Thanks and goodbye Mr Tendulkar
I am an
ordinary fan of cricket and not an expert at all. Being honest with myself, I
dislike Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar (SRT) as a cricketer. The reasons are many, and
being an Indian hero is not one of them at all. I don’t deny that I have
adrenaline rush much higher when I see Pakistan vs. India as compared to Ashes,
yet I never hate a sportsman for his nationality only. The reasons are quite diverse,
but I feel better to realize that it is time finally to say good bye to the selfish
cricketer and move forward.
Sachin has
stayed in international cricket far more than he actually should have had. His
career started sometime when I don’t even remember but after few initial years
when I enjoyed watching him, I started getting bored with his presence. The
range of shots, the foot work and the ever piling up of records, even the
commentary started feeling sick in his presence. There used to be a fresh
feeling on the other end, a new face, learning process, mistakes, new shots,
and new milestones being achieved, cheered and cherished while there was
nothing new on Tendulkar’s end, same aging face which was collecting getting
more and more experience and other maladies of monotony.
Another
reason for disliking him was his overshadowing of some of the greatest players
of the era, for example, Rahul Dravid. Dravid has always lived up to the
expectations, handled pressure situations far better than anyone else in the
equipe and earned more wins to his country than Sachin, so rightly called the
great wall of Indian cricket. Yet his presence has been over shadowed by the so
called little master. A golden career came to an end, and the respect and honor
that he deserved was lost in the wait of 100th 100 of SRT. His
presence affected the persona of Sehwag, as he was always being compared to
SRT.
SRT’s curse
of centuries has also pushed me to his disapproval. Even his historical ton
couldn’t bring India a win which meant that his percentage of match winning
innings remain far less than other players of his time, both in tests and ODI’s.
Take for example Inzimam-ul-Haq whose percentage of second inning centuries
leading to a test win is 66%, Ricky Ponting has a percentage of 83 while
Tendulkar has just 30%.
He
accumulated so many runs that in the current era of domestic and first class
cricket, no player will be able to beat it unless they make a debut at 16 and
continue to play till 40. It is sickening as we will not see a player
celebrating most number of centuries and runs in tests or ODI’s in a long time.
His greed
for records has made the game look ridiculous. I mean, after scoring ton of
tons, he will be expected to score his 50th century in ODI’s. I wish
him luck but just look at what team India has got after replacing senior
players, Virat Kohli, who has won them two difficult games single handedly. The same can always happen if we let the new
talent take over, at the right moment.
To me, the
Tendulkar era has been that of a dictatorship, a monotonous period of cheap
talent which only served to fill his personal bag of records and credentials,
like a general of Pakistan Army on self-approved extensions, denying other
talented officers their right to lead and forcing them to take retirement
instead. He has damaged Indian and international cricket more than he served.
What a lonely man in the dressing room he must be, it is time to bid him a good
bye as I don’t see any reason for his selection after Asia cup. Good riddance
Mr. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.
Perhaps you don't dislike him for being Indian, but you certainly dislike him for being Sachin. His primary job is that of all batsmen, to score runs. I feel he does that quite well. It is hard to find a fault in his choce of shots, footwork, or run rate.
ReplyDeleteI will happily admit that he is not the best leader of men and he lacks mental fortitude. He proably makes it harder for younger players to develop, and India do seem to lose when he plays well (although I remember a certain man of the match semi-final performance that goes against that idea)
Truth is all of that is completely besides the point.
He is for sure THE best batsman we will see in our lives, and that is not something to be scoffed at.
Disliking Sachin because he doesn't win games is like walking up to the best chef in the world and telling him he is useless because none of his dishes contribute to reducing world hunger.
Jeenda ren Sachin.
Sachin has definitely scored runs, but he has been around like a self-imposed dictator, who thinks that without his presence the team will be lost. But more than that, I realize may be Sachin not himself, but people promoting him, have damaged certain other players and made them lost in the pursuit of his records, and I would admit that one of my all time favorites Dravid has been denied his due. He says it is selfish to quit when one is on top of the game, I think it is selfish to stick around on crutches of your records earned and not your performance. Mark my words Abdullah, Sachin will never get a better chance to call it a day than right after Asia cup and 100th 100. But in the same line, I would say that he will NOT do that. He will retire the day he is not selected in the team, and that day his head will be down.
DeleteIn my opinion, there is no doubt that Sachin is a great batsman... but ...yes ....the press ,media and specially that Marathi Lobby has been responsible for giving him that lager than life persona , what they so naively call "God of cricket"....... Cricket is team game and how can and individual mean greater than team and game...... Regarding the records I feel there has been a larger game plan with Sunil Gavaskar (Record Man before him) .... advising him to promote himself to open the innings, that way he gets more time and overs.and can also use the pace of new ball.... notice in his innings at the beginning he will be playing freely but the moment he crosses 40 he stridently decides to play sheet anchor....prime job of the opener is to milk the first fifteen by taking calculated risk.....sahwag has lived to that a number of times....It is ridiculous to see that many a times he scores hundred in forty three overs and people like Yuvraj , Dhoni and Raina have to slog the last seven getting out for thirties and forties..... I have Nothing against Sachin... but yes .....I feel,.... he has at time played for records and greats like Dravid got overshadowed largely because of biased media and politician like commentators specially from Bombay league.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your valuable input Sunil. I was afraid while reading your detailed comment you might have been hurt by all this, but the fact is that I am sick of seeing him around, and the hype that surrounds him. But you enlightened me with the lobbing and stuff, I didn't know about that before. I know him as a clean and resectable sportsman, but this is limit. His stockpile has deprived many players of even dreaming to get him. This is sheer cruelty with the game. And a hell of injustice to lower order players. I remember one match where he scored 100 in a quick fire and everyone was hoping that he will make a double, but he perished, on the other hand, Sehwag has outplayed him by playing big innings both in tests and ODIs. As I said in my earlier response, now that Asia cup is finished, this is best chance for a respectable retirement is NOW. But I know he will not do that..... Thanks again Sunil.
DeleteHe was a good crickter but just in Indian
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