Little Master says Aussie Johnson could prove an Ashes menace for England if he can reproduce India one-day form



Sachin Tendulkar has backed Mitchell Johnson to make an impact on the Ashes after watching the Australian left-arm fast bowler’s performances in the recent one-day series in India.

Speaking at a packed press conference in Mumbai, where he insisted that his retirement after 200 Tests had been ‘the right time to stop’, Tendulkar said: ‘England will want to prove a point that they can go down under and do as well as the last time.

‘Australia will want to bounce back and prove England are wrong. It’s going to be interesting, and the way Mitchell Johnson bowled in the one-dayers against India should make it very exciting.’

Time to rest: Sachin Tendulkar addressed media following his 200th and final Test in Mumbai, India

Danger man: The Little Master singled out Mitchell Johnson as a threat that will make the Ashes 'exciting' Farewell: Tedulkar was dismissed for 74 in his farewell Test in Mumbai, in which West Indies lost in three days

Amid chaotic scenes at Mumbai’s Trident hotel on the day after he had ended his 24-year Test career with a three-day win over West Indies and an emotional address to a capacity Wankhede Stadium, Tendulkar spoke of the honour he felt at becoming the first sportsman to win the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award.



He admitted he had asked the BCCI to stage his final Test in his home town so that his mother Rajni could watch her son play for the first time.

And the 40-year-old talked of how, after living and breathing cricket for his entire adult life, he would now have to get used to existing without it.

Taunting: Mitchell Johnson 'bowls to the left' and 'bowls to the right' the Barmy Amy will sing Down Under Rested: Johnson's form in recent one-dayers in India saw him sent home early to prepare or England

‘It’s not yet sunk in,’ he said. ‘I feel like I should still go out there and play. Cricket is my oxygen. But it’s been a dream journey and I have no regrets. I played for 24 years, but it’s only been 24 hours since I retired. I think I can take at least 24 days now to relax.’

Asked to explain why, for the first time in his career, he had touched the pitch both during and after the Test, Tendulkar said: ‘The 22 yards is like a temple for me. I just wanted to say a big thank you to cricket for everything I have got in my life. I got really emotional when the players gave me a send-off.’

Tendulkar said his two favourite memories of playing against England were the century he scored at Old Trafford in 1990, when he first made his mark on the world stage at the age of 17, and the match-winning hundred at Chennai in 2008-09, which he had dedicated to the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack on his city.

Magic moment: He lists his century against England at Old Trafford in 1990, at age 17, as a career highlight