'Here is an emperor, walking the streets like a common man'
- Harsha Bhogle,
During Sachin's painstaking 55 against SA at Centurion
All the more reason to love the man, I say. They say he is past his prime; NO he isn't. How many 'emperors' or 'kings' would have had the humility to play out that innings? I can't imagine Mr.I V A Richards playing that innings for his desperately out of form team. Any other player in Sachin's mould would rather have played an agricultural swipe and gotten out. Agreed, Steve Waugh or Dravid might have played that innings, but what made that innings special was that it came from an 'emperor', not a workman. The innings struck a jarring note visually, but that's only because we are not used to see our superhero minus his powers. And what is more intersesting is the convoluted logic that Sachin bashers dish out to 'prove' that he's not good. When Wisden published their list of the Top 10 Test Innings of All Time, Sachin didn't find a mention. When questioned, they announced that his 136 at Chepauk agains Pakistan was 'considered' but was not given the nod because India didn't win the match. India lost that match by 12 runs and Sachin got out when India were 17 runs short. How stupid is that? What they missed was the context. India were playing Pakistan, a 5th day pitch, square turner, he was battling intense back pain and was wearing a belt to fight it. Just suppose that the tail had wagged and scored those measly 12 runs (cover-drives through fine leg or pulls through third slip or whatever), would Sachin's innings have become any greater? Then probably it'd have become one of the best innings of all time I suppose. Blah! I rest my case . Down under(pun intended) is Stout Heart No.2 (a rather under-rated Stout Heart I must say...)
പ്രതീക്ഷ തരാത്ത കഥകൾ എന്തിന്?
10 months ago
7 comments:
yo man...tat knock deserves to be among the best...those who hav seen tat vdo SACHIN MR.INDIA wud knw how commited hes...playin under such immense pressure is not tat easy as sittin in an AC room n criticising....hes the best..SACHIN RULES!!!
Hey ash.. Rants aside, think u r right in saying sachin is not past his prime..
Sachin has always been india's big time performer. Remember pre-2003 world cup time.. Ppl wrote off sachin as a burden.. Who fired in the end??
There are countless instances of sachin coming to the rescue of india.. Coz when sachin fires, everybody fires..
I still remember him stepping out to send shane warne crawling for cover that '98 tour.. I still remember him cutting shoaib akhtar WC 2003..Henry Olonga at Sharjah 95 or 97..He's made it a point to target those who 'develop wonder balls to trap him'..
Some ppl are forever man.. Sachin is one of them..
you said it,KJ! :)
Hell why am i reading of cricket. A nation where the sport can bring the parliment to stand still for losing a series...! Where all the blame is on chappell when its the players who deserve the stick. .The leaders of the nation are so immature .No wonder india is still a developing nation.
All these only justify one thing.. cricket is a waste of time.. A whole day wasted when there is a one day match..! and 5 days for a test. Booo... Boring..!
adikkeda ithinu mukaLil post cheythavane... atleast oru good international team engilum undalo(though not the best, obviously), but we can at least cheer for our own country rather than clapping for torpedoes and arsenals.
U say we have a good international team. Because of such waste of time, not many nations are interested in this game. Thats the only reason why we are among top ten. If there was more participation in cricket, im sure india would have ended up at the back.
In India all are glory hunters, everyone want success in evrymatch. But when that doesnt happen they dont support the player and most importantly the coach.
I fully agree with chappel when he commented that the indian politicians shud not intervene in cricket. A series lost and here they are, they want to remove chappell.. Bollocks..!
Who said the management was any good? Its all mudded by politics as u say. Its just the game that we like. And watching gr8 players like Sachin play... [:)]
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