Sachin’s got to get that monkey off his back

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Sachin’s got to get that monkey off his back

By Tapan Joshi

Mumbai, November 19, 2003

Sachin Tendulkar was outstanding once again, and India emerged second best yet again, as Australia clinched the tri-series at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on November 18. This is one scenario that is being repeated ever since Tendulkar became India’s number one batsman sometime in the mid-90s. He plays his guts out, shoulders the team to the brink of glory and then, everything falls apart.

Would it be fair to say Tendulkar fails to rise to the big occasion? It is indeed a highly debatable point. But would it be so wrong to say that Tendulkar hasn’t delivered the knock out punch? Isn’t Tendulkar like a heavy weight boxer who does everything right but fails to deliver that one punch and allows his opponent off the hook?

In a team game, there are a few who shine brighter than most to become individual champions in their own rights. Wasn’t it Tendulkar’s failure that India faltered by 37 runs against Australia at the Eden Gardens the other night? Shouldn’t he be anchoring the innings and holding fort at one end?

Tendulkar is the first to agree that he should have been there till the very end. “We should have played 50 overs,” he said. What he meant was HE should have been around to see India home. It is here that his critics point out to the likes of Steve Waugh and Brian Lara from among his contemporaries and Vivian Richards from an earlier generation. Even Sunil Gavaskar is regarded more valuable when it comes to saving the Test matches.

True, the Indian fielders were horrible and allowed the Aussies to get to almost 240 when they could have folded up for much less. Agreed, the other batters fell like nine pins around Tendulkar. But those who followed the final game will let you know that had Tendulkar remained at the crease a little longer than he did, he could have anchored the innings Dravid and even Badani were striking the ball well.

The psychological edge that opponents gain when they dismiss Tendulkar is best summed up by Ricky Ponting: “Once we get him, we know we can get the rest. He means so much to the Indian batting line-up. The moment he gets out, the other batsmen become more circumspect.”

There is no doubt Tendulkar is a magnificent batsman, without argument one of the best of all time. He, however, has a monkey on his back that he needs to get off!

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See I told ya.

When I made the same point yesterday about 10Dulkar tu Asif_k and Karina were all mad and were reminding me of “March 1” yesterday. No one can deny the brilliance of 10Dulkar but yeah he has failed to deliver the knock out punch.

What I said that 10Dulkar has to change his role. He don’t have to play himself he has to make the whole team click because he is not a ordinary “good” batsman, he is a class apart and its his duty to play an anchor role.

Sachin is becoming the “Shahbaz Ahmed” of his ending days when he used to be man of the tournament of every single tournament and yet he was not able to win the titles for Pakistan.

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That's pure rubbish. Sachin should have done this, Sachin should have done that. If Sachin should have done everything then What are other 10 players for ?

India didn't lose because of Sachin, It lost because of the pathetic performance of its players barring Sachin. Sachin didn't drop 7 catches, Sachin didn't miss two stumpings, Sachin didn't pick Salvi into the team. Those who compare him with Lara and Steve Waugh - I would like to ask them how many times Lara & Steve Waugh have taken their team to a Final and helped them win it. I would also like to ask how many times Steve Waugh has played against quality bowlers in a Final and how many times he has helped them win it.

A player is as good as his team, Had Sachin been born in Australia, He would have been a greater player than Bradman & Richards and every other great batsmen this world has seen.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Asif_k: *
That's pure rubbish. Sachin should have done this, Sachin should have done that. If Sachin should have done everything then What are other 10 players for ?

India didn't lose because of Sachin, It lost because of the pathetic performance of its players barring Sachin. Sachin didn't drop 7 catches, Sachin didn't miss two stumpings, Sachin didn't pick Salvi into the team. Those who compare him with Lara and Steve Waugh - I would like to ask them how many times Lara & Steve Waugh have taken their team to a Final and helped them win it. I would also like to ask how many times Steve Waugh has played against quality bowlers in a Final and how many times he has helped them win it.

A player is as good as his team, Had Sachin been born in Australia, He would have been a greater player than Bradman & Richards and every other great batsmen this world has seen.
[/QUOTE]

He's not that good.

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Well, That's you opinion. I think he is the best.

