Looking at the comments against SACHIN I understand only one thing. Either most of the people donot understand the meaning of Crucial matches or I donot understand . All the matches in 2003 world Cup are not crucial. There was absolutely no pressure on team after miserable Show in New. Land.? All the matches in 1996 world cup are useless and played for fun with out any pressure. Average of 50 against a weak opponent like Ausis is a fluke? Maximum number of runs on foreign soil doesnot have any value? Please grow up. Well guys one can criticize anyone if intent is only to criticize . The truth is we need a scapegoat for an impotent team where 11 players are there but onus is only on one or two. Stop this bash .Its just irritating. AND FOR GOD SAKE DONOT TALK ABOUT ADS AND MONEY . Some how if you can understand that ads are not shoot daily and the cricketers are not spending time on ads between overs your comments will make fans also mad .
Momentum does change continually during course of game and single momentum change can not be attributed for a loss. You mentioned that sachin is sole responsible for Cape Town Test loss bcoz he partially caused momentum change due to defensive approach. It is sheer nonsense. I agree that he didn't play well but no way he is sole responsible.
Your first mistake is that you didn't try to investigate injury issue. Players mindset and attitude can be affected by physical problems, as they are not robots.
Your second blunder lies in the assumption that one momentum change can cause a match loss. momentum can be reverted back, and if other players could not revert that then they are also equally responsible. initially momentum was on SA side when india was tottering at 6/2, then it shifted back toward india after dravid-ganguly partnership, swings back again toward SA during sachin-dravid partnership. But game was not over. It might have shifted back toward india side had other players showed the application. At that juncture 3 big wickets have fallen. dravid and lakshman were more responsible as their dismissals was due to their own fault whereas sachin dismissal was due to bad decision.
Even though I consider only momentum change then dravid is equally responsibe than sachin. Isn't it responsibility of a set batsman to keep the momentum when a new one struggles. this becomes even more important when set batsman is captain himself. also during sachin-dravid partnership sachin faced mostly spinner who was bowling negatively whereas dravid faced mostly medium pacers (like kallis)who were bowling positively. this fact also suggest that dravid should have taken the initiative to keep the momentum. during that period once dravid took 30 balls to score a single run. was it expected from dravid to play in that fashion when he had already played 60 balls before lunch . Captain should lead by example and when captain itself was playing in that fashion then nobody else should be blamed. I see dravid more accountable for momentum shift due to four reasons: 1) he was captain and he shud have taken the initiative 2) he was a set batsman 3)he was not facing negative balling 4) he was not injured. It is quite unfair to blame only sachin for that.
If you attribute single momentum change as cause for loss then I can enumerate enough examples where one can be held responsible for major defeat unjustifiably. some of them are following :-> 1)M.S. dhoni is sole responsible for durban test loss because his departure in last over before tea shifted the momentum toward SA. As bad light was just round the corner he just needed to stay till half an hour past tea to ensure a draw.
2) Saurav Ganguly and Zaheer Khan were sole responsible for WC 2003 final loss. Ganguly for choosing to field first after winning the toss and Zaheer khan for expensive first over that set the momentum for australia.
3) Rahul dravid was sole responsible for bangalore test defeat against pakistan bcoz he started defensive approach after shewag departure and changed the momentum.
4) Saurav Ganguly is sole responsible for home test series defeat against australia. After being 1-0 down and becoming aware that nagpur pitch is helpful for fast bowlers, he prefered not to play by pretending fake injury just to avoid ignominy of series defeat. I can very well say that sifted the momentum toward australia side and then they went on to clinch the series during nagpur test. I can not imagine an action causing greater momentum shift than a captain accepting the defeat even before the start of match and withdrawing from the match just to avoid responsibility of series loss. and that too by india's most successful captain. I think that series lost was more shameful than the current one, bcoz we lost on our own soil and that even after 30 years. And Ganguly was sole responsible if i go by ur logic and reasoning.
5) If I consider india's current odi series loss then shewag is sole responsible bcoz his failure during initial overs used to shift the momentum away from india.
And there are innumerable examples. You can apply this logic to any batsman failure in any match and go on to conclude that that very wicket triggered the momentum shift and hence the match loss and hence series loss.
Momentum does change in the course of a match and u can not attribute a match loss or series loss to a single momentum change. u attributed a single momentum change, partially caused by sachin as cause of series loss which is absolutely nonsense conclusion.
Your first mistake was that u didn't try to find out whether sachin was physically and consequently mentally 100 percent fit to attack the negative bowling. players can be in different frame of mind at different times as they are not robots. physical problem can affect the attitude and mindset during an inning.
