Yesterday it was the last nail in the coffin for all so called critics of Sachin. Strangely, these were the people who have not seen or experienced an iota of cricket in comparison to what the master has. After today, whenever a voice against Him will rise, only a scorecard or a shot square of the wicket to a widish delivery will be needed to be shown. And the sad part is that it will not be the umpteen other bat raises of the past.
Now His place has been permanently fixed as THE GOD. In fact, He quite literally is. Every so called religion, caste, region has its distinctions and beliefs. But one thing that remains undisputed is the common belief in Sachin - belief that he will never cheat, belief that he will try his best for the team and the country, belief that Hope is alive till He is there. Now compare that to what all is associated with God - the one that people normally pray to. That God will be always be fair, that whatever he does is the best for you and that Hope is there till the time you are under his wings. Any similarities??
They say that God created the world - the grossly flawed world that we know and live in. Sachin created another world where in people live in pure harmony till the time he is on the pitch. No egos are hurt when a guy in a Mercedes comes to a autowallah with a radio and asks "Kitne pe khel raha hai??". There are no class distinctions when outside a TV showroom you can see people with expensive clothes standing alongside street vendors looking at the screens - all with the same wish in their hearts. And a world where a whole nation can rise with one voice if something goes against the God. Where else can you find such a homogeneous world?
If world is destroyed today and the twitter, facebook and google servers are somehow saved, it will not be surprising if historians of the next phase of human evolution conclude that Sachin was a God who walked the earth - uniting people, making them rise over petty issues - even for a few hours and most importantly making them happy.
If the historians of tomorrow can conclude that, why not do that today??
We are a terribly fragmented nation. There is virtually no so called Unity in the diversity. There is that only one person - THE ONE who provides the constant factor - the unity. He does to India what no Other God can and will be able to do!
*Bow*
Showing posts with label Sachin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sachin. Show all posts
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Sachin !!!!
The other day someone asked me, “You call yourself a big Sachin fan, so tell me the exact number of runs he has scored till now”
“12000 something and 16000 something”
“Haa ! Sachin fan!”, came the sarcastic reply.
“OK. how many centuries and half centuries”
“well 40 something and 90 something”
“What the hell! How do you call yourself a Sachin fan dude”.
That got me thinking, introspecting.
I don’t remember how many 100’s and 50’s He has scored
But I know, it is way more than anyone else.
I don’t remember the runs he has scored
But I know that no one will be able to reach those numbers in my life time.
I don’t remember what shot he played to which bowler, on what ground against which opposition.
I simply know that the shot must have given me immense pleasure, thrill and excitement.
And I think that is all what Sachin is all about. For me, it’s not about the numbers it never was. He hardly raised his bat when he reached the 17000 mark recently but you could see the joy on his face, in his body language after he punched the ball through the off side for a boundary. And that is why me and probably numerous others watch Him.
When he comes dancing down the pitch, it is as if the seconds move slowly. As soon as you see that aggressive stance, then the legs moving, the heart beat literally stops. There is that deadly mix of fear and excitement - something that Michael Douglas would have felt in Basic Instinct. It never feels the same when other numerous other batsmen do the same.
There are plenty of shots like the cover drives, straight drives, sweeps and paddle sweeps, gentle nudges and the on drives – which are replayed time and again. But there are those some special ones which are at top of the mind – fixed permanently there. One being the upper cut off Shoaib Akhtar in World Cup 2003. There had been some boundaries hit before that, but may be that shot “opened the floodgates”. I remember, watching it at Lolly’s place where we friends had gathered to watch the match. Oh, we jumped off our seats – again the fear followed by ecstasy – all in a matter of seconds.
Then there was the ferocious pull off Andy Caddick against England. It went soaring past the boundary – not of the ground but of the stadium. I was sitting in at Bulls Eye, doing some DI problems for CAT, which was some 9 months away(Damn!! ). That shot “opened the floodgates” of sms’s, prompting me to calculate the percentage increase in sms before and after the shot. Of course, I literally ran back home after the class.
