Sachin Tendulkar is sitting in a London hotel wrestling with the issue of Twenty20 cricket’s place in his sport. It is a debate that occupies the minds of many, but few have reached conclusions as elegant as the Little Master’s.
“Twenty20 is like desserts,” he explains. “It tastes good but you can’t fill up your stomach with it. You have to have a main course and that’s Test cricket. I couldn’t survive without main course.”
Warming to his theme, he takes us back to the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2004 and the fourth Test of a series when, unusually, he was struggling against the Australians.
Annoyed at himself after a run of cheap dismissals going for big shots, he resolved to cut out the cover drive completely - akin to telling David Beckham that he cannot use his right boot - and to hang in there doggedly.
He amassed 241 not out but it was not the runs that made this one of the most rewarding innings of his career so much as the qualities he had found within himself - perseverance, stamina, concentration, discipline - in batting for ten hours and 13 minutes with barely a loose shot.
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“You learn so much when you have to figure things out for yourself,” he said. “It was about setting myself a challenge and having the discipline to see it through.
“It’s why, from a cricketer’s point of view, Test cricket will always be No1. In Test cricket the bowler is always trying to get you out and you have to be on top of your game for five days. You have to be at your best and sustain it.
“Twenty20, you might never have heard of a guy then he swings around for 20, 30 minutes and he’s done wonders for his side. It’s easier to be successful.”
These are not the thoughts of an arch traditionalist who does not see, or want to see, the qualities of Twenty20. Tendulkar, 36, may have resolved not to play Twenty20 for India in order to give his body some respite, but he is captain of Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. And he does not have to look beyond his own family to see how the short form is taking hold.
His nine-year-old son, Arjun, is gripped by the short game’s bish-bash-wallop. “My son already loved cricket but Twenty20 has taken it further,” he said. “It’s not really the music or clothing, it’s the number of sixes. He just wants to go out and smash it. That’s what excites him.”
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Tendulkar sees that Twenty20 can spread the game’s appeal and he talks about it pushing back the frontiers. “I would like to take it to new nations, perhaps America,” he says. “It won’t happen tomorrow but let’s try.
“For so many years we’ve had audiences who didn’t bother to watch the result never mind watch the game. Now this has captured the imagination all across the world, even in non cricket-playing nations. This format has regenerated interest.” But, and here is the important part, Tendulkar wants to make sure the Test format benefits significantly from this growth. He believes that cricket’s authorities have to be creative - and proactive - in introducing the Test game to the next generation.
“Someone said that the first sensation of cricket, walking inside the stadium, will stay with you for ever. It was definitely that way with me. I remember walking in the Wankhede Stadium when I was 10, the West Indies playing in Mumbai.
“It was fabulous. I couldn’t imagine how the ground would be, so packed with people, full of noise. I couldn’t imagine how fast the ball was flying. [Sunil] Gavaskar and Vivian Richards, my heroes there, too. It was a special sight. On TV you can’t get that feeling.
“Mostly children will see Twenty20 on television so it is a real challenge educating them, allowing them to understand the different forms.
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“All the Test grounds, maybe they should clear three or four hundred seats for schoolchildren so that they can come and watch. They are the ones who will fill the stands in the future so give them a taste of Test cricket and it will be in their minds for ever.”
This is all a marked contrast to the recent comments from Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, who proclaimed that he “wouldn’t be so sad if Test cricket died out”.
Tendulkar says that Gayle “can have his opinion, he’s a nice guy” - but only because he is far too polite (he is as obliging as any leading sports star, even agreeing to his cheek being swabbed last week to provide a DNA sample for a new book about his life, Tendulkar Opus) to disagree openly.
It is the one-day game that will be squeezed by Twenty20’s growth, but that does not stop Tendulkar saying that victory in the 50-over World Cup is the overriding ambition before he concludes a career in which he has amassed a record 12,773 Test runs at an average of 54.58.
He has competed in five World Cups, reaching one final in 2003 when India lost heavily to Australia. Most recently, in 2007, came the embarrassment of defeat by Bangladesh.
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Tendulkar was 10 when India won their only World Cup, in 1983 at Lord’s. “I watched the final at my friend’s place,” he says. “My friends who were much older were celebrating, jumping around. I joined in but I was clueless about what was happening.
“That is when I started taking cricket seriously. Until then it was fun messing about with a tennis ball. I saw from those celebrations that cricket can change the mood of the entire nation. That is why it is my dream.”
The fact that the 2011 final is scheduled for the Wankhede Stadium in Tendulkar’s home city may not be insignificant. It would be some climax to a career that has brought only admiration and acclaim.
The official Tendulkar Opus website is launching on Thursday. Register now at tendulkaropus.com for the chance to win exclusive prizes signed by Sachin.