Sachin’s greatest one-day knocks

As the master returns to international cricket after a break, I wanted to look back at Sachin’s greatest one-day knocks.

Ranking Sachin’s test innings is arguably an easier task. Considering he has scored 39 centuries and for some portion of the ’90s, was the lone warrior in the Indian team in the one-day game, this is going to be difficult,. And with so many people having watched many of these, people will have their own favorites.

J.H. Fingleton wrote in an article about Vic Trumper but he could very well have been writing for me:

“… A fighting innings of 30 or so under difficult conditions is lost in cold statistics yet its merits may far outweigh many staid (and often unnecessary) centuries that are recorded for all time…What is important is whether a particular contest gives to posterity a challenge that is accepted and won, or yields in classical technique an innings or bowling effort that makes the game richer so that a devotee can say years afterwards, with joy in his voice: ‘I saw that performance’ ..” (How I wish i could write like this!!!)

That is the spirit in which this ranking is done.Where I couldn’t judge on that basis alone, I have fallen back on quality of opposition and importance of the innings in the context of a series/ tournament.

Rank 5: v Aus 90, Mumbai, 1996

It was arguably Sachin’s best tournament. In this match under lights at The Wankhede stadium, Sachin tore into the Australian bowlers and McGrath was taken to the cleaners. He was coming down the wicket and hitting them straight over the bowler’s head. With a rapturous home crowd cheering him on, Sachin played his best innings of the World Cup of 1996. Australia’s Mark Waugh had set the stage with a graceful century and Sachin came out and bested it. Yes, he got out to a rash shot and to an intelligent piece of bowling (stumped off a wide) but then he gave us an innings to remember for a life-time.

Rank 4: v NZ 82, Auckland, 1993/1994

Sachin had started out as a lower middle-order batsman in the one-day game. One fine day during India’s tour to NewZealand, Navjot Sidhu made his biggest contribution to Indian cricket: a stiff neck laid him low and Sachin was asked to open. Then came Sachin at his savage best. 82 off 49 studded with seventeen hits to the boundary:15 fours and 2 sixes. The Kiwis didn’t know where to bowl. And India had found its greatest opener/player in the one-day game.

Rank 3: v Aus 134, Sharjah, 1998

India had struggled through to the finals. Batting second and chasing a target of around 270, Sachin put on a sublime display of batting. He never looked like getting out, never once believing India would lose. He made 134 of the finest runs seen in Sharjah. It was after this tournament that Sachin finally put to rest the argument on the finest batsman ever, to rest- for a long time to come.

Rank 2: v Pak 98 WC, Centurion, 2003

World Cup, Pakistan, emotions running high, 273 runs on the board, Shoaib and his special ball. Special it was. 98 of the most precious runs made for India. The little master showed Shoaib his place. Starting off quietly, Sachin took the attack to the opposition after the dismissal of the explosive Sehwag. Two quick wickets fell but as long as Sachin was there, the game was in the bag. Falling 2 short of a well deserved century, Sachin had again shown the critics: cometh the hour, cometh the man.

Rank 1: v Aus 143, Sharjah, 1998

Desert Storm. India needed to qualify for the finals. Off to a dismal start, India were quickly in trouble. Sachin in the company of Mongia was putting things together when a sand storm hit the stadium. What we saw after that was the best display of one-day batting I’ve ever seen. Bowlers were hit to all parts of the ground. There was a brilliant shot off Tom Moody, straight over his head and Tony Greig’s commentary, for a change indicated that we were watching something truly special. Had he stayed longer, we would have even won the game. The great man at his best.

Honorable mentions : 186 v NZ Hyderabad , v SL s/f WC 1996 (he batted on a placid track while the rest batted on a minefield), 141 v Pak Rawalpindi (2003/04) , 104 v Zim at Benoni (1996), 141 v Aus Dhaka…. and so many more

Technorati Tags: Sachin, Tendulkar, India, Cricket, Hundreds, Best

- Prof

Terror in Colombo

August, heavy rains, Colombo, no play. The match was washed out. SriLankans must be cursing their luck- an easy win in the pocket. The match may be played tomorrow but then things are in doubt owing to the terror attack near the Indian team’s hotel. Bigger things are happening, people are dying and sport rightfully takes a back-seat. I don’t think any cricketer on the field today would’ve been celebrating that wicket, that exquisite shot because people realize at some level, that sport is just that.