The next one is a six of Fleming at Sharjah. It was not a sweetly timed straight batted shot over the bowler’s head but was intended to hit hard. It went soaring over the long on.
All the three were seen on TV. There was one special one seen live. I was sitting just to the left of deep mid wicket at PCA, Mohali. It was a full pitched delivery and I saw the ball move in 2 directions. First, it moved perpendicular to my line of sight and then a few seconds later, moved back in exactly the opposite direction as if it had hit a wall – Action and reaction. I don’t know why, it was beautiful to watch.
There was a beauty even when He got out on 99. It was the beauty of sadness. I have never seen Fifty Thousand people at one place absolutely silent. It was amazing – the spell that He cast. It seemed like the shrieks of the Pakistan team was swallowed in that silence. Half the stadium had their hands on their heads, the other half on their faces, just showing the sad eyes.
This silence was also the sound of shattering of one of my dreams to watch Him raise his bat Live – in front of my own eyes and applaud Him. It is tough for such an occasion to appear where He raises His bat if He has not scored a century so technically numbers are involved here. But the dream is just to see his bat raised – possibly in His last match. I wonder what will that be like – the last match. May be all the flood lights will get automatically turned off and a light will appear from the skies directed in the center of the ground which will follow Him as he walks to the pavilion, one last time. Meanwhile the dream still remains.
“12000 something and 16000 something”
“Haa ! Sachin fan!”, came the sarcastic reply.
“OK. how many centuries and half centuries”
“well 40 something and 90 something”
“What the hell! How do you call yourself a Sachin fan dude”.
That got me thinking, introspecting.
I don’t remember how many 100’s and 50’s He has scored
But I know, it is way more than anyone else.
I don’t remember the runs he has scored
But I know that no one will be able to reach those numbers in my life time.
I don’t remember what shot he played to which bowler, on what ground against which opposition.
I simply know that the shot must have given me immense pleasure, thrill and excitement.
And I think that is all what Sachin is all about. For me, it’s not about the numbers it never was. He hardly raised his bat when he reached the 17000 mark recently but you could see the joy on his face, in his body language after he punched the ball through the off side for a boundary. And that is why me and probably numerous others watch Him.
When he comes dancing down the pitch, it is as if the seconds move slowly. As soon as you see that aggressive stance, then the legs moving, the heart beat literally stops. There is that deadly mix of fear and excitement - something that Michael Douglas would have felt in Basic Instinct. It never feels the same when other numerous other batsmen do the same.
There are plenty of shots like the cover drives, straight drives, sweeps and paddle sweeps, gentle nudges and the on drives – which are replayed time and again. But there are those some special ones which are at top of the mind – fixed permanently there. One being the upper cut off Shoaib Akhtar in World Cup 2003. There had been some boundaries hit before that, but may be that shot “opened the floodgates”. I remember, watching it at Lolly’s place where we friends had gathered to watch the match. Oh, we jumped off our seats – again the fear followed by ecstasy – all in a matter of seconds.
Then there was the ferocious pull off Andy Caddick against England. It went soaring past the boundary – not of the ground but of the stadium. I was sitting in at Bulls Eye, doing some DI problems for CAT, which was some 9 months away(Damn!! ). That shot “opened the floodgates” of sms’s, prompting me to calculate the percentage increase in sms before and after the shot. Of course, I literally ran back home after the class.
The next one is a six of Fleming at Sharjah. It was not a sweetly timed straight batted shot over the bowler’s head but was intended to hit hard. It went soaring over the long on.
All the three were seen on TV. There was one special one seen live. I was sitting just to the left of deep mid wicket at PCA, Mohali. It was a full pitched delivery and I saw the ball move in 2 directions. First, it moved perpendicular to my line of sight and then a few seconds later, moved back in exactly the opposite direction as if it had hit a wall – Action and reaction. I don’t know why, it was beautiful to watch.