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Sacin is one of the most amazing batsman to ever play
and well Sachin sees where the gap is and hits he is truly marvellous but India has to realize that Sachin is just one player the rest of the team has to playin order to win,
it is a fact that when Sachin plays India play but when Sachin fails the rest of the indian team fails.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Decent 6Chora: *
See I told ya.

When I made the same point yesterday about 10Dulkar tu Asif_k and Karina were all mad and were reminding me of “March 1” yesterday. No one can deny the brilliance of 10Dulkar but yeah he has failed to deliver the knock out punch.
[/QUOTE]

Tapan Joshi needs to get his monkey off his back. Is this the guy who writes for Cricketnext? I've written to him twice in the past when his comments made me laugh.

Decentchora, it makes me so sad to see people always on Tendlya's case. I almost wish he was not born in India amongst such ungrateful sods who think he should do 100% of the work while the other movie stars look on. Dravid and Badani failed to rely on good ol singles to see them home.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Asif_k: *
Had Sachin been born in Australia, He would have been a greater player than Bradman & Richards and every other great batsmen this world has seen.
[/QUOTE]

Asif are'nt you going a little overboard here? Come on now he is good, but not great as Bradman and Richards. He has a long way to go to achieve that status. Seperate the emotions from the debate my friend. I agree he is not responsible for the losses, however, the question is why has he failed to be the catalyst that provides the spark to put his team over the hump.

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Asif_k: *
India didn't lose because of Sachin
[/QUOTE]

Thats very true but at the same time this is also true that India could have won because of 10dulkar.

Bradman Vs Tendulkar?

kidding around or fooling around? :)

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Karina ji - He is the same guy from Cricketnext. In last couple of years he has written atleast 20 articles against Sachin, he built a career out of it. Needless to say every time he writes such article on Cricketnext, a new thread is opened in KK. :hehe:

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Kaleem - May be I got little away, It was a hypothetical statement and I didn't intend to create a comparison between Bradman and Sachin. There can't be one. Dont take it in a literal sense, What I meant to say was If Sachin does so well with a pathetic team like India, Imagine how much better he would do with a team like Australia or Richard's West Indies.

Sachin is not the leader of this team, Ganguly is. If other players dont/cant perform then it is Ganguly's responsibility as the captain not Sachin's.

Chorey - Cricket is a 'TEAM' Game. I hope you know the meaning of the word 'TEAM'.

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Sachin failed once again to play a big innings in finals

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Asif_k: *
Cricket is a 'TEAM' Game. I hope you know the meaning of the word 'TEAM'.
[/QUOTE]

Tell that to this Joshi chap ...... and about dropping catches i would like to ask this Laxman lover Dileep why he didn't suddenly fell all over him like he did over Kaif ???????

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Asif_k: *
Chorey - Cricket is a 'TEAM' Game. I hope you know the meaning of the word 'TEAM'.
[/QUOTE]

and then you say he took India to WC2003 final all alone :)

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[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by BrokenSky: *
Sachin failed once again to play a big innings in finals
[/QUOTE]

Hey BS tell me one thing ..... Kya Sehwag, Laxman, Dravid, Yuvraj, Badani achaar main dalnay kayliyay hain ?????

Tendi was still 2nd best scorer of the team in this match and look at his figures: Total runs: 466; HS: 102; Ave: 77.66; SR: 89.10 ..... so what else must he do ????

It's high time the above mentioned group of high-earning-non-delivering gentlemen change their approach towards the game .... especially in finals !!!!!!!!

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No one takes Tapan seriously. YOu should have seen the backlash he got when he took on Faisal Sharif of Rediff. Vengsarkar and Tapan questioned the need for a foreign coach and Faisal gave them both a resounding answer. Tapan then took a dig at Faisal, but poor Tapan, after a week he was forced to beg readers to stop sending him hate mail. I was one of them. :hehe:

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I may not totaly agree with Tapan here but Its true that while chasing Big targets in big matches Sachin tend to overdo.He tends to think that He is the ONE who has to win this match.His batting yesterday is the proof.May be this is because he desperately wants to shut his critics.He will better serve India and himself if he takes it normally and play as he plays any other matches.

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Sachin is good but he is no Richards or Afridi. :nahnah:

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Sachin can never be Afridi. Only Afridi can be Afridi. No one else can commit aatmataya the way he does. :smiley:

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Bhai Aap ka Afridi the RICHARD aap ko Mubarak ho. :wink: :stuck_out_tongue: