I have no doubts in my mind that Sachin is bset when in form. But can he win Finals for India again? Barring only few innings he has not done that.And these few innings are really few for batsman of his calibre over period of 14 years.
Sachin my advice is play your original game and you will be back to your best.
Nice article and well said. Considering your position and your proximity to the Inidan team as a reporter, why don't you pass these comments through the right channels to Sachin himself? It would make more sense then.
Forgetting the Sachin fanatics, I think anyone who has watched Sachin over the years will agree that Sachin is on the downhill portion of his career. It is only natural after playing an excess of Test and ODI cricket for over 14 years. Some recent observations: a. Problems against left arm leggies: Giles, Price etc. b. Inability to score briskly in first 15 overs: we are always WAY behind Aus at the end of 15; destroying ZIM doesn't count and 98 vs Pak in WC 03 was an exception, not the rule c. Choking under pressure: Though never known for playing well under pressure, his continued failures when chasing tall scores in tests or ODI's, in tournament finals (avg of 16-odd vs career avg of 44) and 4th innings of tests (avg of 25-odd vs career avg of 57) would be enough to tag anyone else as 'choker'. d. Inability to play long innings: If Lara and Hayden can score fast and still play long innings, why can't he ? Sachin's first first-class 200 came 10 years after his debut in 1999. His first test 200 came in his 71st test. Both are the slowest of anyone called 'great'. (Rahul scored his 5th in his 73rd test.) So we should just accept that Sachin is in the sunset of his career.
RE:Sachin is indeed on the downhill slope
by Manoj Sharma on Feb 24, 2004 09:13 AM
Yes indeed! Sachin destroying Zim does not count. But Hayden making 380 against Zim does count for making him the best batsman. Sachin having lower avg in 4th Test innings is important but with Steve Waugh it is perfectly fine (pls. check out stats if disbelieving). Rahul scored 5th 200 in 73rd Test, but how many times did Rahul do a Sharjah sandstorm? How many times did he demolish Shoaib or even Olonga? How many nightmares did Warne have about him? Remember Sri Lanka 2001? Rahul could not win an ODI in the last over with 5-6 runs to get and 3-4 wickets in hand?
RE:Sachin is indeed on the downhill slope
by cric_fan2 on Feb 25, 2004 04:15 PM
Don't compare apples & oranges. The "destroying ZIM doesn't count" part was about the recent VB series, when we were always WAY behind Aus in the first 15 though we were killing ZIM. The part about Lara and Hayden playing fast and long innings of course referred to tests. How many of Sachin's fanatics think he will EVER cross 300 ? How does Steve Waugh (who has the worst 4th innings average of any current 'greats') being lousy make Sachin great ? Is 'demolishing' bowlers or giving them nightmares as important as winning matches ? Does Rahul's failure to win one match wipe away Sachin's countless failures in finals ? Stick to the topic: Is Sachin going downhill ? Most of the unbiased people seem to think so.
He is just going through a bad patch ... all batsmen do. He will come good in 2004 -- hopefully sooner than later. Indian media need to be balanced and longer term in their views.
This is ridiculous.When the master is on song,everybody prises him as a god.with some failures the greatness doesn't fall.We can't effect the hill by throwing some stones on it.The captain himself is also in badform for a long time, why don't u touch this issue.Afterall BHAGAVAN is not playing well when it matters such as in finals, but he is doing well in the league matches.But the so called great captain is continuing same leanpatch with the bat for along time .he scores big one's only against underdogs like kenya,bangladesh etc and told to the media that i am in good touch.SACHIN is always BHAGAVAN for the indian team.it is the responsibility of our super captain to work out the failures in the crucial matches.THIS IS THE BIG ISSUE.NOT THE FORM OF BHAGAVAN
RE:we have many issues than this
by cric_fan2 on Feb 23, 2004 01:21 PM
The article is about Sachin, not Saurav. IMHO, Sunny, Rahul and Sachin have had comparable careers and stats throughout their careers so he should be compared to them, not Saurav. One must read between the lines to evaluate a person's value to the team. Points to note: 1. India's overseas non-winning streak equals length of Sachin's test career. So if we claim 'Sachin equals India', we should admit that Sachin's performances have not helped India overseas(unlike Sunny or Rahul's). 2. ODI's are designed for openers. Over 90% of ODI 100's are scored by openers. Sachin (and Saurav) have performed far better in ODI's as openers than in the middle order. At the start of his career, Sachin didn't score a 100 in over 75 ODI's when he played lower down the order and scored just 1 in 12 matches when he was recently asked to bat lower down the order. 3. In WC 2003, Ind got lucky and batted 2nd in just 4 matches. Sachin failed 3 times out of those 4 (5 vs Kenya, 15 vs NZ, 4 vs Aus) to go with 98 vs Pak when he got out with Ind still needing 100 more to win.