There was a beauty even when He got out on 99. It was the beauty of sadness. I have never seen Fifty Thousand people at one place absolutely silent. It was amazing – the spell that He cast. It seemed like the shrieks of the Pakistan team was swallowed in that silence. Half the stadium had their hands on their heads, the other half on their faces, just showing the sad eyes.
This silence was also the sound of shattering of one of my dreams to watch Him raise his bat Live – in front of my own eyes and applaud Him. It is tough for such an occasion to appear where He raises His bat if He has not scored a century so technically numbers are involved here. But the dream is just to see his bat raised – possibly in His last match. I wonder what will that be like – the last match. May be all the flood lights will get automatically turned off and a light will appear from the skies directed in the center of the ground which will follow Him as he walks to the pavilion, one last time. Meanwhile the dream still remains.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
To Prove a Point
A quite often repeated statement is “Whenever Sachin hits a century, India loses”. It is frustrating to hear about the person with maximum centuries in the whole wide world, who has won numerous matches for India. But still as they say in share market – it’s all about sentiments. Some stupid media wala must have said somewhere on his Breaking News. And the trend caught on. As He lets his batting do the talking, let’s have the stats do the talking here.
The details have been taken from this database at cricinfo.
Focus here is only on the fact on how many times India wins/loses if Sachin makes a century. And bit of insights on why we lost those matches.
From records, we can see that out of 42 ODI centuries that Sachin has till date, only 11 times has India lost a match. 11 out of 42. That means approx 74% times India wins. Almost 7.5 out of 10 times India wins when Sachin hits a century. A probability of 0.74 which common sense says is quite High!!
Let’s have a look at the matches which India lost when Sachin made a century.
1. ODI match 2414, 14 Sep 2006 (vs WI)- WI won by D/L when they were given a target of mere 113 in 20 overs after india made 309!!!
2. Match 2324, 6 Feb 2006 (vs Pak): India made 328. Again poor performance by bowlers. Pak won by D/L. Can’t really blame Sachin. Can we??
3. Match 2238, 12 Apr 2005 (vs Pak) – India made 315.. Pak won on the last ball. Again how on earth can you blame a batsman for half the runs in a 300 plus total. To add to it, Sachin took a wicket and had 3rd best average among 7 bowlers used.
4. Match 2114, 16 Mar 2004(vs Pak) : Chasing a massive 330 to win. Sachin made 141. Rest of the team made 139. Next highest after 141 were extras – 37. He simply ran out of partners as India were all out for 317.
5. Match 1752, 5 Oct 2001 (vs SA): Again India batted 1st and made 280. Bowlers responsibility more than the batsman.
6. Match 1658, 8 Dec 2000 (vs Zim): Again with Sachin’s knock, India made283. Bowlers let down yet again as Zimbabwe won by 1 wicket and 1 ball to spare.
7. Match 1060, 20 Oct 2000(vs SL): Comprehensively beaten by SL. India made 224, Sachin again making 50% of the runs.
8. Match 1325, 22 Apr 1998(vs Aussies): Everyone remembers this match!! That awesome match in Sharjah. Sachin given out of a No Ball. Mr Duckworth and Mr. Lewis coming in again. Aussies made 284 in 50 overs and India were asked to make 276 in 46. Sachin playing out of his skin. Even after aussies had won the match, it felt like India had!! And everyone also knows what happened in the next match. Anyways, if you want you can blame Sachin here. 3 overs remained when he got out and the rest of the team made.. guess what ?? just 8 runs in those 3 overs.
9. Match 1106, 28 Aug 1996(vs SL): Comprehensively beaten, again by Sri Lanka. A big Century by Jayasuriya. A small point to be noted: only 1 Sri Lankan wicket fell. Guess who took it!!
