I don`t need to prove anyone wrong: Tendulkar

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar on Sunday sought to silence those asking him to retire from the One-day format, saying he loves cricket and has not played the game to "prove anyone wrong".

"I have not played this game to prove anyone wrong. I played because I love playing this game, nobody has forced me into it and it`s my choice," said Tendulkar. The master batsman, who will turn 39 next month, took on his critics who have been suggesting that he should retire from the one-day format of the game and focus on Test cricket. Kapil Dev, Imran Khan and some other former greats have in fact expressed views that he should have retired from ODIs when India won the 2011 World Cup. "I don`t regularly follow what people are saying about me. I feel I should have a clear mind when I am making those decisions in a fraction of a second (while batting) and I need not be thinking about what X, Y or Z had said something about me and I need to prove him wrong," Tendulkar said in an interaction with select media persons. "There are going to be opinions (about) whatever I do and whatever number of years I play, but they need not be always correct. Something which will actually contribute in making me a better player is what I need to take notice of and not somebody who is passing his judgement by watching television. "That person does not know what`s going in my mind or what`s happening with my body. I am the one who knows what`s happening with my mind and body or whether I am motivated enough or whether I am feeling passionate enough to be part of the team." Tendulkar said he was trying hard to stay away from all the criticism and focus on enjoying his game. "Even though I was trying to keep away from all these things and just be focused on the game, I kept telling myself that above all I need to enjoy the game. If I am not enjoying the challenges along the way, it does not work. That was one thing on my mind." Tendulkar said he knew his body was not the same as in his younger days but he was a more mature person now. "I know it`s a different body now to what it was 20 years ago...that is never going to be the same. Possibly what a 17-year-old mind could not do, a 37-year-old mind can do. Somewhere it balances out." He said he always looked at things in a positive manner and does not show his aggression openly. "It depends on how you see.. whether the glass is half full or half empty. The way I see, the glass is half full. That has helped me to always look at the positive side. I have not been much vocal - the desire and aggression need not be vocal - it can be within. "If you look in the bowler`s eye, you would know whether you are aggressive enough or not... sometimes by just your body language, just the way you leave the ball. And then you respond to the bowler with eye to eye contact...that conveys a lot of things. I have believed in that." He also pointed out how hard he still trains, giving an example of what happened a couple of years ago in New Zealand. "Also when you are doing well, putting a lot of hard work and when you see the results. It helps to push your training sessions and all on-field net sessions and off-field gym sessions and you can take all that to a new level. I have done that. "I remember two years ago when we went to New Zealand. First two games were T20 matches and I was not part of the squad. I requested the BCCI that I would go with the team and practice there because I felt I could be there and get acclimatised. "While I was not part of the squad and the whole team was practising in the net, I kept hitting the balls off a bowling machine. The number of hours that the whole team practised I batted alongside the bowling machine. I enjoyed and hit close to 900 or 1000 balls. That was just one session and I did two sessions like that and I enjoyed. It`s about enjoyment," he explained. PTI