MUMBAI, Feb 12: Master batsman Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday said he won’t be a part of the Indian team for Twenty20 internationals against New Zealand on their forthcoming tour.

Ruling himself out from the two Twenty20 ties commencing later this month, Tendulkar said that the reason was he did not want to disturb the settled team, which won the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007. “I would continue not to play Twenty20 (international). The team is settled and I don’t want to disturb it .. That’s why I won’t be a part of the T20 team (in New Zealand),” Tendulkar said after launching a new product for an insurance company.

The Indian team is scheduled to start the tour in NZ with two Twenty20 Internationals. “When I had decided not to play Twenty20 after Indian tour in 2007, my body was a bit tired and it needed rest. It was not appropriate to go [to South Africa] and not give my best. After that the team had settled down and did well,” the ace batsman said.

However, Tendulkar said he will continue to be part of the Mumbai Indians team in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as he was associated with it from the beginning. “I have been with Mumbai Indians from the beginning and there is continuity,” he said.

Tendulkar added that he was not convinced with the ICC Umpires Referral system which he experienced first hand on India’s tour of Sri Lanka last year. “When I was there in Sri Lanka last time, I did not particularly like the Umpires Referral system. There is still an element of uncertainty in the system,” the champion batsman said.

“I still prefer the hotspot system to identify the contact between the ball and bat. The lbw decisions are not convincing enough as the Hawk Eye gives a 22-yard view which the new referral system does not agree with ... as to whether the ball would have hit the stumps or not,” Tendulkar said.

Tendulkar refused to comment on the umpiring decisions which went against him in the recent tour to Sri Lanka where India played five ODIs against the island nation. “The ICC doesn’t allow us to comment about umpiring decisions. Players find it sometimes a bit disappointing [about these decisions]. I don’t want to say anything because the entire world has seen it,” he said.

Tendulkar was given out leg before in three matches, all debatable decisions that he played on the Lanka tour before he was rested for the last two ODIs.

On the upcoming tour to New Zealand for which the Indian team is to be picked on Friday and will fly in the early hours of Feb 19, Tendulkar said there were a few challenges facing the squad. “It is going to be a challenge playing New Zealand in New Zealand, where the conditions are tough. They are completely different [from others],” he said. “In Wellington, if the ball comes at 130 km per hour to the batsman from one end, it will be 5km more from the other

end with the wind behind the bowler,” he said.

“It will affect batting. Against the head wind, the batsmen sometimes cannot keep their eyes open,” he explained.

Tendulkar felt that the expected return of Harbhajan Singh, who missed the short tour of Sri Lanka due to hamstring injury, would be a big boost. “Harbhajan will have a big role to play. His contribution has always been important and will remain so,” he said about the off-spinner’s importance to the team’s

chances.—Agencies