10. Match 1091, 5 Apr 1996 (vs Pak): A disappointing 1st innings total again. Don’t know if only Sachin can be blamed here – 50% runs being scored by him.
11. Match 1070, 2 Mar 1996 (vs SL): Sri Lanka again. Decent total in 271. A massive 137 by the master blaster.
Cricket is a team game. Whenever India loses, it is everyone’s responsibility including Sachin. And when it wins, it is everyone’s victory. That is my view but for all others who believe India will lose whenever Sachin hits a century, I really hope this settles it for once and all!!
The details have been taken from this database at cricinfo.
Focus here is only on the fact on how many times India wins/loses if Sachin makes a century. And bit of insights on why we lost those matches.
From records, we can see that out of 42 ODI centuries that Sachin has till date, only 11 times has India lost a match. 11 out of 42. That means approx 74% times India wins. Almost 7.5 out of 10 times India wins when Sachin hits a century. A probability of 0.74 which common sense says is quite High!!
Let’s have a look at the matches which India lost when Sachin made a century.
1. ODI match 2414, 14 Sep 2006 (vs WI)- WI won by D/L when they were given a target of mere 113 in 20 overs after india made 309!!!
2. Match 2324, 6 Feb 2006 (vs Pak): India made 328. Again poor performance by bowlers. Pak won by D/L. Can’t really blame Sachin. Can we??
3. Match 2238, 12 Apr 2005 (vs Pak) – India made 315.. Pak won on the last ball. Again how on earth can you blame a batsman for half the runs in a 300 plus total. To add to it, Sachin took a wicket and had 3rd best average among 7 bowlers used.
4. Match 2114, 16 Mar 2004(vs Pak) : Chasing a massive 330 to win. Sachin made 141. Rest of the team made 139. Next highest after 141 were extras – 37. He simply ran out of partners as India were all out for 317.
5. Match 1752, 5 Oct 2001 (vs SA): Again India batted 1st and made 280. Bowlers responsibility more than the batsman.
6. Match 1658, 8 Dec 2000 (vs Zim): Again with Sachin’s knock, India made283. Bowlers let down yet again as Zimbabwe won by 1 wicket and 1 ball to spare.
7. Match 1060, 20 Oct 2000(vs SL): Comprehensively beaten by SL. India made 224, Sachin again making 50% of the runs.
8. Match 1325, 22 Apr 1998(vs Aussies): Everyone remembers this match!! That awesome match in Sharjah. Sachin given out of a No Ball. Mr Duckworth and Mr. Lewis coming in again. Aussies made 284 in 50 overs and India were asked to make 276 in 46. Sachin playing out of his skin. Even after aussies had won the match, it felt like India had!! And everyone also knows what happened in the next match. Anyways, if you want you can blame Sachin here. 3 overs remained when he got out and the rest of the team made.. guess what ?? just 8 runs in those 3 overs.
9. Match 1106, 28 Aug 1996(vs SL): Comprehensively beaten, again by Sri Lanka. A big Century by Jayasuriya. A small point to be noted: only 1 Sri Lankan wicket fell. Guess who took it!!
10. Match 1091, 5 Apr 1996 (vs Pak): A disappointing 1st innings total again. Don’t know if only Sachin can be blamed here – 50% runs being scored by him.
11. Match 1070, 2 Mar 1996 (vs SL): Sri Lanka again. Decent total in 271. A massive 137 by the master blaster.
Cricket is a team game. Whenever India loses, it is everyone’s responsibility including Sachin. And when it wins, it is everyone’s victory. That is my view but for all others who believe India will lose whenever Sachin hits a century, I really hope this settles it for once and all!!
Friday, November 09, 2007
So Close, yet so far...