Maybe people won't criticize Sachin so much if he didn't get such a disproportionate share of credit for India's victories !
i agree with this totally; when he is not even winning matches with his unnatural batting, how does it benefit india??
if he really wants to win matches for india ...he shud take more responsibility and come down the order (since he is supposedly the best) and win matches for india! when other poor souls (hint ganguly) who are more comfortable opening ...come down the order!
RE:Good article at the right time
by srinath on Mar 22, 2004 08:59 PM
For your kindest information the best batsmen in the side should always come higher up the order & look to face maximum number of balls. if ganguly & co are not good enough batting lower down the order let them improve their game but don't call for tendulkar sacrificing his place for the poorer souls.
He himself said the he got out to deliveries which normally he get beaten. He is perfectly fine and leave him alone. I am very happy that he does not read cricket articles. It seems that the author is a very superficial follower of Sachin. Ask me, his true fan. Did he forget about his two hundred against Australia in Chennai? What about that match saving 176 against Westindies in Calcutta a couple of years ago? "The dasher in him no longer exists".. Check out the last few one dayers. He has scored runs faster that Sehwag. Sachin is now a prudent dasher-sustainer. He is naturally an attacking batsman. By studying his boy language, I still believe that he has not become that boring type. The Pakistan tour would answer all petty doubts like these. I believe such articles are written just for publicity and to create news. Rediff should not encourage this. He has aggressive instincts and he knows what is the best to do. One can bat only the way he can. I don't remember anyone changing his batting style from aggressive to defensive or vice-versa, for the sake of it. Public has a very volatile memory. HE KNOWS HIS GAME.
This article does not sound very correct to me. Are we talking about some one who made one of the most explosive knocks against Pakistan in the last world cup? Many believe that is the best one day innings. It has not even been a year now. He was the man of the series then. Again he was the man of the series in the tri-series in India. He played quite a few explosive knocks. All these happened not even three months ago. Anyone remember that 86 he made against Australia recently when he injured his ankle? That is as good as you can get from Sachin. Then, why all this hue and cry? By being cautious, if Sachin is going to score 50 more runs, I would welcome it. The author says that the teams are now content to let him make the first move. What does that mean? Very recently, Steve Waugh, Ponting, Flemming and Hussain admitted they don't know a way to get Sachin out. I don't agree that Sachin's sole purpose was to play shots. His purpose is to play for the team in the best possible way. He is so good in constructing an innings in one-dayers. He played so well in the first tour match in Australia. I think it is just bad time that he did not play his best. (to be continued)
I could not agree more with Ashish's analysis of Sachin's recent performances. What really surprised me was the fact that Sachin rated the 241 in sydney among he better performances. From the point of sheer determination, yes it was a great innings, but it was not the true Sachin innings. He was fighting it out even when he was passed 200. His performances in the ODIs was along the same lines.
I pray for just one more inning like the "sand storm" hundred in Sharjha. That innings showed the world what Sachin can do .....if he just makes up his mind !
RE:could not agree more
by mohan srinivas on Feb 22, 2004 04:20 AM
people seem to forget or not have noticed that tendulkar was woefully out of form in the last test (and series). in fact, it is my personal opinion that he has been sort of in and out of form since the tour of england. he had gotten out twice to bowlers like brad williams and andy bickel(!?) in the previous tests trying to cover drive on the up. we all know that when he is in form, he plays that stroke better than anyone in the world and could probably play it in his sleep against someone of bickel's pace. so, being very cricket-savvy and very conservative (considering this was india's last chance to win the series), sachin completely eliminated the cover drive from his batting in the innings of 241! only a genius can score a double century after eliminating one of his bread-and-butter shots and after scoring zero (no exaggeration here) boundaries in 241 in a wide arch from backward point to deep extra cover/almost-long-off. that is why he rated this inning highly. don't worry about tendulkar...the man clearly knows what he is doing and has a definite long-term plan, and when he (inevitably) returns to form, he'll turn the cricket world upside down again!
