Sachin Tendulkar greatest contemporary cricketer: Australian media

October 11, 2013

Sachin_TendulkarMelbourne, Oct 11: With the headline 'Tendulkar departs as a deity of cricket', Sydney Morning Herald said that the Indian batsman combined brilliance with incredible longevity and none of his contemporaries commanded god-like status like he did.

Sachin Tendulkar's impending retirement from Test cricket evoked unreserved admiration for the batting icon from the Australian media which described him the "deity of cricket" and one of the history's two greatest batsmen along with Don Bradman.

With the headline Tendulkar departs as a deity of cricket, Sydney Morning Herald said that the Indian batsman combined brilliance with incredible longevity and none of his contemporaries commanded god-like status like he did.

"A batting genius who has played the game for almost a quarter of a century, he combined brilliance with incredible longevity. He outlasted fellow greats such as West Indies champion Brian Lara, Australian legend Ricky Ponting and Indian teammate Rahul Dravid, and inspired a new generation of players who wanted to be like him," the newspaper said.

"The others were all champions, and South Africa's relentless all-rounder Jacques Kallis is still going, but none of his contemporaries commanded Tendulkar's god-like status, which coincided with India's rise as a cricket superpower," it said.

There were several write-ups, columns and video footages of the past which had comments made by experts and former players over the years during Tendulkar's long career of 24 glorious years, all leading to one conclusion that he is the number one contemporary batsman, equal in greatness only to Bradman in the history of the game.

'Daily Telegraph' said it's now accepted by the cricketing world that Tendulkar and Bradman are the greatest batsmen in the history of the game.

"The cricketing cognoscenti are largely united when it comes to naming history's two greatest batsmen: Sir Donald Bradman and Sachin Tendulkar. But as for identifying the greatest of the pair? That remains one of the game's most polarising debates," the newspaper said.

"Many have attempted to anoint a winner. A Griffith University researcher, Dr Nicholas Rohde, crunched the numbers two years ago and determined Tendulkar was superior to Bradman. Others, like Steve Waugh, have relied on less scientific and more subjective measures to declare Bradman's brand of batsmanship as cricket in excelsis," the SMH said.

"We look at some of factors that, by any standard, have propelled Bradman and Tendulkar beyond all-comers," it said.

"His retirement will leave a massive hole in the game.

Cricket, in its modern guises, is unlikely to produce another player like him," it added.

The newspaper said Brian Lara might be a more damaging batsman when he was on song but Tendulkar was more consistent.

"The Indian's record against Australia -- 3630 runs at 55 -- and in Australia -- 1809 at 53.21 -- is a testament to that. His affinity with the SCG lasted his whole career; he averages 157 there, and Englishman Walter Hammond is the only touring batsman to have made more runs at the ground," said the newspaper which also put up several Tendulkar's photos during his tours in Australia.

"Tendulkar's super-stardom did not dull his runmaking. He churned out a phenomenal 51 Test centuries. A master of spin, he played Warne better than anyone. It takes a genius to know one and the pair became great friends. The incomparable Australian leg spinner is one of the few people on the planet who knows what it's like to be him, who could comprehend the fame that made Tendulkar wait until the middle of the night to drive his luxury car through the streets of Mumbai.

"He carried himself with remarkable grace, on and off the field. To hear the noise of an Indian crowd when he is at the crease, then the silence when he gets out, no matter the importance of the game, is one of sport's greatest thrills." 'Daily Telegraph' also carried out an online poll on who is the greatest batsman of all time and Tendulkar won hands down, beating Bradman. The newspaper asked its readers to choose the best ever from among 10 batsmen -- Tendulkar, Bradman, Lara, Vivian Richards, Ricky Ponting, Gary Sobers, Jacques Kallis, Len Hutton, Rahul Dravid and Allan Border.

6234 voted and Tendulkar received 4094 votes (65.67%), far ahead of Bradman, who polled 1171 (18.78%). Lara and Richards were distant third and fourth, garnering 269 (4.32%) and 253 (4.06%) respectively.

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News Network
July 3,2020

Karachi, Jul 3: There was a sense of insecurity among Pakistan players during the 2019 World Cup, claims former chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq, who also reckons that the PCB should have given Sarfaraz Ahmed more time as captain instead of removing him abruptly.

