There have been several batsmen during these days who have hogged the limelight. Don Bradman - unbeatable average. Ganguly - 2nd only to God in his heyday in the offside. Clive Lloyd, Gary Sobers and other West Indies - built a West Indies fortress which was invincible. Steve Waugh - Gladiator. Mark Waugh - stylish. Shahid Afridi - the blind hitter. The list goes on.
Of all the great batsmen of the past, the present ones and the ones who are yet to come, there are only two batsmen who can actually destroy any bowling attack. Not only getting the required runs, but also demoralising them to an extent that they probably would not like to bowl to them again. West Indies Sir Vivian Richards, and India’s Sachin Tendulkar.
There have been various differences between the two, but the best difference is best summed up by an article in The Hindu some years ago. "Tendulkar is an artist, while Richards is a butcher". They can destroy the bowlers by hitting almost similar runs, but watching them is entirely different. Richards thwacks the bowlers, while Sachin dances through them. I think the best cricket I have seen was Sachin’s handling of Shane Warne in 1998 (all corners of the World)!! It was like watching a ballet dancer leap to the backfoot and just push the ball into various gaps.
Of late there have been various myths about Sachin which I’m going to discuss, with proof.
Myth 1: Sachin has some difficulty facing fast bowling, especially bouncers.
This was said by Sarfraz Nawaz, the Pakistani terror. He also backed it up with some wonderful evidence. But history says otherwise too. Ever remember Douglas Hondo getting cut to pieces? Or Mike Kasprovicz / Damien Fleming / Jason Gillespie (Australian trio, 1998) having no clue facing the blaster? The mother of all them bashes was Shoaib Akhtar, 1999!! I don’t quite agree with Sarfraz Nawaz. Tendulkar has demoralised some fast bowlers real nasty.
Myth 2: Sachin is way past his prime.
A number of people feel so, including Tom Alter, the ’Keshav Kulci’ of Junoon. Last year there was this test series - Eng vs India in India (Scores tied 1-1). In the first match, India had to score at 11+ an over, otherwise Match 1 would have been drawn. Tendulkar, with the company of Dhoni responded with baseball-style cricket!! It was only after Dhoni’s dismissal that Tendulkar had to mellow down. And this was about a year back. Way past his prime?
Myth 3: Sachin is selfish.
There has been no concrete evidence to prove that the ’194 incident’ and the ’247 vs Australia’ were clearly intended at selfish batting to get records. One mustn’t forget that VVS had an overnight score of 275* vs Aus in that historic win of 2001, and Ganguly did not declare, but allowed VVS to go on to 281. His bowlers smartly reduced Aus in the final day. In the 247 vs Australia, it was Parthiv Patel who actually botched the greatest stumping of the new millenium. We would have won our very first Test Series Down Under. So it was not Sachin’s fault. He did his job. The bowlers (and wicket-keeper) didn’t.
Coming to the crux of the matter. Now Richards went on to become a monster. Bowlers would not want to bowl to him even now. He also single-handedly won the 1979 World Cup final for the West Indies. And he will never allow a bowler to hinder his shot-making. Sachin, though he has these technical abilities, is unable to match these exploits of the Great Sir Vivian Richards. He has not starred in a World Cup winning team, and this is probably his last World Cup, and almost certain India won’t win it!! So where lies the difference?
In my opinion, it is in the mindset of the two as they come to face the bowlers.
Scenario 1
Viv Richards comes to bat after a more-than-successful opening partnership by the openers - Greenidge and Haynes. And he is thinking - "Great. We have crossed 75 for 2 wickets down. In the twelfth over. And even if I don’t score, Clive Lloyd (or any of the other 3 before him) at the other end is WELL SET. And even if I get out first ball, there is a strong batting line-up, with Richie Richardson, Kallicharan, Dujon etc. So I’ve nothing to lose. And even if we get all-out for 150, the feared bowling line-up will destroy them for half that much. So let’s rip the bowler apart .... WHACK!!".
Scenario 2
Sachin comes in to bat. Usually the opener. And he is thinking - "I can thrash Glenn McGrath for 20 runs every over. But what’s gonna happen at the other end? Sehwag believes in hit-out or get-out. No, I don’t trust him as long as he is batting. Dravid cannot be trusted nowadays (and that is the fact). And anyway Irfan Pathan would soon make it 21/4. Dhoni will carry the fight into the enemy camp after the 45th over, IF he stays till then. And that’s a BIG IF. All the others - Dinesh Mongia / Suresh Raina / Mohammed Kaif - are the one-match wonders. One glorious innings a lifetime. And Yuvraj is injury-prone. He will play well today, but won’t play tomorrow. And anyway, even if I play really well, and hit 167*, we have our bowlers. Ajit Agarkar / Sreesanth / Pathan. Shameless creatures. All efforts go to waste when we see Gilchrist and Damien Martyn, scoring first on the off-side, then on the leg-side".
With all this in his mind, Sahin plays, and defends, defends, defends, etc ... till a ball straightens and tickles the outer edge. Gilchrist dives, and
S. Tendulkar c: Gilchrist b: McGrath 8 (17)
Solution:
Sachin is India’s national treasure. During early 1990’s while Sachin was marauding bowlers, he was well-supported. Azhar / Shastri / Manjrekar all used to stay as long as they could at the other end so he could play without inhibitions. And bowlers tried their best too (Remember England tour of India 1993? A 3-0 goose-egg to Graham Goooch and co, thanks to Kumble and other spinners). Our batsmen should do the same. Allow Tendulkar to play his natural game. Just put performances to reinforce the belief in him that, no matter what happens, we will support you. Go get them, Tiger.
Regards,
Jacob (A person who stopped watching cricket after ICC Chapions Trophy 2006).