Monday, March 20, 2006
Making Sense of Sachin
Disclaimer: This article is written before the second innings of the third test between India and England.
Before I begin this article, let me add a couple of links from fellow bloggers, Arvind Iyer and Nikhilji.
The first link shows a comparitive statistics of Sachin and Ganguly over the years. It clearly shows Sachin has been much better than Sourav over the years. From the context of the present form of Sachin, I guess statistics doesn't give a broad picture. He has been struggling for the past three test series, and there has been a drought of runs from his willow off late.
Let us go back and look at the career of Sachin. He has been the most consistent batsman in the contemporary times. We, the Indian cricket fans are not used to seeing him reeling with his bat for more than three or four matches in a row. The high standards that Sachin set for himself, with exemplary performances, has raised our expectations from this little master. He has lived up to this for most of the times. One cannot easily forget the times when the Indian batting was totally revolving around Sachin.
One of the great aspects of Sachin's career is his self evolution to suit the team's best interests. From a flamboyant boy who never cared for his wicket in the early nineties, Sachin grew in the mid nineties to a responsible youngster who is determined to shoulder the responsibility of the Indian team. The Sachin saga continued till the World Cup 2003, where we saw him almost single handedly taking India to the finals. Most of the critics of Sachin fails to appreciate the fact that India would not have reached the finals of many tournaments had Sachin not been performing.
There has been a lot of setbacks during the long career which is into the 17th year now. There was a career threatening back injury for the batting maestro in 1999, and his participation in World Cup was at stake. As a player, it would have been disheartening, but the kind of support the Indian team and public rendered him, helped him overcome this. The amazing fact that the whole nation was praying for Sachin would have filled him with the eternal pleasure. This is a privilege not many can even dream of, and the power of people can push the critics' remarks about the success of his career to oblivion. Then came the tennis elbow and various other issues. But, as anticipated, Sachin overcame all these hurdles and made a strong comeback.
The post world cup 2003 saw a new Sachin, revamped. With Sehwag delivering on the top, Sachin started using his experience and play much more composed and contained innings in the middle order, in the test matches. Meanwhile his style remained more or less the same in one dayers, this can be attributed to the depth of Indian batting during recent years. But then injuries and the fatigue started taking a toll on his career. It is commendable that Sachin could maintain a high level of focus and dedication for over 16 years. He is still one of the fittest players in the team. Not many players have shown this level of consistency for such a long span. The 16 years of cricket has given him plethora or runs, credits and experience. But in the course of it, Sachin has slowly started wearing out as well. Now comes the mark of the legend in Sachin, that makes him different from Souravs. Instead of worrying about this issue, he looked into ways of overcoming it. More than anyone else, he himself knows his reflexes are not what it used to be. Sachin readjusted the shots to fit his present strengths. One can see him using the flick off the pads innumerous times in recent years, as one of the most productive shot for him. This strength, the power of battling against the odds is the mark of a true champion in him.
Then came the injury again. Out went Sachin for a couple of series, and came back without much of a match practice. This was inevitable since India had three series back to back, and the team was looking forward to the experience of Sachin in the middle order. Thus he could hardly get time for a retrospection and reassessment of his batting. This can be one of the reasons for his recent dip in form. Moreover, a lot of debatable decisions went against him in these series', which added to the woes of Tendulkar, who has been trying to stay out there in the field and regain his lost touch. On the top of all these, India had a lot other things to celebrate and worry about, such as Kumble milestone, Dhoni factor, All rounder Pathan, Sourav issue and a lot more. So there has been hardly any time to look into Sachin factor, and was pushed down in the priority list. If we see the way in which Tendulkar got out in these series, we can see many a times he got out either lbw or caught behind. This shows a lack of foot movement from him. As far as I know, Sachin's footwork is flawless (he made a lot of corrections over the years). So, its only a matter of match practice before he gets over it. Meanwhile one can see Sachin cheering up and motivating youngsters in the field. The tidbits that he gives to the bowlers alone can make his presence felt in the team.
Now that we have a couple of months before the West Indies tour, I believe Sachin has enough time to get back to his best, and deliver again, as he used to do before. With the kind of trust that he has rendered with his performance, the Indian public still believes in him, albeit the runs drought for the last three series. This should lead to a natural decision from the selectors to retain him in the team for the upcoming series. The media speaks a lot of time about giving ample chances for rookies. Why don't they do the same with veterans? Once a player has established himself in the team and is delivering, one can conclude that he deserves to be in the team with his performance. But when he is struggling, why can't they give him enough chances before making a decision? More than the number of matches, one should look into the time period over which the player struggled. There can be a lot of series' being played during a relatively small span of time. But if the player struggles despite taking a long break, then the selectors should consider the credibility of his position in the team. This can be attributed to the fact that the player gets a lot more time to correct his flaw and make a comeback if there is a long break. And the tests happened over a period of 2 months of non stop cricket, and so there is long way to go before we think of an Indian team without Sachin. People still love Sachin, thanks to Nikhilji for that beautiful and emotional blog showing the Mumbaites' support to Sachin. If not anything else, his career statistics has earned him a place in the team for lot more series' to come. Finally I agree totally with Arvind Iyer statement, so does the millions of Indian cricket fans I guess: "One big reason I don’t want Sachin to be dropped is – because I feel there is no way we can win the world cup without him."
