There are many followers of cricket who are of the view that Sachin is not the greatest because time and again he has succumbed to the pressure and failed to deliver. When I quoted Sachin's innings of 136 against Pakistan at Chennai. I was told that victories are meant to be real rather than moral.
Well, Sachin played with the back spasm and stood like a rock and was the only one standing assisted by Nayan Mongia. No other batsman made any score in excess of 20 in that innings and when Sachin got out there were only 18 runs needed. India lost the match by 12 runs and it was a sad moment for the master who gave his everything for the team but was not supported. some insider told that he was in tears that day. Here is the link
http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63828.html
Recently, I was sent a blog by some Sridhar guy who was coming up with the fact that whenever Dravid scores India wins and even if Sachin plays good it does not translate to an Indian win and he is merely playing to achieve personal milestones.
(http://sridhar190.blogspot.com/2005/04/sachin-vs-dravid.html)
The blog was written in 2005 and Dravid went through a purple patch between 2003 -2005. During one of those years, he was averaging over 100. All players go through peaks and lows but as they say 'form is temporary and class is permanent'.
Dravid has a poorest strike rate amongst all the greats which hovers around 40s. Some people say that strike rate does not matter in test cricket but in reality it does. As it has been demonstrated by other great players such as Lara, Sehwag, Ponting, Hayden, Gilly and Gavaskar. Yes, Sunil Gavaskar was a prolific batsman in the tests and he could not make the adjustments in his game to suit ODI, however he was the important member of the world cup winning team in 1983 and a batting legend in himself.
When a batsman score freely, it helps in dominating the opposition and taking the game away from them. The recent improvement in India's winning percentage in tests can be owed to the fact that since the comeback of Sehwag the team has been scoring 300 or more in a day's play ( It wasn't the case when Dravid was opening).
Sirdhar says that Dravid has won more matches for India but the stats say otherwise. Although Sachin has played more matches but this is because of his sheer talent and fitness regime which has helped him in playing for so long.
matches innings runs avg 100 50
Dravid 48 78 4415 67.92 12 21
Tendulkar 56 88 4895 67.05 19 17
Lara 32 52 2929 61.02 8 16
Sehwag 30 2700 61.36 6 12
Laxman 40 59 2783 52.50 5 19
Gavaskar 23 42 1671 43.91 6 7
I don't see anything wrong with the winning percentage of Tendulkar he has won 8 more matches more than Dravid and has scored 7 more centuries. The argument that whenever Sachin scores India loses does not hold well by looking at the above stats.
Lara has a really low winning percentage because he represneted WI during a weak era but few times he has won match single handedly. The famous 153* at Bridgetown ( http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63839.html) against a very good Aussie bowling attack is the prime example of it.
Dravid has one inning of significance during his match winning performances under crunch situations and that was in the famous Calcutta test. He also made 72* against Australia in Adelaide victory (http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/64060.html) but all Indian batsmen chipped in and the chase was for 250 odd runs.
Sridhar compares this innings of Dravid with the 136 of Sachin's.This 4th innings century was scored on a placid track and Ganguly also scored century in this.(http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63827.html)To play a match winning 153 (Lara) knock is once in a life time and it was the fourth inning.
Sachin almost came close to winning it single handedly at Chennai but was let down by the fellow batsmen. Dravid scored 10 in that match. Sachin made 103* at Chennai against England to chase a record 387, Dravid made 4 in that inning.
Sachin has scored 3 centuries in the 4th innings and 2 of them were epic knocks. Dravid has scored 1 century and 9 fifties but only 72* is of any significance and the century was scored in a drawn match.Sachin has an average of 36.72 in 4th innings which is pretty decent as compared to other greats.
Dravid has a high 4th innings average but then not so great 3rd innings average. Only Indian batsman to have a strong 4th innings average is Sunil Gavaskar, that is why he is also considered among greats and have played plenty memorable knocks.
Dravid's peformance comes in a under big question when playing against South Africa.
match innings runs avg 100 50
Dravid 18 34 1132 36.51 2 5
away 8 16 504 33.6 1 2
Sachin 22 39 1415 38.24 5 5
away 12 22 835 39.76 3 3
There is only a difference of 5 innings but Sachin has scored 3 more centuries and better overall average and better away showing. South Africa is the place where most of the Indian batsmen have struggled but Sachin has again shown that why he is the best. And he has done it on consistent basis.
