PTI

New Delhi, Apr 3: Ian Chappell’s retirement advisory to Sachin Tendulkar has drawn sharp criticism from veteran spinner and teammate Anil Kumble who says the Australian has nothing to do with Indian cricket and his comments should be ignored as a “personal opinion”.

“Ian Chappell has got nothing to do with Indian cricket. Of course everybody is entitled to his opinion but Ian Chappell is not going to win matches for India, Sachin Tendulkar has been doing that for us and we should be supporting him,” Kumble said. “Chappell is a former cricketer and has the right to make statements about the game but he does not know Indian cricket,” he said in an interview to Headlines Today.

The veteran leg-spinner, who bid adieu to his ODI career last week after India’s disastrous World Cup campaign, felt the former Australian captain’s comments should have been ignored at best as a personal opinion.

“I think we tend give too much importance to players from outside. Like when we say that we don’t have a (Shane) Warne, (Muttiah) Muralitharan or (Wasim) Akram in the team, we forget that these guys are not the ones who will win us matches. We need to support our players for that,” he added.

Kumble also rubbished suggestions that Tendulkar’s age had made him more of a liability for the team in term of fitness.

“Age does not decide fitness. Being 30 or for that matter even 40 does not mean that one should stop playing. It is a decision that depends on the individual and Sachin still has a lot to offer to Indian cricket,” Kumble said.

When asked about Tendulkar’s flop show at the World Cup, Kumble said one bad performance should not be the criteria to judge the Mumbai batsman’s contribution to the team. “Obviously losing is disappointing but then it was a collective failure. Sachin or for that matter anyone else cannot be singled out for it,” he explained.