Your second blunder lies in ur assumption that one momentum shift is sole responsible for a loss which is not true. momentum can be reverted back and it swings back and forth continually. there is an example for that in the same match as dravid-ganguly partnership. when india was tottering at 6/2 momentum was on SA side, after dravid-ganguly partnership it swings back on india side and after sachin-dravid partnership it again shifted toward SA side. but match was not over. it might have reverted back towards india side again. but at that crucial juncture 3 important wicket fall which is the cause of loss. if we consider that 3 wicket then dravid and lakhman were responsible not sachin, bcoz sachin was out due to bad decision whereas dravid and lakhman were out due to their own fault. so sachin is not sole responsible for the loss. he is responsible just as a batsman who failed to perform and others like dravid, lakhman and shewag are equally responsible.
As far as momentum change is concerned dravid is even more responsible than sachin. Isn't it the responsibility of a set captain to maintain the momentum when sachin was struggling. during that period once he took 30 balls to score a single run. one important fact is that during sachin-dravid partnership sachin mostly faced spinner, who was bowling negatively whereas dravid faced fasters bowling positively. considering this fact wasn't he equally responsible for momentum change. he is not naive, rather as qualified and experienced as sachin. it is difficult to digest that dravid started playing defensively due to sachin influence.
If single momentum change is sole responsible for major loss then I can enumerate countless examples where sb can be held responsible for important defeats unjustifiably. here is few examples. 1) MS Dhoni was sole responsible for Durban test loss bcoz he unneccessarily got out in last over before tea. India needed to stay just half an hour after the tea as bad light was just round the corner. with dhoni at crease india was in a position to fetch a draw but his fall shifted the momentum back toward SA. 1) saurav ganguly is sole resposible for WC 2003 final defeat because he chooses to field first after winning the toss and that shifts the momentum toward australia side. 2) If that is not sufficient then zaheer khan is sole responsible for WC 2003 final defeat bcoz his expensive first over set the momentum for australia. 3)Rahul dravid is sole responsible for bangalore test defeat against pakistan bcoz he shifted the momentum by defensive play after shewag departute. 4) saurav ganguly is sole responsible for last home series lost against australia. after being 1-0 down in the series and knowing that nagpur pitch was grassy and helpful for fast bowlers, he opted to sit down feining an injury, due to fear of facing the ignominy of series defeat. I can very well say that decision shifted the momentum on australia side and they go on to clinch the series. the game is lost at the point when ur captain is pretending injury just to avoid the insult caused by probable defeat. I think that series loss was more shameful than SA tour, bcoz that had been final frontieer for australia since a long time.
u will get many more examples and anybody can enumerate that if u continue writing articles by nonsense reasoning.
I have read all the rubbish some of you have written about Sachin. Why most of you are blaming Sachin only? What did sourav ganguly or dravid do good? espically when sourav was the captian? He never played whenever our team was in trouble. Dravid is good in tests but Name one ODI where dravid was a match winner chasing? There was only one reason why India reached the final of the world cup last time because Sachin was in form. It was impossible for anyteam to win the world cup final chasing a huge 350. Is it only Sachin's duty to bat?? Agreed Sachin is not good under pressure but what about the rest of the players? Whenever Sachin fails the team also fails thats how much pressure he is in every match. Lets not just critisize the him... Most of you are writing as if you have played international cricket and are in sachin's shoes. Mark my words people if India has to win the world cup then the only key for India is Sachin and I know for sure he is gonna do it for the last time at the end of his career.
come on now.. how can you put blame on sachin tendulkar only?? and how on earth can any one say tendulkar's batting affected dravid's bating? does dravid not have his own mind? and why does tendulkar's or sehwag's batting not affect dravid when they are hitting bowlers all over the park? then dravid's batting is NOT affected and he scores at his usual strike rate.
why could dravid not tell tendulkar what to do in that situation or LEAD BY EXAMPLE? he is a captain, for pete's sake.
Let us review the decisions which went against the 2 teams in this series and how they impacted the respective teams. 1st test-Prince was given not out of clear egde at 41 went on to make 97.Andre Nel was given out LBW when the ball was clearly high. These 2 decisions did not help SA nor impacted India's march to victory although had Prince been given out the margin of victory would've been over 200. 2nd test-Price again was not given out LBW when on 16.The ball would've kissed leg stump. He went on to make 125.Boucher was given not out at 16 to a very plumb appeal.He was on 16 and made 50.Ntini was reprieved of a clear edge and he added 25 runs to the final tally.Dravid was given out LBW to a ball that was almost a foot high and outside the leg stump.Dhoni was given not out at 0 and finally made 38.He was plumb.In the SA 2nd essay,Pollock was let off on a plumb middle-leg appeal.He was on 16 and made 72 after that.SA were 143-6 then.Finally Dravid was given out of a non-existent edge and so was Sreesanth.When Price was let off in the 1st for a ball that would have kissed leg Tendulkar was given out in the 2nd for a ball that would've kissed the bails. 3rd test-Karthik was given out caught when the ball was nowhere near the bat or glove.Even the fielders did not appeal.He was a well set batsman at 63 having played 2 full sessions.In SA's 1st Gibbs was given out caught for 4.The replays were however inconclusive.Boucher was again LBW to Kumble but let off.Would have kissed leg.Tendulkar was given out LBW.The ball would've missed leg considerably.The last man was made to play off the 7th ball of the over.Finally Kallis was out caught behind of the 1st ball he faced in the 2nd innings but let off.They had 82 more runs to win with 6 wickets and Pollock got out next over.That would've made it 80 with 5 wickets. Are the umpires really competent?Are they neutral?Are'nt they goofing up careers and match results?
