India must not press the panic button, despite losing badly to New Zealand in their first warm-up game for the Cricket World Cup, the nation’s batting legend Sachin Tendulkar said.
New Zealand on Sunday thrashed India, one of the favorites for the World Cup, by six wickets at The Oval in London, with only Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya scoring more than 20 in India’s total of 179.
India’s batsmen were “blown away” on the green wicket, the Hindustan Times said, sounding the alarm for their World Cup hopes, but Tendulkar called for calm.
“I will not judge the team after each and every game,” Tendulkar was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India. “It’s a tournament and things like these will happen “The main tournament has not even started yet. I think we need to settle down, one or two games may go here and there.”
“India should make the most of the practice matches,” added Tendulkar, the highest scorer in Tests and one-day internationals. “They should understand what kind of surfaces they might get. I won’t panic at all as of now.”
New Zealand begin their World Cup against Sri Lanka in Cardiff on Saturday, while India face South Africa in Southampton on Wednesday next week.
Tendulkar also said teams were using the warm-up games to try different players, which was another reason not to read too much into the results.
“Teams are trying different combinations,” he said.
“Almost all teams are not sure about their front-line playing 11. Several bowlers and batsmen are rested,” he added.
“All the teams are preparing and trying different combinations in those conditions which would work for them,” said the former opening batsman, who played in six World Cups.
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