I was just wondering: what is the right thing for the visiting country board to do in this situation? Is it to allay the fears of the players, calm them and show the terrorists that civilization won’t fear them (and continue to play)? Or is it to ensure that the players’ concerns (if any) are heeded and they are brought back home? After all, they aren’t paid to risk their lives.

If I was the South African board chief, I would call it off if my players were reluctant as my duty is to them as much as it is to the game. Also, worried players don’t necessarily produce attractive cricket. Though at this level people must keep these things off the field- but then, what would you do if you were fearing for life?

Technorati Tags: cricket, sri+lanka, india, colombo, south+africa

- Prof

Ganguly is back

Well, like every other painful, never-ending saga, the story of Saurav Ganguly took a new twist today. Turns out the Prince of Calcutta has been included in the probables list for the Champions Trophy to be held in India later this year. This recall was so unexpected that even that great beacon of Sports Journalism, CNN deemed it a ’surprise’.

What amazes me is the fact that Ganguly comes off a terrible stint with Northamptonshire in the English county championship where he had an average of 4.80 in six innings (first class). Obviously, Kiran More justified his selection on the basis of his past performances.

Which just begs the question- what exactly is past performances? Yes, Ganguly has been a great “servant” of Indian cricket, but he hasn’t exactly been giving the scorer a lot of work over the last 3 years.

That said- I am not writing him off completely, but he should atleast go back to domestic cricket and prove himself. Its an absolute shame the way this whole situation is being dealt with- what exactly has changed over the past 4 months? Why wasn’t he in the team that went to the Carribean? As ever, there are no answers.

The big distraction

The Ganguly issue is just proving to be a distraction from what should be the perfect warmup for the Indian team to test their best XI for the World Cup.

If Ganguly is going to be in the final 16, so be it, but it should NOT be against the wishes of the Indian captain and coach- if they feel he doesnt deserve to be there, he shouldn’t. His inclusion otherwise is just going to create a lot of tension in the dressing room.

Of course, all this could just be a lame ass way of keeping everybody happy for the time being and then dropping him from the final 16. Only time will tell.

What are your views?

For the interested the probables list reads as follows-

Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Mahendra Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Ajit Agarkar, Irfan Pathan, Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Dinesh Mongia, Rudra Pratap Singh, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Karthik, Piyush Chawla, VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly, Venugopal Rao, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Subramaniam Badrinath, TP Singh, Parthiv Patel, Shib Shankar Paul, Vikram Rajvir Singh.

-Z

“Sachin, don’t be afraid of failure”

Sanjay Manjrekar in a recent newspaper article, criticised Sachin’s approach to the game and seemed to cast doubts and raised questions on the timing of his injuries:

“…There was another moment too: Tendulkar deciding to give the 2005 Super Series Test a miss. I thought that was a great opportunity not to be missed at any cost for someone like him. What a great stage that was to show off your individual brilliance. Tendulkar said he had not fully recovered from the elbow injury. But just eight days later he was running down the pitch hitting Murali out of the ground in that knock of 93 against Sri Lanka in the ODI at Nagpur.

That Super Series actually was another evidence of how the two great men think. There was Lara, in Australia, hopelessly short of match practice, yet looking at every chance as an opportunity to play another memorable innings. Working on the principle that the more chances you give yourself, the more the chances of success. Tendulkar is not willing to take that chance. The Tendulkar of today gives me the impression that his main focus is not to fail!…”

These are strong words from a player whose admiration for Sachin is obvious to all who have heard him talk about the little master. Nobody questions Sachin’s commitment to the team or the game but with age, it is true that the Sachin of the old is slowly fading away and it is hard for many to accept this.

