talent.

"Cricket always remained his primary focus, he never shifted from his primary focus. It was always going to be about time to be the best cricketer I can be," he said.

Dravid said he never saw Tendulkar getting publicly angry.

"I have never seen him getting publicly angry, never seen him getting upset in a public situation. In the dressing room, he might be upset of some wrong decison but never publicly," he said.

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Shweta Pandey

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