** Inzy, Javed add fuel to fire**
MULTAN: A day after the dramatic declaration left Sachin Tendulkar stranded on 194, the debate raging around the decision showed no sign of abating.
If anything, it hotted up further, with Pakistani coach Javed Miandad and skipper Inzamam-ul Haq adding fuel to the fire.
**
“I don’t know how could they do it to Sachin. He deserved a double. After all, he has won India so many matches, the team management could have let him reach the milestone. However good a batsman is he doesn’t reach 194 everyday. Not even Sachin,” said Miandad.
**
The former Pakistan captain had once faced the same situation when he was batting on 280 in a Test match and skipper Imran Khan declared the innings.
“Six runs is a matter of 5-10 minutes, they should have let him score those runs. However good a batsman is, he doesn’t reach 194 everyday. Yes, not even Sachin.”
Miandad agreed that no one was bigger than the game, but said that such actions stay in the memory.
“These incidents shouldn’t lead to any bad feelings within the team. I don’t know what was the hurry. It was just the second day of the Test, the match wasn’t on the brink. If I were the coach, I’d have let him score those runs. They bowled 16 overs and had they let Sachin score his double ton they’d have bowled 14.”
Even for records, Miandad felt, the knock won’t be classified as a double century but only 194. “Sachin is a mature person, he’ll never speak on this. He should just move on.”
“If any of my players was in such a situation, I would have allowed him to get the double century,” chipped in Inzamam. Innocent sympathy or a mischievous attempt to create disharmony within the Indian ranks? Take your pick.
In fairness to Miandad and Inzy, however, they weren’t the only ones speaking their mind.
Virtually the entire cricketing community was split on both sides of the great declaration divide.
Former India spinner Sunil Joshi was among those who defended the decision. “I think it was in the best interest of the team. Obviously Sachin will be disappointed, but then knowing him very well I know he’ll take it in his stride.”
Former India wicketkeeper Syed Saba Karim concurred. “The decision reflects the change in this team. Team interest will always be put before personal goals. For those former cricketers criticising the declaration because a player did not get the chance for personal glory, I can only say that reflects the way they played the game.”
Legendary spinner Erapalli Prasanna said Dravid should have waited for another two overs to give Tendulkar a chance to complete back-to-back double centuries. The Little Master had scored an unbeaten 241 in the Sydney Test against Australia early this year.
“I don’t think that the declaration was justified. Two more overs would not have made much of a difference to either our bowlers or to an eventual Indian victory,” Prasanna said in Kolkata.
The former cricketer also said Tendulkar was justified in expressing his disappointment.
“I understand that Sachin was very disappointed. I sympathise with him because to start afresh and go on to score 195 runs is in itself a huge task. His reaction was justified.”
But former captain Ajit Wadekar said Dravid took the right decision when he declared the innings at 675 for five.
“We cannot say from here what was in the mind of the team management. The Indian score was very good and had they continued batting it would have been a waste of time,” Wadekar said in Mumbai.
“Also, the Indians could have pressed for some wickets,” Wadekar said, adding that a batsman of the calibre of Tendulkar could score a double hundred any time.
“It has happened with Dravid too in the past. The decision was taken in the benefit of the team. Nobody should be disappointed with the decision,” he said.
Mohinder Amarnath, writing in The Telegraph , said: “the declaration was a good one from the captain. It must have been a difficult decision when Sachin was batting on 194, but it also shows that team interest gets precedence over any individual’s.”
, if you really consider that “concern” as “fan”.