These days Tendulkar is capable of crafting his innings better. Slam-bang has been replaced by circumspection, and it is to the little master’s credit that his game is still evolving. Tendulkar is still a huge force to contend with.The centuries have started to dry up for Sachin Tendulkar, who in his pomp was variously regarded as the finest attacking batsman since Bradman, or (as some would have it) the greatest in history, period, so the effect of the nine short at Trent Bridge last week is all the more poignant. Accustomed as we are to judging on the basis of arbitrary parameters and landmarks — a 49 is not as fulfilling as a fifty, and 91 does not quite convey the punch of a 100 — we are, in that context, correspondingly outraged by a poor leg before decision.
That particular afternoon, Tendulkar appeared to be shaping up for a square cut but then, cramped for room, instinctively stuck his pad outside the line of off-stump. When the umpire’s finger went up he looked frankly disbelieving, but having registered his displeasure through the briefest of pauses, he went in peace — quite unlike the mercurial and equally unlucky Ganguly — and was subsequently seen licking on an ice-cream
That particular afternoon, Tendulkar appeared to be shaping up for a square cut but then, cramped for room, instinctively stuck his pad outside the line of off-stump. When the umpire’s finger went up he looked frankly disbelieving, but having registered his displeasure through the briefest of pauses, he went in peace — quite unlike the mercurial and equally unlucky Ganguly — and was subsequently seen licking on an ice-cream
One frequent complaint about Tendulkar’s batsmanship is that too often he has let down India during the second innings when they are (more often than not) looking to save a Test.
The not-so-veiled implication is that he is not a team man. A quick look at the statistics reveals that only nine of his 37 centuries, and 13 of 44 fifties, have been made in the second innings. Only nine times has he contributed significantly towards saving a match.
So yes, it is true that India’s frequent inability to save or push for a win has coincided with Tendulkar’s failures as a batsman.
Yet, the obvious retort to that is, Tendulkar has done everything he could to set up a win through his attacking first innings knocks. Mukul Kesavan eloquently holds forth on Tendulkar, albeit in a slightly different context, in his book, Men in White: “Innings that subsequently seem decisive more often than not begin and end with the issue unresolved and the match in the balance. Subsequent performances by others in the team, bowlers, batsmen and fielders, build on the promise of the innings or betray it.”
The not-so-veiled implication is that he is not a team man. A quick look at the statistics reveals that only nine of his 37 centuries, and 13 of 44 fifties, have been made in the second innings. Only nine times has he contributed significantly towards saving a match.
So yes, it is true that India’s frequent inability to save or push for a win has coincided with Tendulkar’s failures as a batsman.
Yet, the obvious retort to that is, Tendulkar has done everything he could to set up a win through his attacking first innings knocks. Mukul Kesavan eloquently holds forth on Tendulkar, albeit in a slightly different context, in his book, Men in White: “Innings that subsequently seem decisive more often than not begin and end with the issue unresolved and the match in the balance. Subsequent performances by others in the team, bowlers, batsmen and fielders, build on the promise of the innings or betray it.”
This is beyond statistics, however. Tendulkar’s greatness lies in the fact that his aggressive batting arguably revolutionised the sport itself. At the start of his career this self-described child of the one-day age scored at a rate many would consider dangerously rapid. Yet less than a decade later, four-an-over was standard for the Australians. Meanwhile, Tendulkar emerged as one-day cricket’s Bradman. There has since been no worthy second, forget equal.
Notwithstanding our complicity in the general treatment of Tendulkar as God, he has retained his composure. Today, when he is not so much a threat to opposition teams as a talisman to his own, opposition sides are likely to rate batsmen like Dravid ahead of him. But the effect of Tendulkar getting a few runs is electric; it galvanises the team like nothing else.
Notwithstanding our complicity in the general treatment of Tendulkar as God, he has retained his composure. Today, when he is not so much a threat to opposition teams as a talisman to his own, opposition sides are likely to rate batsmen like Dravid ahead of him. But the effect of Tendulkar getting a few runs is electric; it galvanises the team like nothing else.
