Entertainer in twilight zone

December 19, 2012

sachin_gone

Nagpur, December 19: At present, no one would like to be Sachin Tendulkar. Runs once came in torrents, now the flow has been reduced to a trickle. He hasn’t scored a Test hundred since that magnificent 146 at Cape Town against South Africa on January 4, 2011. And at 39, pressure is on him to bring curtains on a career that is now in its 23rd year.

It’s a difficult situation. For well over two decades, Tendulkar has just played cricket, and that sport has been his world. It’s quite tough to cut ties with that world in a single day, especially for a batsman like Tendulkar, who has been on top of his trade for a larger part of that period. Despite a prolonged barren run, there will always be the image of another golden series in his mind, and that’s precisely the dilemma he has to deal with.

And only he can deal with it. Only he can tell with surety whether the current lean patch is the indication of a terminal decline or is it only a phase that he is struggling for runs. For that he needs to take some time away from the hullabaloo around him, and reflect on the last two series – against New Zealand and England. Meanwhile, let’s go through those series as well.


A young set of Kiwi pace bowlers – Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell – managed to sneak through his defence three times, and it was quite a sad sight to see him losing the battle against players who were just making their entry into this world when the Mumbaikar made his Test debut.

England bowlers had a far greater hold on him. Though he made a fifty in the first innings of the Kolkata Test, that 76 was more like a desperate effort to keep himself afloat. On that day, he took 43 balls to reach double figures on a flat pitch. There was no life in that innings, struggling to put away even rank long-hops.

He never tamed Monty Panesar or James Anderson throughout the series. Tendulkar never could assess Panesar’s length correctly, often leaving him in no-man’s land or playing those nothing shots. Anderson troubled him to no extent with reverse swing, and England captain Alastair Cook was wise enough to employ these two bowlers immediately after Tendulkar’s arrival at the crease.

In that 76, there was just two fours in front of the wicket – a cover drive off Panesar and a punch through mid-on off Steven Finn. Rest of the 11 fours came through edges, paddle sweeps and squirts through the fine leg area, an indication of his hesitancy to go forward on pitches that demanded such a strategy.

That tentativeness has been the common feature of his outings against New Zealand and England. Now, Tendulkar needs to rewind those outings in his mind, and deliberate whether there’s a return for him as he had managed five years ago, scoring runs and hundreds in a bulk.

There’s another home series coming against Australia in February, and India embark on a slew of away tours, beginning with their trip to South Africa in November 2013. Tendulkar should ponder whether he would able to stand the rigours and contribute in those series. Emotions are certain to flood him during those hours because cricket has been such a massive part of his life.

Here, he needs to compartmentalise himself from sentiments, and prudence should rule his decision. There might not be a man-to-man replacement for him, and then you’ll never be able to replace a player like Tendulkar for he is a phenomenon.
But we need to trust the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Cheteshwer Pujara, and Virat Kohli to take India forward, and the last two have already shown their readiness to shoulder that responsibility. In sports, only teams ready to take that bold plunge have attained greatness.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni had underlined that point. “If you don’t give youngsters chances, how do you know whether they are good enough or not? You won’t get all of them scoring big hundreds in the first game. You have to back youngsters who you think are very talented, who you think can succeed at the top level,” said the Indian skipper.

In the same breath Dhoni, in tune with the entire team’s desire, hoped Tendulkar would be around for some more time. Yes, Tendulkar’s extraordinary career, in a major part of which he carried the expectations of a billion people without any complaint, deserves a grand farewell. But he needs to chart it well.



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News Network
February 22,2020

Sydney, Feb 22: India's demolition of a formidable Australia in the Women's T20 World Cup opener will give them a huge boost going forward, said star batswoman Mithali Raj, who also lauded leggie Poonam Yadav for her magical performance.

Poonam took four for 19 to help India complete a 17-run victory against defending champions Australia on Friday.

"Everyone has been talking about how much batting depth Australia have, yet they couldn't chase 132," Raj, a former India Test and ODI captain, said in an ICC release.

"India will take so much confidence from that victory, but this World Cup is still very open. The match between Australia and India proved how competitive the tournament will be. It proves it does not matter where you stand in the ICC rankings.

