Tendulkar lauds Kumble

India's ace batsman Sachin Tendulkar condoled the deaths of those who died in the July 11 Mumbai bomb blasts and expressed hope that such incidents do not recur.

He paid rich compliments to the people of Mumbai who gathered courage and helped each other in the hour of crisis.

"So many lives have been lost and I pray to God that this does not happen again. I was moved by the plight of an eight-year-old boy whose identity could not be established. I have seen the blasts in 1993. I salute the people of Mumbai who helped each other in the critical hours. Let us fight the menace of terrorism together. India's biggest strength is to come together in the hour of crisis. Mumbikars were back to their work the next day," he said.

He refused to comment about the Australian team's threat to pull out of the Champions Trophy, that India will host in October, in view of the security environment in Mumbai following the blasts.

"This is for the BCCI [Board of Control for Cricket in India] to deal with. I have nothing to say on the matter," the little master, who was in Delhi to launch 50 new broadband games for GSM mobile services operator Airtel, said.

Tendulkar, who was forced to miss India's tour of the West Indies because of his shoulder injury, said it would be unfair for him to analyse the team's performance in the one-day internationals there.

"I tried my best [to be fit for the tour] but it did not work out. Sometimes the injuries need more time to heal and this shoulder injury is taking time. I did miss the tour.

"But it would be unfair to comment on the Indian team's performance, as I was not there. I do not know what went on in the dressing room. Everyone makes mistakes and I have also made mistakes. After all, you get out when you make a mistake. I would not like to make a loose comment without knowing the facts. But after losing the one-day series they [the team] came back well and won the Test series. The first and the second Tests could have also gone our way," he said.

He seemed satisfied his showing on his six-week tour of England.

"Even big players need practice matches before betting back into international matches. My shoulder is responding well, but it is taking its time."

He paid rich tributes to Anil Kumble, saying the spin king from Karnataka does not have to prove anything to anybody.

"He is the greatest bowler India has produced. Having taken more then 500 wickets, Anil does not have to prove his ability to anyone," Tendulkar said, in response to a question whether Kumble fits into the first eleven for next year's World Cup.

He refused to respond to Brain Lara's comment that the Indian team missed Tendulkar.

"It is Lara's comment and the question should be directed towards him," he said.

When a scribe asked him how would he react if he were put in the same situation as France football captain Zinedine Zidane, who head-butted Italian defender Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final, he replied: "So far this kind of situation has not come about. I would not like to say anything as to why Zidane did that. He was playing in Berlin and I am sitting in Delhi, which has a special place in my life because it was here that I scored my 35th hundred."

Tendulkar, who also is net savvy, said he likes to play computer games with his son, "but he is so good that be beats me".