RE:Sunil Mohan
by Bill Chakravarti on Jan 11, 2007 09:54 PM
Please be careful about LBW decisions. In this age of neutral umpires you can only win some and lose some with LBWs. It is batsman who can make bowlers bowl to their strength and not make themselves become "LBW victims'' as you suggest. If batsmen are not applying themselves properly by dictating terms - as most Australian batsmen do (Matt Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey are examples of this ) - good bowlers very soon draw them into traps. On paper, India has had the strongest batting side in the world for some time and the golden period was between 2001 against Aussies at home up to series against Pakistan in 2004. But in all honesty, you have to ask, have the Indian batsmen shown any application in the past 14 or so months?
RE:RE:Sunil Mohan
by on Jan 13, 2007 06:36 AM
Thanks Sunil for the breakdown of umpiring errors. I wanted to count this as well. Sadly, no one writes about this. What is even more sad is, no one from the team or group of Indian commentators talked about these in detail (except Pat Symcox to some extent). All the commentators want to be nice guys, senior players (dravid) want to be nice guys to secure their own future by not taking up the matter. And, when technology is available, no one use it and then sympathise with umpires that they do not have advantage of slow motion. Just give them. Find a way to implement that. All other sports are adopting technology as and when comes, but cricket is still in the hands of illeterates and takls about "human touch". Shame!!
Can somebody pls look at the stats and tell me who all made more runs in the test series than Sachin - Dravid? Laxman? Dhoni? SEHWAG?? Why are we always after this poor chap. Let him play guys...he was and is by far the only cricketer who invoked a sense of pride in us as Indians. Pls don't forget all those. If he is struggling, throw him out - provided all other players in the team are playing well. When all are on the same boat, you can't just push somebody like Sachin out. He is still the best batsman we have!!
it is totally wrong that due umpires mistake tendulkar was out. there are so many instances where our lbw bowler mr kumble taken lbw wicket when the player was not out.
tendulkar should stop playing now.enough is enough.
Players who staged a comeback after being dropped like Saurav, Zaheer and Kaarthik excelled. Do we need to drop a few players who feel their place is secure to make them perform- e.g Sehwag, Dhoni? Unfit players should be honest to accept their problem and withdraw rather than hang on like Munaf. Our commercial brand ambassadors all failed to perform viz Sachin, rahul, Irfan, Sehwag and Dhoni. Is there a message here? Sachin's role as a sheet anchor is not correct and he has lost his aggressive and attacking batting style. He plays to make 40s and 50s jusy to be in the side to keep his commercial interests alive. Also he seems to be injury prone- he dropped vital catch and sat out with an injury,played an unsachin like innings and complained of a 'buttock' strain and later dropped out of the ranji match for a hamstring injury.If he is unfit then let also say so and allow someone else to play. Rahul is not a firm ,strong captain and should pul up his players for bad bowling, batting or fielding. His field placings on the last day was atrocious too. Let us hope the present selection team headed by Vengsarkar will be wise and fair and correct and impartial in choosing the team for the future.
I have seen the analysis of many cricket fans. I do no think anyone can question the talent of Sachin in cricket. We do not value opinions raised by mere biased fans, but the people who has deep knowledge in it. So do not take granted and jump into conclusion that Sachin's carrier is finished. India can't expect or we can't expect Sachin to perform well and win all the mataches for India. There are eleven other players who are also equally responsible. Ofcourse we have high expectations from him, but one can't perform all the time the same way; and if it is then India will never loose a match against anyone. We have great players in our team and they can't perform well all the times. Take example of Australia, they too have great players and if one fails, others shines and they take care of the match and this is consistently happening to their team. In Indi's case, if one fails, others follow the path. Mind you, if Sachin or Briara were playing for a team of that calibre, their team will never loose. So stop accusing an individual, we have to blame the whole team for this. People's memory is very short and all this hue and cry about individuals are pointing towards this. So friends, wait and give some time for them to come back and fight back. Frankly speaking, we have to accept that we are not the no.1 team in the world, try to put us in the grade of 3rd and 4th considering the team as a whole; then start assessing the result, you will be satisfied. If we good, praise them and if they do not good, do not write them off. Enjoy the game and keep in supporting good players and their bad patch.