In one of my earlier blogs I had written how I wished to watch(at a stadium) Sachin make a century...Last time I went to PCA Stadium, Mcgrath had spoiled the party... Today, with a new hope, the trip was made again to the high voltage India vs Pakistan match...The proceedings were like a dream.. Sachin was in full flow..4's were being creamed at amazing regularity...And it was all around the wicket.. The ferocious pull...the silken drive...the powerful punch... the deadly cut..the delicate sweep...everything was there on the platter for you to relish.. Shoaib was butchered ( He has a damn long run up*).. The spinners were tossed around..and the fielders saw the ball flying over their heads...
Soon, for the first time in my life, I saw the God raise his bat after completing his 50... The run flow continued and so called 'jinxed' 90's had begun before the 25th over.. "Today is the day when ODI Batting records ought to be shattered", I thought..
Soon He was on 99.. People were going mad... Sachinnnn SAchinnn going everywhere... 30000 people clapping to the same jingle..everyone standing on their seats to watch 'The Moment'.... Then there was a hush...the only cheering was coming from the ground by 11 people dressed in greens..Everyone climbed down from the seats and sat down quietly.... The 90's jinx was not over...
* I tried counting the steps.. I could gather around 22.. they were surely more than that..
P.S:
I guess Cricket Stadium is one place where the national flag is insulted the most!!
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Shut Up..
Are you still saying that Sachin should have retired by now...
Oh .. You are !!
Then SHUT UP!!!
Friday, October 06, 2006
Its Back
The fever is back - no no .. not dengue but the Cricket Fever.
The Champions Trophy or the Mini world cup starts tomorrow with a low key match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh 15 kms away at PCA stadium.. And the runs will continue to flow long way till World Cup finals on 28th April at Barbados..
During the season - TV sales will rise, malls will be less crowded on week ends..offices will take a hit on efficiency while hits on cricinfo and cricbuzz grow exponentially..people will be crowded in front of Electronic shops...blogs will be flooded with cricket...everyone will be a cricket expert...some heroes will rise while some will go into oblivion...
The big cricket has also been made special by an explosive return of the God - Sachin Tendulkar...
And it will be foolish of people to yet again criticize him...He has proved what is he made of....Countless cricketers have come and gone.. they shine for a brief period and then fade away - never to return.. but god has been there 17 years..and still in the recent domestic matches in chennai, there were youngsters who retired hurt due to exhaustion while the master stroked on and on effortlessly...
May be this is going to be his last world cup so the sight me and millions of Indians would love to see and hope to see is a team in Blue overalls, a big Tricolour waving in the background with the a cup in the center throwing its shine on the moment...and God standing there with his usual childish smile - satisfied after having showered his blessings on the tournament..
Wishing Team India All the best!!!
The Champions Trophy or the Mini world cup starts tomorrow with a low key match between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh 15 kms away at PCA stadium.. And the runs will continue to flow long way till World Cup finals on 28th April at Barbados..
During the season - TV sales will rise, malls will be less crowded on week ends..offices will take a hit on efficiency while hits on cricinfo and cricbuzz grow exponentially..people will be crowded in front of Electronic shops...blogs will be flooded with cricket...everyone will be a cricket expert...some heroes will rise while some will go into oblivion...
The big cricket has also been made special by an explosive return of the God - Sachin Tendulkar...
And it will be foolish of people to yet again criticize him...He has proved what is he made of....Countless cricketers have come and gone.. they shine for a brief period and then fade away - never to return.. but god has been there 17 years..and still in the recent domestic matches in chennai, there were youngsters who retired hurt due to exhaustion while the master stroked on and on effortlessly...
May be this is going to be his last world cup so the sight me and millions of Indians would love to see and hope to see is a team in Blue overalls, a big Tricolour waving in the background with the a cup in the center throwing its shine on the moment...and God standing there with his usual childish smile - satisfied after having showered his blessings on the tournament..
Wishing Team India All the best!!!
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Sachin vs Dravid
Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and Rahul Sharath Dravid – The 2 legends of Cricket that India has produced.