Before I conclude, I highly recommend the link below as it really makes sense of Sachin!
Before I begin this article, let me add a couple of links from fellow bloggers, Arvind Iyer and Nikhilji.
The first link shows a comparitive statistics of Sachin and Ganguly over the years. It clearly shows Sachin has been much better than Sourav over the years. From the context of the present form of Sachin, I guess statistics doesn't give a broad picture. He has been struggling for the past three test series, and there has been a drought of runs from his willow off late.
Let us go back and look at the career of Sachin. He has been the most consistent batsman in the contemporary times. We, the Indian cricket fans are not used to seeing him reeling with his bat for more than three or four matches in a row. The high standards that Sachin set for himself, with exemplary performances, has raised our expectations from this little master. He has lived up to this for most of the times. One cannot easily forget the times when the Indian batting was totally revolving around Sachin.
One of the great aspects of Sachin's career is his self evolution to suit the team's best interests. From a flamboyant boy who never cared for his wicket in the early nineties, Sachin grew in the mid nineties to a responsible youngster who is determined to shoulder the responsibility of the Indian team. The Sachin saga continued till the World Cup 2003, where we saw him almost single handedly taking India to the finals. Most of the critics of Sachin fails to appreciate the fact that India would not have reached the finals of many tournaments had Sachin not been performing.
There has been a lot of setbacks during the long career which is into the 17th year now. There was a career threatening back injury for the batting maestro in 1999, and his participation in World Cup was at stake. As a player, it would have been disheartening, but the kind of support the Indian team and public rendered him, helped him overcome this. The amazing fact that the whole nation was praying for Sachin would have filled him with the eternal pleasure. This is a privilege not many can even dream of, and the power of people can push the critics' remarks about the success of his career to oblivion. Then came the tennis elbow and various other issues. But, as anticipated, Sachin overcame all these hurdles and made a strong comeback.
The post world cup 2003 saw a new Sachin, revamped. With Sehwag delivering on the top, Sachin started using his experience and play much more composed and contained innings in the middle order, in the test matches. Meanwhile his style remained more or less the same in one dayers, this can be attributed to the depth of Indian batting during recent years. But then injuries and the fatigue started taking a toll on his career. It is commendable that Sachin could maintain a high level of focus and dedication for over 16 years. He is still one of the fittest players in the team. Not many players have shown this level of consistency for such a long span. The 16 years of cricket has given him plethora or runs, credits and experience. But in the course of it, Sachin has slowly started wearing out as well. Now comes the mark of the legend in Sachin, that makes him different from Souravs. Instead of worrying about this issue, he looked into ways of overcoming it. More than anyone else, he himself knows his reflexes are not what it used to be. Sachin readjusted the shots to fit his present strengths. One can see him using the flick off the pads innumerous times in recent years, as one of the most productive shot for him. This strength, the power of battling against the odds is the mark of a true champion in him.
Then came the injury again. Out went Sachin for a couple of series, and came back without much of a match practice. This was inevitable since India had three series back to back, and the team was looking forward to the experience of Sachin in the middle order. Thus he could hardly get time for a retrospection and reassessment of his batting. This can be one of the reasons for his recent dip in form. Moreover, a lot of debatable decisions went against him in these series', which added to the woes of Tendulkar, who has been trying to stay out there in the field and regain his lost touch. On the top of all these, India had a lot other things to celebrate and worry about, such as Kumble milestone, Dhoni factor, All rounder Pathan, Sourav issue and a lot more. So there has been hardly any time to look into Sachin factor, and was pushed down in the priority list. If we see the way in which Tendulkar got out in these series, we can see many a times he got out either lbw or caught behind. This shows a lack of foot movement from him. As far as I know, Sachin's footwork is flawless (he made a lot of corrections over the years). So, its only a matter of match practice before he gets over it. Meanwhile one can see Sachin cheering up and motivating youngsters in the field. The tidbits that he gives to the bowlers alone can make his presence felt in the team.
Now that we have a couple of months before the West Indies tour, I believe Sachin has enough time to get back to his best, and deliver again, as he used to do before. With the kind of trust that he has rendered with his performance, the Indian public still believes in him, albeit the runs drought for the last three series. This should lead to a natural decision from the selectors to retain him in the team for the upcoming series. The media speaks a lot of time about giving ample chances for rookies. Why don't they do the same with veterans? Once a player has established himself in the team and is delivering, one can conclude that he deserves to be in the team with his performance. But when he is struggling, why can't they give him enough chances before making a decision? More than the number of matches, one should look into the time period over which the player struggled. There can be a lot of series' being played during a relatively small span of time. But if the player struggles despite taking a long break, then the selectors should consider the credibility of his position in the team. This can be attributed to the fact that the player gets a lot more time to correct his flaw and make a comeback if there is a long break. And the tests happened over a period of 2 months of non stop cricket, and so there is long way to go before we think of an Indian team without Sachin. People still love Sachin, thanks to Nikhilji for that beautiful and emotional blog showing the Mumbaites' support to Sachin. If not anything else, his career statistics has earned him a place in the team for lot more series' to come. Finally I agree totally with Arvind Iyer statement, so does the millions of Indian cricket fans I guess: "One big reason I don’t want Sachin to be dropped is – because I feel there is no way we can win the world cup without him."
Before I conclude, I highly recommend the link below as it really makes sense of Sachin!
Link to a related article
