India-Eng series will be close

New Delhi: Senior batsman Sachin Tendulkar expects the upcoming India-England Test series to be a closely-contested one and said that past history will have no bearing on its outcome. "I think we need to leave that thing behind. We also need to consider that immediately after that series when England came to India, we beat them 5-0, which cannot be forgotten.

Many things have happened in the past. It is a fresh series and we need to see we produce the best performance," Tendulkar said. "It will a good and interesting series and a closely fought series," he said. The first of the four-Test series starts from November 15 and Tendulkar said the team will start practice from Friday.

"Most of the guys in the team have played first class match. We start our practice session from Friday before we go to Ahmedabad. So there are still 6-7 days to practice together as a team," he said in response to a question from a fan.

Tendulkar said it will be a fresh series and India need to see that they produce the best performance.

Asked if he was scared of any bowler, Tendulkar said, "I am not scared of any bowler but I respect some, after all it takes just one ball to get out."

Asked about the Order of Australia honour which was conferred on him recently, Tendulkar said, "I am really happy to get the honour by the Australian government. I had many moments in Australia. For the last 20 years from 1991, I have been playing in Australia.

"I played 6-7 tours, it used to be challenging series, when you perform there, people notice and appreciate your effort and performance. I got good exposures at the right time."

To a question by a fan on why he doesn't bowl anymore, Tendulkar said, "Since 2007-08 Australia tour, I have cut down on my bowling. Occasionally when needed I bowled and now we have good bowlers in team, so no need to bowl now."

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