Melbourne, Dec 22: Australian spin wizard Shane Warne, who has been clobbered for runs on numerous occasions by Sachin Tendulkar, believes that the batting legend will score his hundredth hundred in Australia. "I feel Sachin will get his hundredth century [in Australia] but I wish he does so in Melbourne," Warne was quoted as saying at a function at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where a bronze statue of the charismatic Australian was unveiled.
Warne, who has claimed Tendulkar's wicket only thrice in Test matches, has great respect for the master whom he rates as one of the best batsmen of his time.
The Boxing Day Test against Australia will be Tendulkar's 185th overall. He has so far made 15,183 runs from 303 innings with 51 centuries at an average of 56.03 in Tests. His ODI record stands at 18,111 runs from 453 matches with 48 centuries at an average of 45.16.
Tendulkar came close to the hundredth ton in the last Test against the touring West Indies but fell short by just six runs at the Wankhede stadium. He last hit a hundred against South Africa at Nagpur in March during the World Cup where he made 111 runs. The icon’s last Test century also came against South Africa, at the Newlands, Cape Town in January; he scored 146 in that game.
Speaking about the current Indian team, Warne said, "I think their batters, especially Rahul Dravid, will make big runs. He's a quality person, a quality act, a quality player.
"India has a quality team. In Test cricket we've seen them against the West Indies. Their batsmen will do pretty well," said Warne, who ended his career with 708 wickets from 145 Tests at a staggering average of 25.42.
"Their bowlers will have to stay fit. If Zaheer Khan or Ishant Sharma get injured, then I think their bowling attack could be quite weak. The Australian batsmen could perform pretty well. I think it's going to come down to how India are going to take 20 wickets with their bowling," he added.
