Gavaskar slams Tendulkar's overseas showing

As India take on England in the first Test at Lord's, batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has raised the question whether Sachin Tendulkar is an "underachiever abroad".

"Ever since Tendulkar has made his debut for India, the cricketing world has delighted in his exploits but India has not won a Test series outside the subcontinent all these years, nor any one-day international of note till the recent NatWest series where his contribution in the final was minimal," Gavaskar wrote in The Telegraph.

"Tendulkar's highest score of 69 in India's last ten one-day finals, does not do his awesome talent justice at all," Gavaskar said.

However, even as Gavaskar ticked off the maestro for not achieving more with his bat for his country overseas, the English media dwelt on how Tendulkar is capable of turning the record books upside down if he continues to play till he is 40.

"Don Bradman played 52 Test matches for Australia and no one-day internationals in a career that lasted 16 years. Tendulkar plays for India, on an average, every ten days.

"If Tendulkar goes on until he is 40, as Bradman did, he may well finish with something in excess of 40,000 runs and 120 hundreds in Tests and one-day internationals, a record that can prove as unassailable as Bradman's own," said noted writer John Woodcock.

Mail Cricket Editor