It will be difficult to replace Tendulkar: Dhoni

Admitting that the team will sincerely miss Sachin Tendulkar, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said here today that the batting maestro's absence will be hard to fill.

Dhoni said he has learnt a lot from Tendulkar.

“I learnt a lot from him whenever I got a chance to bat in the ODI (one-day international) format. I think his contribution is immense and it will be difficult to replace him,” Dhoni said on the eve of the first Twenty20 against Pakistan.

“We will also be very disappointed not to see Sachin score his 50th century and 100th half-century in the ODIs, as he had retired with a world record of 49 hundreds and 96 fifties,” Dhoni told reporters here at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Dhoni said Tendulkar taught the players to be humble in life.

“All these things helped me personally. It is good that Sachin is still playing in one of the formats (Tests) as there is plenty for youngsters to learn from him,” Dhoni said.

Dhoni said the team respects Tendulkar's decision to retire ahead of the high-voltage series

“It was his personal decision and we respect it,” Dhoni said.

NNN