He is The One. He has the ability to create records in Cricket which are probably impossible to be broken. He can devastate the opposition on his day. He is capable of winning matches for India, in India and abroad. The question is… Where or when is his day? Is it around the corner? Years away?
Is he the best player? Is he one of the best? Is he a good player or just an average bloke?
This is a trap. Don’t be led into it. The number game is quite ruthless. The statistics speak volumes about how a player has performed so far but they sadly cannot point out whether the concerned player can succeed on a given day. It is like the theory of Probability. Suppose you tossed a coin ten times. Suppose you got ten heads. What is the probability of heads turning up in the next try? It is still 0.5, isn’t?
Statistics are an important tool to gauge the consistency of a player. However they are not God. They cannot predict when an out-of-form player is going to make amends.
That, my friends, is a message to everyone who comes up with great theories and predictions every time India loses or a particular player fails.
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar is currently out of form. There is no question about it. His body language in the middle says it all. He has lost his confidence. He is worried that one more failure would make people obsessed by the number game ask for his head. He is clearly NOT handling this pressure properly. He is unable to play his natural game. And this aspect of his can definitely be considered as a minus point.
I also don’t believe in these home Vs away numbers. At the end of the day, it is just a different pitch. You can either succeed or fail there. I think too much of importance is being attached unnecessarily to the place. It’s all there in your mind. It is just how you perceive it. You might equate green bouncy wickets to short balls rising to your shoulder… or you might think that on these wickets you can hook the ball easily.
No wonder someone once said that Cricket is a mind-game.
Gargantuan expectations are clearly bogging Sachin down. He was at his best when he was not an icon; when he was not the God of All Things. He has acquired a rather dangerous status where his mere presence in the team or the lack of it is bound to make a difference.
In a way it is doing the other team members a world of good. Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly are able to play their natural game because practically there are no expectations from them. They are simply overshadowed by the mere presence of Sachin Tendulkar. Why did Sachin play that hook shot? Why didn’t he bowl? Why does he attempt to play balls pitched wide off the offside? Everyone is analyzing why Sachin is not able to get back his form.
If you look at it closely, Sachin is a match winner even if he doesn’t make any runs. He shields the rest of the players from this dangerous onslaught of “expectations” and “analyses”. He is being made the scapegoat. Watch out for the day when Sachin retires. Will the rest be able to handle the pressure?
About the Ferrari controversy: He could have just paid those 15 lakhs for its Road worthiness test to avoid embarrassment. However it is well within his constitutional rights to ask for a waiver of this money. Anyone can approach the Government of India with requests like this. It is not a crime. Whether the government would waive it or not is a different issue.
He is also human. Give him a break.
Regards
Venu