Inzamam said captains need to be backed since they get better with time.

"Even in the last World Cup I felt the captain and players were under pressure because they were thinking if we don't do well in the tournament we will be out. That environment was created and this is not good for cricket," Inzamam said.

"Sarfaraz achieved some notable victories for Pakistan and was learning to be a good captain but unfortunately when he had learnt from experience and mistakes he was removed as captain," the former captain told a TV channel.

Inzamam remained chief selector from 2016 till the 2019 World Cup. During his tenure, most of the time Sarfaraz remained captain.

Soon after Inzamam was replaced by head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan Cricket Board removed Sarfaraz as a player and captain from all three formats.

"Sarfaraz won us the Champions Trophy and also made the team number one in T20 cricket. He got us some good wins. He should have been given more time as captain by the board but it acted in haste and didn't give him confidence or patience."

The PCB has now given the Test captaincy to senior batsman, Azhar Ali while young batsman Babar Azam leads the side in the white ball formats.

Inzamam, the most capped player for Pakistan, also said that the captain's own performance can dip as he had to focus a lot on other players.

"But a captain learns all this with time. There is no shortcut to it."

He pointed out that people praise Imran Khan’s leadership qualities and captaincy but he also won the World Cup on his third attempt as captain.

"He won the 1992 World Cup because by that time he had become a seasoned captain and learnt to motivate his players and get them to fight in every match."

Inzamam said giving confidence to new players and youngsters is very important for the selectors. He gave the example of Babar Azam.

"Babar struggled initially in Test cricket but we never had any doubt about his ability so we persisted with him and see today where he is standing in all formats."

He also described Babar and pacer, Shaheen Shah Afridi as and future stars.

"Babar is always compared to Virat Kohli but the latter has played a lot more cricket and if you look at their stats and performances at the stage Babar is now, he has not done badly at all."

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coastaldigest.com web desk
August 3,2020

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will not end its partnership with Chinese companies. Vivo, the Chinese smartphone maker, is the main sponsor of the new IPL season as well. Apart from Vivo, PayTM and Dream 11 will also be at the helm of the 13th edition of the IPL. The IPL governing council meeting on Sunday decided to retain the old sponsors.

As soon as the IPL GC announced the decision of retaining the sponsors, a huge number of fans took to Twitter to slam the board for the same. #BoycottIPL started trending as the users urged others to boycott the tournament for the Chinese connection.

Earlier, the demand for exclusion of Chinese companies from the IPL was strong in the wake of the India-China border dispute. But the BCCI cannot abruptly end its collaboration with them. Because of the signed contract itself. And in this age of declining economy, it is difficult to find new sponsors quickly.

The current BCCI contract with Vivo is for five years. Vivo has invested Rs 2,199 crore to become the main sponsor of the IPL. The contract was signed in 2017. However, the BCCI’s move is paving the way for new discussions as calls are mounting across the country to boycott Chinese companies.

The BCCI announced other important decisions besides retaining sponsors. The IPL will be held from September 19 to November 10. The Indian government has given permission to the BCCI to hold the IPL in the UAE. With this, all obstacles in the way of organizing the tournament were removed.

The IPL matches will be played at 7.30 pm Indian time (6 pm UAE time). Most matches are about one match a day. There are a total of ten ‘double headers’ (two matches a day) in the tournament. Franchisees are allowed to appoint as many replacements as they want in the new season in view of the new health situation. At the same time, the maximum number of players a franchise can accommodate is 24. The BCCI is also planning to host a women’s IPL tournament.

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Agencies
March 15,2020

Chennai, Mar 15: Wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni has left the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) training camp following the postponement of the Indian Premier League (IPL) amidst the coronavirus scare.

The former India skipper had joined the CSK's camp earlier this month in order to practice for the upcoming IPL season.

CSK's official handle tweeted a video of Dhoni and captioned the post as: "It has become your home sir!" Keep whistling, as #Thala Dhoni bids a short adieu to #AnbuDen".

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 tournament.

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

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

On Friday, BCCI decided to postpone the IPL until April 15 as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus pandemic.

On Saturday, all the IPL franchises met in Mumbai to discuss as to how to go on with the tournament in the future.

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