New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) Sachin Tendulkar, who turns 37 Saturday, feels that he "will have good reason to celebrate and good reason to prepare" as his team Mumbai Indians gears up for Sunday's Indian Premier League (IPL) final against Chennai Super Kings.
"I am glad that at least on my birthday we will have a good reason to celebrate and good reason to prepare for the final," said Tendulkar in an interview to Times Now.
Tendulkar hopes that the dark clouds hovering over Indian cricket following allegations of financial irregularities in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will pass soon.
Having led his Mumbai Indians to the final of the IPL, Tendulkar is doubtful for Sunday's final against Super Kings. Tendulkar, who has been the highest run scorer in the league with 570 runs from 14 matches, hopes that he would recover from the finger injury in time for the title-clash and believes that the tournament will also overcome the hurdles.
"Life is not always a smooth journey. There are some rough patches in between and you overcome all those hurdles and I am sure cricket will help overcome all those hurdles," he said.
Asked about his injury, Tendulkar said that he was not feeling great. "I had five stitches on the webbing and on my other hand there is swelling on the little finger. I have to just wait and see if I can hold a cricket bat, and the rest will follow. I have to give my best and hope for the best."
On his team's maiden final appearance, Tendulkar said: "The guys have worked really hard and all the guys have chipped in. It's teamwork. It's not just the players on the field but also the extras sitting on the bench who have sacrificed a lot; also the support staff, right from the owners to the physios, coach, everyone."
Tendulkar also said that he doesn't want to prove his captaincy skills.
"It's a big stage but it's not about proving a point to someone that I can manage captaincy. I have never played for that. The runs I have scored in all forms of the game, I was not trying to prove something to someone. I have just played because I enjoyed playing and loved playing and the passion for cricket is there. I have just done that and while doing that all this has happened," he said.
For the next edition, which will see two new teams in Kochi and Pune, Tendulkar has a piece of advice. He feels that the existing eight franchisees have worked hard to build a team and should be allowed to retain four India players and four foreign players,
"As for domestic players, it should be up to the franchisees. I feel it's a tough call because all teams have made huge efforts in building a good side. It's not an overnight result. For three years everyone has been working on what's the best combination. Even a player's identity is important. We have to look into these things and then have some changes. I hope there are not too many changes," he said.