Many of the measured(?)(hehe) responses to this article:

“…”It is a grave mistake by Manjrekar. We all know Tendulkar’s passion for cricket and I have no doubt in my mind that Sachin would never purposely avoid tours. It is a far-fetched suggestion.” Former off-spinner Shivlal Yadav termed the comments as nothing but a publicity seeking stunt by Manjrekar. …”

“… Former selector Pranab Roy vouched for Tendulkar’s commitment. “During my stint with the selection committee, I never found Sachin Tendulkar wanting in commitment. I do not agree with Manjrekar. No one should raise such questions about a great player like Tendulkar. …”
“… Another former selector Sambran Banerjee said: “I think this is not at all a valid point. It is a very bad comment. Sachin is beyond such things. …”

Beyond such things… hmmm … why I wonder?

Sachin’s response to this article seems to indicate that he is quite ticked off:

“I don’t want to comment much but I feel sorry that an ex-India player has made statements without checking the facts and without talking to the people concerned. I also find it surprising that he has made the statements without being in the dressing room and knowing the true situation”

I have been getting the feeling that Sachin is overly sensitive to journalists’ comments these days.

Watch this space for Sachin’s response with the bat when the tour to Sri Lanka begins!

- Prof

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Update

Quite a few readers have asked me why I have offered no opinions on the issue.While the post was not initially written to offer an opinion, I have decided to add my two cents to this.

Manjrekar is entitled to his opinion and honestly, he knows and understands Sachin better than most of us and the critics of his piece. While I wouldn’t dream of questioning Tendulkar’s commitment to the team, in recent years, he seems to have become more sensitive to the criticisms  that come from various quarters: is this because he has been beyond all that for so many years now?

Sachin must remember that when fans and viewers give him so much, it is only natural that they will expect things in return and results not to their liking, people are bound to criticize.

Fans and critics must also remember that Sachin of the old has slowly eveolved in a more mature fifity overs kind of player. There is still a lot he can and does contribute to the team and the game. But, he will never be the player of old again. No player will be after seventeen years at this level playing day in and day out.

The more important question of whether Sachin should play only when he deems himself fit. I think Sachin understands the context of a match, a series both to his legacy as a player and to the team’s growth. Hence, if Sachin declares himself fit to play or unfit to, he should be given the freedom: as long as he continues to deliver which I am sure he will.

We want Jumbo!

I have been a huge fan of the Dravid-Chappell partnership and what they have done for the Indian Cricket team. The way they have molded a young talented squad into a serious contender for the World Cup next year has been remarkable. Yes, there have been some potholes on the way- most notably the Ganguly saga and the failure to beat Pakistan and England in the test series.

One issue that continues to baffle me is Kumble’s continued absence from the squad. I cannot think of a better bowler than Kumble to be brought on when somebody like Gilchrist or a Pietersen is blazing away to glory. He is India’s best bowler and he has been doing very well of late. Plus, he has a great record in one day internationals.

I simply cannot understand how Kumble is being kept out of the squad by somebody like Powar. The talk is that Kumble is being held back because of his fielding. How do they justify Powar’s inclusion then? And Powar is no great champ with the bat either. Yes, I love the guy’s enthusiasm and his spirit but those are no reasons to find a place in the team! The Indian team has two good off-spinners in Harbhajan and Sehwag anyway. A third makes no sense.

 

Bring him back please! Give him a good run during the champions trophy. And get him on that plane to the West Indies and get him on the pitch. Otherwise, we might do another Argentina. (Remember when they had guys like Messi and Riquelme on the bench and ended up losing to Germany? No? Where were you earlier this month?!)

The challenge

The biggest challenge for Dravid and Chappell is going to be to decide the balance of the line up. Do they go with 5 batsman and Dhoni at Six and Pathan at 7? Or do they go in with the extra batsman in Raina and rotate the final ten overs between Sehwag, Yuvraj and Tendulkar? I hope we get this sorted out quickly and play our best team till the World Cup. Cricket is more a game of skill than tactics and giving away your plans does not matter as much as in say football.

This is probably our best chance of winning the world cup. The only teams I see mounting a challenge are Australia and Pakistan. But I think we can get past them. We don’t seem to have the morbid fear of Pakistan anymore. Beating Australia might be tough but I think we will nick it. England and West Indies have been poor. South Africa and New Zealand won’t go far. The Sri Lankans might do well but that depends on how their batting clicks and how the other teams play Muralitharan.This is probably our best chance of winning the World Cup and my gut instinct is that we are going to do it.

Z