Fresh targets: 15,000 Test runs,2011 World Cup win

“Sunil Gavaskar has told me that I have to get to 15,000 runs. He said he would be angry with me and would come and catch me if I didn’t. I admire him so much and to score that many would be a terrific achievement,but that is not the only aim,” he said,adding that “to win the World Cup in 2011” is another one of his unfulfilled ambitions.

Tendulkar is the leading scorer in Test cricket,with 12,773 at an average of 54.58. Australian captain Ricky Ponting,34,is closest to him with 11,193 Test runs so far. In one-dayers,Tendulkar has scored 16,684 runs from 425 matches.

He admitted that having played for as long as he had,retirement was a scary thought. “Cricket has been there for my whole adult life,it will be difficult. I have been around for a long time and I can imagine that when I finish,I will long to face just 10 more balls. But you have to move on.” He added,however,that it wasn’t time yet to hang up his bat. “I will know when it is the right time,I won’t have to be dragged away. I am the person who will make the decision and I will know whether I still belong.”

Tendulkar also has said that he has batted in pain through a lot of his recent innings. “I always play in pain,all the time. I played with a broken finger for the last three months,but you know when pain is manageable or not,and most of the time I can do it.

“I can still do what I did when I was 25 but the body is changing,so your thought process has to change too. I have had to change how I think,which is about taking less risk,” he said.