SACHIN TENDULKAR
UNCALLED FOR
This is too much.
Kumar Sangakkara played cricket for Sri Lanka with a lot of distinction. Even after retiring from international and first class cricket, Sangakkara has been playing T20 cricket in different parts of the cricketing world.
During his playing days, Sangakkara was known as someone who was not afraid to speak out in public. He was also not averse in giving back to his opponents verbals when required.
Sangakkara has suddenly become the person to hate for a large section of the followers of Sachin Tendulkar. Why? Sangakkara picked a team of eleven players that did not include Sachin.The list includes only one player from India-Rahul Dravid. I think this made the followers very angry, to say the least. How dare Sangakkara ‘drop’ the legend when Indian selectors never even dared to think about leaving Sachin out of the team. Sachin did not want to continue, otherwise he would still be playing even now.
Tennis player Maria Sharapova was taken to the cleaners on the social networks when she pleaded ignorance of Sachin and achievements. The attacks were extremely vitriolic and uncalled for since not many of the so-called fans of Sachin know much about the tennis player.
It will not surprise me if somewhere in India people start rioting in the streets and burn up the effigies of Sangakkara for his unpardonable ‘crime’ !
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )WHY THE SELECTORS ARE RIGHT?
After the loss in the Mumbai test, there was a clamour for changes to be made for the rest of the series versus England.But the selectors decided to stick with the players who donned the national colours in Mumbai. On expected lines, the selectors were criticised. But I have my reasons why the selectors could not take any harsh decisions.
1.GAUTAM GAMBHIR
He is someone who played well in the past and who captained his team the Kolkata Knight Riders to the IPL glory.Gambhir is someone who is potentially a captaincy material.If Shahrukh Khan were the chief selector, then Gambhir would have been the captain of India.Moreover, he plays alongside the other opener Sehwag for the Delhi team and they make a good combination of the left and the right.
2.VIRENDRA SEHWAG
Viru scored a century in the first test at Ahmedabad although this fact was completely ignored after the feats of Pujara and Ojha.After all, he is the only Indian batsman to score over 300 runs in a test innings and that too twice.
3.CHETESWAR PUJARA
Whether he is the genuine replacement for Rahul Dravid, Pujara has shown great temperament and skill by making two three figure scores in the ongoing series.He had only one failure and that too in the second innings of the Mumbai test.
4.SACHIN TENDULKAR
It is very difficult for the selectors to even think about leaving Sachin out of the team especially given his past record.As many of his supporters felt, the selectors also realised that the great man is just one good innings away from glory.Besides, we ordinary mortals cannot decide on the future of Sachin.You cannot drop someone who is also a Member of Parliament. We don’t want the Parliament to shut down protesting against this kind of injustice.
5.YUVRAJ SING
Yuvraj failed in both the innings of the Mumbai test, so what? He just beat cancer and he was a prominent contributor to the win in the World Cup.Public memory is short and if he is dropped, his mother would become very angry.
6.VIRAT KOHLI
In the past 12 months, Virat has been true to his name-big scoring runs against different bowlers in different formats of the game.Moreover, he has made a hundred in Australia where the rest of the Indian batsmen found the opposition bowlers very hot to handle.As some would say, he is also in line to be the captain of the team in the not too distant future considering his experience of leading the Indian under 19 team to victory in the World Cup.
7.M S DHONI
This is about the most successful captain in the history of Indian cricket.He won the World Cup for India after a long wait for the entire nation. People forget the disastrous campaign in England and Australia both as a captain and as a batsman.Dhoni has never been a good batsman on good pitches and against good bowlers.The critics have been extremely harsh about the wicketkeeping misses of Dhoni too.The supporters of Dhoni argue that the captain is only as good as his team.
8.ZAHEER KHAN
Ever since Zaheer burst on to the scene bowling fast yorkers, most Indian cricket fans felt genuine pride.But as time passed by, the pace got reduced.Nevertheless, Zaheer got wickets by gaining control over swing.But he is the best non-spinner for India in the present times.
