Tendulkar plays down age factor

MELBOURNE, December 18: The composition of the Indian team may lack the dash of youth but star batsman Sachin Tendulkar assured age would not be a factor in the Test series against Australia.

Tendulkar arrived here on Tuesday with, among others, captain Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly and all of them are on their last tour of the country.

The master batsman, however, refused to read too much into the age factor.

Asked whether it would be a disadvantage against the supremely athletic Aussies, Tendulkar's curt reply was, "No, not really."

Tendulkar and his team-mates arrived here on a difficult mission, considering that no team has been able to beat Australia in their den since the West Indies achieved the feat in 1992-93.

Asked if it looked a feasible target for India, Tendulkar said, "We have come here to play good cricket and with good results, so hopefully we will."

"We have come here in good shape and we are looking forward to this tour," he was quoted as saying by the 'Sydney Morning Herald'.

He looked equally optimistic about the pace attack's penetration. Asked if an attack, led by left-arm seamers Zaheer Khan and RP Singh were able to take 20 Australian wickets, Tendulkar said, "Yes, we do. We have done that in the past so I don't see any problem."

The Indian team later had a light run in the MCG.