"We will be seeing more of the same drama yet. This victory proves every team has a chance," said Raj, who has retired from T20 cricket.

The 37-year-old veteran batswoman said "the opening match definitely lived up to the hype of the tournament".

"It was a whirlwind. There were so many ups and downs. It was a great start to the tournament not only because India beat the defending champions on home soil, but also because of how the game progressed altogether.

"At no point could you say it was going in one side's favour. First we saw our early wickets fall, then we recovered and Australia had to chase 132 before their middle-order collapsed. India and Australia both took the game their own way at different points which made it fascinating for spectators to watch."

Raj said Poonam's spell was the turning point.

"She's been one of the main spinners for India for quite some time now, and her style worked again. Getting their (Australia's) middle-order out really titled the match towards India, she was brilliant.

"Although we recovered our innings through Deepti Sharma and her partnership with Jemimah Rodrigues, it was Poonam's flurry of wickets against Australia's megastars, which completely changed the game," Raj said.

Raj also praised 16-year-old Shafali Verma for scoring 29 off 15 on her World Cup debut.

"Shafali Verma impressed me too on her debut. She gave India's middle order the cushioning they needed to regain momentum. Verma has stuck with stroke play that she demonstrated in the tri-series," she said.

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News Network
February 18,2020

New Delhi, Feb 18: Skipper Virat Kohli has become the first Indian to reach the 50M followers mark on social media platform Instagram. Kohli, who is breaking cricketing records with each passing match, has a great social media following.

The 31-year old has so far made 930 posts on the platform and his social media posts continue to enthrall fans worldwide. Overall, Instagram's official account has the most number of followers and it is followed by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 200M followers.

In terms of Indians with most number of followers, Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra is on the second spot with 49.9 followers while Deepika Padukone is on the third place with 44.1 followers.

Last year, Kohli had become the most successful Indian Test captain, surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Currently, Kohli is in action against New Zealand and his side would take on the hosts in the two-match Test series, slated to commence from February 21.

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News Network
May 6,2020

May 6: They have similar impact on their teams but Virat Kohli is driven by sheer passion to subdue the rivals while Steve Smith just enjoys batting, says Australia opener David Warner.

India skipper Kohli and top Australian batsman Smith are arguably the top two cricketers of the current era. They achieve new milestones consistently, invoking debates, who is better between them.

"Virat's passion and drive to score runs is different to what Steve's would be," Warner said while speaking to Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"Steve is going out there for a hit in the middle, that's how he sees things. He's hitting them out in the middle, he's having fun, he's enjoying himself, just does not want to get out."

Warner feels, while Kohli is batting he is aware that if he sticks around the middle his team will be on top of the proceedings.

"Virat obviously doesn't want to get out but he knows if he spends a certain amount of time out there, he's going to score plenty of runs at a rapid rate. He's going to get on top of you. That allows the guys coming in, especially in the Indian team you've got a lot of players who can be flamboyant as well."

The Australian opener added that both men are mentally strong and a good knock by them boosts the morale of the entire team.

"When it comes to cricket, they both have got the mental strength, the mental capacity to score runs. They both love spending time in the middle.

"They stabilise, they boost morale - if they score runs, everyone else's moral is up. If they are out cheaply you almost sense that on the field that everyone is (down on morale and thinking) 'now we all have to step up'. It's a very bizarre situation," he added.

Asked about the similarities between himself and Kohli, who are both live wires on the field, Warner said the passion to do better than the opponent keeps him going.

"I can't speak for Virat, obviously, but it's almost like we got this thing in us when we go (out to the middle) we need to prove people wrong, prove someone wrong."

"If you're in that contest, and if I'm going at him for example, you're thinking, 'Alright, I'm going to score more runs than him, I'm going to take a quick single on him'. You are trying to better that person in that game. That's where the passion comes from."

Warner also explained how he breaks down a match into smaller competitions.

"Obviously you want to win the game but you almost break it down to: If I can score more runs than Virat, or if Pujara scores more runs than Steve Smith, you have these little contests and that's how you try to narrow the game in the sense that if we do these little things, we can be ahead of the game or we can be behind the game.

"The passion is driven by...I know my sense - one, the will to win and two, wanting to do better than that person in the opposition," said Warner.

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