India vice-captain Rahul Dravid came out in support of Sachin Tendulkar, who is going through a lean patch, saying a player of his class cannot go long without runs.
"He is a class player and has played about 120 Tests. There are some tough phases in everybody's career. I think he will get back his form quickly," Dravid said.
Noting that Tendulkar had to sit out for two months due to tennis elbow, Dravid said the lean patch in the Mumbai cricketer's career is not as lengthy as it looks.
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"It's not really a long period. He was injured and didn't play for quite sometime. Therefore, it looks to be a lengthy phase to many," said Dravid at the post-match press conference after the third day's play of the second Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday.
Tendulkar has scored just 84 runs in his last five Tests (eight innings) at an appalling average of 10.5.
When pointed out that both Tendulkar and he were out in similar fashion, dragging the ball on to the stumps, Dravid said, "Probably we have to work on it. These things happen on tracks where the ball keeps low. But this is definitely an area we should try to improve upon."
Tendulkar was dismissed on 20 as he dragged one wide ball from Zander de Bruyn on to his stumps while Dravid, who played an otherwise solid innings of 80, lost his wicket when Andrew
Hall succeeded in inducing an inside edge from him.