Of lately, there has been words going around debating who among the two is the bette batsman. A third name is also usually added – that of Sunil Gavasker. He, no doubt was a great batsman but I would limit my views on the comparison of Sachin and Dravid as I have never seen Gavasker’s legendary batting except for some rare clips or match highlights.
So for me it is debating the greatness of Sachin – 14146 runs at an avg of 44.20 (ODI -353 innings ), 10469 runs at 55.39 (tests – 211 innings) and the Determination of Rahul – 9528 runs at 40.20 (ODI -271 innings) , 9049 runs at 58.75 (Tests – 176 innings).
Starting with stats.
In ODI’s Sachin has played around 70 matches more than Dravid. And scored around 5000 runs more. So if Dravid plays 70 more matches at his current avg of 40 – he would have 2800 runs more. Still around 2000 less than that of the master. Sachin wins that one.
Coming to Tests. Sachin has around 1000 runs more and he has played 35 innings more. If Dravid is brought to 211 innings at his enormous average of 58, he will have 1000 runs more than Sachin. So Dravid wins that.
The mumbaiker has an ODI avg of 44 and Test avg of 55 whereas the wall scores at 40 and 58 runs/match in ODI’s and Tests respectively. Hardly anything to choose the better of two.
So statistically we see that both are almost equivalent. The healthy averages and the enormous number of runs scored tells us that they are very good batsmen in both forms of cricket.
Now where is the difference now?
I think when Sachin scored the bulk of his runs, it was under a large pressure. He was considered the only one in the team and everyone used to rally around him most of the times. Usually, people used to switch off their TV’s when Sachin got out. So making that kind of contribution in the most entertaining manner that he has, in such pressure – that makes Tendulkar stand apart from any group of cricketers.
Rahul has had a good team around him but he is also no alien to pressure cooker situations. Coming one down in tests, he has been responsible for saving many a matches for India. Literally sticking to the pitch and grueling hard, frustrating the opposition with his unwavering concentration has been the style of Rahul Dravid.
Sachin, on the other hand, as we know is the Destroyer (Strike rate – 85.98). Ripping apart oppositions, marching down the wicket and hoisting bowlers over boundaries – he has been the entertainer – the crowd puller. He has that aura around him which pulls people to the stadiums- just to watch him play that cover drive on the up or the straight drive along the carpet or the pull shot that land outside the stadium.
Rahul (strike rate – 70.60) is honest to the cricket Batting Rule Book. If the definition of a cover drives says your foot should be 5 inches from where the ball pitches, then his foot will be exactly there – 5 inches from the ball. That kind of feat is really hard to achieve.
One result of these contrasting styles is that certain Tendulkar’s shots are etched in the mind permanently. E.g the pull off Andy Caddick, the jumping and hitting Shane Warne in the match at Sharjah, cutting Shoib Akhtar, in the air into the stands in last WC,
I guess I can go on and on.
But Rahul – there is no unique shot that comes to mind. All his shots are copy of each other. The drive would be same each time. As would be the pull, the cut etc.
Yes, you can say that it is more important to win matches than entertain crowds. But at the end what for we are playing cricket. For the crowd of course. Haven’t you seen matches where there has been no crowd. What does it look like. Though the players are trying hard but without the multicolored background in its place, it seems like they are just following a routine.
If I have to Pick a Dream Team – which one would I Pick?
I HAVE to pick both – one the flamboyant opener, the other a steady one Down.
If Sachin sticks, we are more or less sure to win the match. If we are in trouble, The Wall is there.
It is so hard to compare these two. The point is that each is a master in his own sense.
If you ask me, if I have a choice to become out of these two – whom wud I want to become?
My Answer would be Rahul Dravid.
He is the hardest batsman to get out. He has super patience, super cnocentartion, superb team player. He is Handsome too.
But the single most reason that stands out.
That is simply because I CAN’t become Sachin.
Why ?
Because Sachin is GOD!!!
