Bangalore:
Infosys founder Narayana Murthy wants to emulate the success of his "hero" Sachin Tendulkar as he prepares to start his second innings at India's second biggest outsourcer.
Mr Murthy was appointed as executive chairman of Infosys on Saturday, two years after he retired in August 2011, having turned 65. His return comes at a time when Infosys is struggling with weak earnings and losing market share to rivals like Tata Consultancy Services and HCL.
"Tendulkar is a great hero of mine. When he reached the age of 35, when most cricketers retire, he adapted himself so well and has been successful even today, when he is 40. If I can follow his example and do whatever I can do to perform like he has done, I will be so happy," Mr Murthy told NDTV.
This is a challenge for Infosys as a team. I am one of the players as the executive chairman. It's our desire to work together as a unified team to ensure we achieve our objective," he said.
Mr Murthy has long been the dominant figure at Infosys, which he calls his "middle child". He was its first CEO and chairman until 2002, when fellow founder Nandan Nilekani took up the CEO position. Murthy was chairman and "chief mentor" until 2011.
Infosys has struggled to implement its "Infosys 3.0" push for revenue through development of its own software platforms, amid sluggish demand from clients in core western markets.
Mr Murthy told NDTV that he is happy that most people are talking about Infosys dong aspirational stuff, but at the same time, he will strive to add value to whatever corrections are needed for Infosys to grow well and have good margins, etc.
Mr Murthy said he will like Infosys to be aggressive, but with values, courtesy, grace, decency and honesty.
Infosys shares surged as much as 9 per cent on Monday before witnessing some correction on account of profit taking. The stock traded 4.5 per cent higher at Rs. 2,515 on the BSE as of 1.40 p.m. Infosys remained the top gainer on the 50-share Nifty, which traded with nearly 1 per cent cut.