Ricky Ponting has better winning percentage and even slightly better 4th innings record owing to the fact that there were batters like Hayden, Gilly, Langer, Waugh were around him. Ricky has a terrible record in India and same goes for Lara. Ricky made 17 runs in 2001 final frontier series and his average in India hovers around 20. He does not oozes the same confidence against Bhajji (maaki scandal one) and has been taken out by him maximum times.( Ricky is Bhajji's bunny)
All the batsman have their fallings so blaming Sachin for India's losses is lack of cricketing knowledge. Writers like Sridhar use the stats to their advantage.(http://sridhar190.blogspot.com/2005/04/sachin-vs-dravid.html)
Sachin has a respectable home and away record, he has performed well against the top bowlers and top teams. Shane Warne, Glen Mcgrath, Murli, Wasim Akram, Imran Khan they all agree witht he fact. Sachin is the highest run scorer in the world cup one day matches and he is holding that record since Miandad retired.
He is a complete player who has the ability to succeed in all formats of game. One person told me that I can count Sachin's memorable innings on finger tips. Well, that's very good because public memory is short and it is hard to remember stupendous performances. I always remember Sachin's knock against Pak in 2001 world cup, his knocks against Austalia in Sharjah, his bowling in Hero cup semi finals. To prove his detractors wrong once more he has been awarded best batsman in IPL 3. Sachin has been playing for 20 years and it is really amazing to see that how he has maintained such high order of play.
A very happy birthday to this boy Sachin, we love you, and we love you all. Well done GP and keep it up! Cheers and have fun! ;o)
ReplyDeleteKudos Sachin and kudos Gaurav bhai! pahji tussi great ho!
ReplyDeleteSachin's average of 38 vs SA maybe better that Dravid, but is almost 20 runs lower than his career average. So nothing to shout about. Also, on the match winning knocks, in how many of the 56 tests was he the MoM? If he was not the MoM in all the 56 matches, then its clear the man who contributed the most to the win was not Sachin. And going by the logic put forth for Ricky ponting, the same applies to tendulkar - hisbest year has been 2010, as year where there have been players like Sehwag, Gambhir, Laxman, dravid et al to help tendulkat play pressure free. In fact the best example is the chase against England in Chennai. It was Sehwag's blistering 80 odd runs which set the tome for the rest of the order to play with ease and win the game. And if tendulkar was indeed great then he should have led the chase in the Cape town test, rather than shying away from the chase.
ReplyDeleteI think you meant centurion by saying Capetown. At Capetown the target was 340 runs, Sehwag being an opener and the most aggressive test batsman ever to play scored at snail pace of 27 runs per 100 balls. The pitch was deteriorating and run making was extremely difficult (if u had watched the match). India played the 5th day to save the match and Sachin played out 91 balls in doing so which amounts to 15 overs.
ReplyDeleteI think that you have a mental block which you need to come out. At the centurion, India had lost 8 wickets by the end of 4th day and leave Sachin even if God was batting then also it was impossible to bat out the whole 5th day batting with 2 tailenders.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2010/engine/match/463148.html ( score card from capetown)
http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2010/engine/match/463146.html
(scorecard from centurion)
Ricky played for a winning team which hold the record for winning 16 tests in a row that too twice, so it is pretty obvious that he will figure in more matches a winner.
Being MOM Sachin is one of the leading players to hold the record for ODI and tests, check for yourself.
About the average in SA, 38 is worth shouting about if you check the average of other Indian batsmen there. Don't mention Rickey here as then you would like to check his stats in India.
ReplyDeleteSA is difficult territory for all the Indians as India is for players from SA, Aus and Eng.
Blistering 80 fine but it was Sachin who closed out that match, check the scorecard for yourself.
136 at Chennai was an epic knock but sadists like you cannot see the brilliance of it. Ask Akram, Waqar and Saqlain as what was going in their mind when Sachin was playing or even when he got out. The man is respected universally by the players and supporters from all over the world, it is just a shame that few Indians just because they want to sound different come up with illusion of Sachin not winning enough matches.
I think Sachin Proved himself in SA on the last tour by scoring 2 tons. Though his average in 4th innings is 38, it means in the first innings he averages more that 70 and sets up the game for his team.....enough said.
ReplyDeleteSantosh