Of lately, there has been words going around debating who among the two is the bette batsman. A third name is also usually added – that of Sunil Gavasker. He, no doubt was a great batsman but I would limit my views on the comparison of Sachin and Dravid as I have never seen Gavasker’s legendary batting except for some rare clips or match highlights.
So for me it is debating the greatness of Sachin – 14146 runs at an avg of 44.20 (ODI -353 innings ), 10469 runs at 55.39 (tests – 211 innings) and the Determination of Rahul – 9528 runs at 40.20 (ODI -271 innings) , 9049 runs at 58.75 (Tests – 176 innings).
Starting with stats.
In ODI’s Sachin has played around 70 matches more than Dravid. And scored around 5000 runs more. So if Dravid plays 70 more matches at his current avg of 40 – he would have 2800 runs more. Still around 2000 less than that of the master. Sachin wins that one.
Coming to Tests. Sachin has around 1000 runs more and he has played 35 innings more. If Dravid is brought to 211 innings at his enormous average of 58, he will have 1000 runs more than Sachin. So Dravid wins that.
The mumbaiker has an ODI avg of 44 and Test avg of 55 whereas the wall scores at 40 and 58 runs/match in ODI’s and Tests respectively. Hardly anything to choose the better of two.
So statistically we see that both are almost equivalent. The healthy averages and the enormous number of runs scored tells us that they are very good batsmen in both forms of cricket.
Now where is the difference now?
I think when Sachin scored the bulk of his runs, it was under a large pressure. He was considered the only one in the team and everyone used to rally around him most of the times. Usually, people used to switch off their TV’s when Sachin got out. So making that kind of contribution in the most entertaining manner that he has, in such pressure – that makes Tendulkar stand apart from any group of cricketers.
Rahul has had a good team around him but he is also no alien to pressure cooker situations. Coming one down in tests, he has been responsible for saving many a matches for India. Literally sticking to the pitch and grueling hard, frustrating the opposition with his unwavering concentration has been the style of Rahul Dravid.
Sachin, on the other hand, as we know is the Destroyer (Strike rate – 85.98). Ripping apart oppositions, marching down the wicket and hoisting bowlers over boundaries – he has been the entertainer – the crowd puller. He has that aura around him which pulls people to the stadiums- just to watch him play that cover drive on the up or the straight drive along the carpet or the pull shot that land outside the stadium.
Rahul (strike rate – 70.60) is honest to the cricket Batting Rule Book. If the definition of a cover drives says your foot should be 5 inches from where the ball pitches, then his foot will be exactly there – 5 inches from the ball. That kind of feat is really hard to achieve.
One result of these contrasting styles is that certain Tendulkar’s shots are etched in the mind permanently. E.g the pull off Andy Caddick, the jumping and hitting Shane Warne in the match at Sharjah, cutting Shoib Akhtar, in the air into the stands in last WC,
I guess I can go on and on.
But Rahul – there is no unique shot that comes to mind. All his shots are copy of each other. The drive would be same each time. As would be the pull, the cut etc.
Yes, you can say that it is more important to win matches than entertain crowds. But at the end what for we are playing cricket. For the crowd of course. Haven’t you seen matches where there has been no crowd. What does it look like. Though the players are trying hard but without the multicolored background in its place, it seems like they are just following a routine.
If I have to Pick a Dream Team – which one would I Pick?
I HAVE to pick both – one the flamboyant opener, the other a steady one Down.
If Sachin sticks, we are more or less sure to win the match. If we are in trouble, The Wall is there.
It is so hard to compare these two. The point is that each is a master in his own sense.
If you ask me, if I have a choice to become out of these two – whom wud I want to become?
My Answer would be Rahul Dravid.
He is the hardest batsman to get out. He has super patience, super cnocentartion, superb team player. He is Handsome too.
But the single most reason that stands out.
That is simply because I CAN’t become Sachin.
Why ?
Because Sachin is GOD!!!
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