9.HARBHAJAN SINGH
He did not look like a bowler who has 400 test wickets to his name in the Mumbai test.On a pitch where Swann and Panesar got the better of Indian batsmen, Harbhajan merely looked like a bowler who was meant to complete his quota of overs.Public memory is short for he has a hat trick to his name and that too against the mighty Aussies.
10.PRAGYAN OJHA
Ojha bowled well in the first test and also took wickets in the test in Mumbai.But he too was not spared by the critics.He should have bowled from both the ends!.
11.RAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN
How can one even think about leaving Ashwin out of the team when he is regarded by some as the next great all-rounder after Kapil Dev.Ashwin should be in the team as a batsman who if required, can bowl a few overs.
Now going by the past contributions, the records and the sacrifices made by these players, how on earth can the selectors be expected to bite the bullet and take strong decisions? My vote is with the selectors.Moreover, as one expert put, where are the replacements?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )IS WORLD CUP EVERYTHING?
Zico of Brazil was an extraordinarily gifted footballer from Brazil. He won many trophies but could not ever become a World Cup winner.
Socrates a teammate of Zico for many years also failed to win at the biggest stage of world football like many other super talented footballers of his generation from Brazil.
Michel Platini of France was renowned for his skills as a midfield maestro who could not take his team to glory at the World Cup.
Ivan Lendl won many tennis matches and was ranked the best player in the world for a long while but he could not win the trophy that matters- at Wimbledon.
John McEnroe could not win the French Open even after taking a two set lead in the finals once.
All these players are considered great even when they have not won perhaps the ultimate prize in their respective areas.
The achievements of Sachin Tendulkar are well documented and there is only one word to describe him- ‘great’. But Dean Jones argues that Sachin is not the greatest since the Mumbai batsman has never been part of a World Cup winning team.
Jones like many Australians is not able to live with the fact that an Indian is being talked as being equal or even being better than Donald Bradman. Even while he acknowledges the achievements of Sachin, Jones does not hesitate to drop the World Cup or the lack of it to downplay the greatness of the Mumbai maestro.
Cricket is a team game and it takes all the players in the team to perform in order to win a tournament that is spread out over a period of time. Jones was part of one Cup winning team in 1987.Most of the same team took to the field in 1992 and it was booted out of the event even in home conditions.
Brian Lara another great cricketer of his generation is also someone who could never be a part of any World Cup winning squad but this never diminishes the achievements of the left-hander from the Caribbean.
Sachin has scored the maximum runs in the World Cup and he even was the ‘player of the tournament’ in 2003 even when Australia won beating India in the final.
What more Sachin has to prove?
It is more of a case of sour grapes for Mr. Dean Jones.
It is time our media stopped giving the space to such ‘professors’.
There is more to cricket in general and Sachin Tendulkar in particular than the World Cup medal. The CV of Sachin does not require one such medal.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )ONE SIMILARITY
After Sachin scored his 50th test hundred, there was a lot of talk about his greatness vis-a-vis Donald Bradman.Indians, me including feel that Sachin is the greatest but the Aussies don’t want any of that.
To use a cliche, comparisons are always odious, especially, when it involves players belonging to different periods.But to be fair, while Sachin has played and scored in every test playing country, the Don played in just two countries.Of course, the supporters of the Don would be ready to show the statistics to justify their claim.
Let me move away from cricket and bring in what for me is something that is common to Sachin and Donald Bradman.Cricket writers/historians covering the times of the Don tell about how his cricket had a soothing effect on the public ravaged by the Great Depression and the Second World War.
The exploits of Sachin this year where the public of India was exposed to different kinds of scams and wrongdoings came as a refreshing change.The television channels and the media were forced to change tracks from the Rajas and Co. to Sachin.
Hope 2011 will be better for Sachin and India.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )
Y V SAI MADHAV 