Don't want Sachin Tendulkar to embarrass himself with failures: Geoffrey Boycott

December 28, 2012

sachin


New Delhi, December 28: Former England captain Geoffrey Boycott feels a poor series against Australia could force Sachin Tendulkar to retire from all forms of cricket as the world doesn't want to see the Indian "embarrass" himself with repeated failures.


"He desperately needs some runs against Australia in the Test matches in March, because I don't think any of us want to see him embarrass himself with more failures after failure," Boycott said.

"If he doesn't get runs against Australia, I'm reasonably confident that he'll see the light and call his own retirement. But you cross your fingers and hope he can get some," he told 'espncricinfo.com'.

One of the game's all-time greats, Tendulkar had, on Sunday, announced his retirement from one-day cricket, bringing to an end a glorious 23-year-old career in the format in which he rewrote numerous batting records.

Boycott called Tendulkar's decision a reasonable and sensible one.

"It's very sad, it's a fact of life, that more of us, as we get older, we have to accept we just can't do what we used to do. There's no fun in accepting that, there's no fun in believing it. There's no fun in having to say it gets easier, because it doesn't get easier. It can't.

"So for him, it's tough, is one-day (cricket). As wonderful as he's been, we can't live on the memories. He's 39, and so I think giving up is very responsible and sensible.

Asked if India needed Tendulkar more in the Test format, Boycott said, "I'm not sure it's about what India needs most, I think it's about what's best for Sachin. At this stage of his career, he's done well for himself and he's done well for his country.

"I think he has to do what's best for him because if he plays better, whatever format of cricket, it's going to help the team he plays for, which is India. That's the most important thing."

"He (Tendulkar) hasn't played in the T20s for India for a while. ODI cricket, today, in the modern game, has become so physically demanding on the player's body, even 50 overs. As much as we all love Sachin, me included, he's never been an outstanding athlete in the field. He's never let anybody down, he's been competent, but nobody could ever call him a top outfielder," Boycott said.

The Yorkshireman further said, "So, as he gets older, like all of us, me included, he just can't run as fast as a youngster, he can't dive around.

"Not that he was a great diver but when you do dive around in the modern day - as you are expected to; it's a modern phenomenon - he's going to hurt himself a bit more. As you get older, you're going to fall the wrong way, your body hurts more, it bruises easier - it's nature taking over.

"He can now focus on staying fit, playing as much zonal cricket as he can – and that's important, trying to get some runs in that, which shouldn't be too difficult. You know (in domestic cricket) they're not as good as him. Even now, when he's past his zenith, he's still better than them. And he needs form. Form means runs, runs means confidence, and then he can play against Australia in March.

Asked if Tendulkar played a role in transforming the 50-over format, Boycott's opinion centered on the Indian's longevity.

"Longevity more than anything. There have been other outstanding one-day cricketers, like there have been outstanding Test players. But it's the longevity, and playing in all countries and playing well. That's it.

"It's easy to get sucked into believing, when he's playing in the current day and doing well, that they're the best player ever. Hang on. That's being disrespectful to all the eras of cricket and all the players who've gone before.

"Sachin will be up there with the greatest in Test cricket and one-day cricket, but let's not forget there have been other players. So it's his longevity and playing exceptionally well all over the world."

Tendulkar amassed 18,426 runs in 463 one-dayers at an average of 44.83. The diminutive right-hander had an astonishing 49 ODI hundreds, including a double hundred – the first in this form of the game.



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Agencies
January 26,2020

Mumbai, Jan 26: Boxing great Mary Kom has been selected for the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian award. Olympic silver medallist and reigning badminton World Champion PV Sindhu has been named for Padma Bhushan as the names of Padma awardees were disclosed on Saturday on the eve of the 71st Republic Day.

Rated as one of the most successful amateur boxers of all time, Mary Kom won bronze at the 2012 London Olympics and has won gold at the boxing World Championships for a record six times. She has won a total of eight medals at the World Championships, the most recent of which came in October 2019 in Ulan Ude, Russia. The 36-year-old is now looking to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sindhu became the only Indian woman to win an Olympic silver when she reached the final of the women's singles event at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazi. In August last year, the 24-year-old became the first Indian to win gold at the badminton World Championships.

She has also won two silver and two bronze medals at the World's in the past, thus making her only the second woman after Chinese two-time Olympic gold medallist Zhang Ning to win five medals in the competition.

Indian women's hockey captain Rani Rampal, who has been the face of women's hockey in the country and played a pivotal role in the team qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is among those who have been nominated for the Padma Shri award.

Women's football stalwart Oinam Bembem Devi, former cricketer Zaheer Khan, shooter Jitu Rai, former hockey captain and coach M.P. Ganesh and archer Tarundeep Rai are the other sportspersons to be selected for the Padma Shri award.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has said that wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and is one of the easiest guys to interact with.

Bravo was doing an Instagram live chat with former Zimbabwe pacer Pommie Mbangwa and it was then that the all-rounder was asked to talk about his stint with Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

"I think a lot of credit for CSK's success has to be given to Dhoni and Fleming, obviously the owners, they trust both Fleming and Dhoni, so there is no outside interference when it comes to decision making, both are very big students of the game, players love MS and it's an environment and franchise that allows you to be you," Bravo told Mbangwa during the chat.

"MS Dhoni is the biggest superstar in cricket and in our team. He was one of the easiest people to interact with, outside of the cricket field, he is like playing video games, his door is open at all times, whenever you talk about the biggest superstar and then you think a person like Dhoni is the most humble of them all. CSK is a special team and we have the most loyal fans," he added.

Bravo has been with the CSK since 2011. He has played a total of 104 matches for the franchise, picking up 121 wickets.

The all-rounder has also managed to win the Purple Cap (most wickets in IPL) two times (2013 and 2015).

CSK has won the IPL thrice (2010, 2011 and 2018) and all the titles have come under the leadership of MS Dhoni.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India's matches in the high-profile game.

This year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI's centrally contracted players list.

The board had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020.

Dhoni is the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Under his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

He would have been leading the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29.

However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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News Network
January 9,2020

Kuala Lampur, Jan 9: Saina Nehwal and reigning world champion P V Sindhu produced dominating performances to progress to the women's singles quarterfinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 badminton tournament here on Thursday.

Sixth seed Sindhu notched up a commanding 21-10 21-15 victory over Japan's Aya Ohori in a pre-quarterfinal match lasting just 34 minutes. It was Sindhu's ninth successive win over Ohori.

The 24-year-old Indian, who won the World Championships in Basel last year, will take on world number 1 Tai Tzu Ying in the quarterfinals after the Chinese Taipei shuttler got the better of South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun 21-18 16-21 21-10.

Saina, who had won the Indonesia Masters last year before going through a rough patch, dispatched eight seed An Se Young of South Korea 25-23 21-12 after a thrilling 39-minute contest to make the last eight.

This is Saina's first win over the South Korean, who got the better of the Indian in the quarterfinals of the French Open last year.

The two-time Commonwealth Games champion will next take on Olympic champion Carolina Marin.

Saina had defeated Lianne Tan of Belgium 21-15 21-17 in the opening round on Wednesday.

In the men's singles, India's challenge ended after both Sameer Verma and HS Prannoy crashed out in the second round.

While Verma lost to Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia 19-21 20-22, Prannoy was shown the door by top seed Kento Momota of Japan 14-21 16-21.

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