Yes, Sachin is not a big match player. Barring a few stray performances, he hasn?t performed up to the level of a great player when the situation required so from him. People might say that he is a great player, because he has played for over 15 years now, hitting splendid and incomparable centuries, but how many of us can recall any situation where Sachin rose to the occasion and won or at least saved a match for India?
Lets look at test matches first. I can only recall his 148 not out against Australia in 1992 and a 169 against South Africa in 1997 as some innings of substance. The former test ended in a draw and in the latter test match (against South Africa), Sachin tried his level best with Azharuddin and avoided the follow-on but failed in the second inning, and India lost the match.
More recently, he played a match saving 176 against the West Indies at Eden Gardens in 2002. But to point out 3 superb centuries means that he is a match winner? I beg to differ. He has played over 100 test matches, and not many of his innings have resulted in India?s victory, and more importantly, India haven?t won a test series outside the subcontinent since he started playing.
Now lets come to ODIs. Barring that superb year of 1998, when he rampaged Australia both at home and in Sharjah, Sachin hasn?t really done much to help the cause. Let me give a few examples ? India vs. Sri Lanka, match 9, NatWest Trophy 2002. Sachin comes down the order, hits a century and India score 304.
Needless to say, India wins. But what happens in the next match? It?s the final ? India vs. England, India chasing 326 for victory. Sachin comes in to bat, scores an odd 14 runs, looks out of sorts and ready to board the next flight home. Thanks to Dravid, Kaif and Yuvraj, India won that match. But where was Sachin in this crucial match? When India required a good innings from him, he was dismissed for a paltry 14 runs.
More recently, in the Asia cup that concluded few hours ago, lets look at the match between India and Pakistan. When I switched on my TV, I saw that India needed a required run-rate of about 10 an over, and Sachin was batting on around 50. And much to my horror, I saw Sachin blocking almost all deliveries that he played. People talk of his 15 year international experience. But I ask, where was his so called 15 year long experience gone that day? He scored 78, alright, but was it really anything worth being called useful for the team? 35 overs had already gone.
Now, I must ask the reader something ? when was the last time you saw Sachin batting for India and the required run-rate was hovering around 9 or 10 an over? And even if you can recall any such situation, won?t you agree that in such a situation, Sachin went for his shots, no matter how much risk they involved? There was a time when Sachin used to score 50 out of the first 10 overs. But now, we see that he scores 50 in 25 overs.
Questions are beginning to be asked ? why has Sachin slowed down? I here ask the same question. Is it because he has more faith in the more aggressive but error-prone Sehwag? Or is it that he now believes that if he fails, his job can be done by the rest of the team?
I wanted to write this review soon after the match against Pakistan. But I decided to delay it and see what happens in the final. I had hoped that Sachin might come good for India this one time at least. But he dashed my hopes this time too.
My personal favorite all-time Cricketer is Kapil Dev. But Sachin is the icon of the modern generation, and his persona and place in the team makes him a god-like figure in the country. I too have followed his performances in the past years, but I have always had more faith in Dravid than Sachin or Ganguly. Its sad that he has let down the team and the country all too often to be forgotten.