It's Time The Critics Bow Out...!!

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar....this genius' profile reads ...
Odi Debut: 18th December 1989, against Pakistan
Test Debut: 15th November 1989, against Pakistan
This man has been around in the International Circuit for more than anyone else and trust me with his level of experiance, it really counts...
And with this man around for 18 years playing for the country, what does he get?...a group of people claiming to be "critics" want him to retire and pass on the baton of Indian cricket to the youngsters....and the reason for this being numerous....According to these wonderful people(the critics) 1)He has become Old....2)He has lost his touch...3)He is selfish and is playing for records....4)Injuries have taken a toll ....5) There is a special category of these wonderful people(The Critics..again!) who say that whenever Sachin has scored a ton India has lost!....

So...what do i intend to do....well i guess I'll do what I've always loved doing....infact what we've loved doing...(Madhu n Me) proving these wonderful people wrong....
So lemme begin...
The wonderful people first claim that Sachin has become old....
For us, Age is not even a criteria for retirement...there is one thing I love about Cricket Australia....the players who make their debut are taken into the International side totally on the basis of the talent and Age is not a concern for them...That's why we still see players making their debut at the age of 30....And one more reason from our side is that he is still the most intelligent on-field player of the Indian team and doesnt seem to be dittered by this so called "age" factor....I know ,on this, the wonderful people(I mean the critics...in case u forgot)

would say that his way of playing has changed and he has shifted gears in his style of batting and is playing more cautiously now ....but let me tell you ....the way he goes about the game is totally his wish because he is the one who is playing out there and not you wonderful people...and there is a lot of thinking that goes into every innings of every player...so much of analysis goes into the approach of players with respect to their own game as well as their contributions and the way they join hands with other players to win ofcourse!....
Moving on....the wonderful people claim he has lost his "touch"...noe this thing really baffles me....I mean what do you mean he has lost his touch...when he was at his peak he was an opener...now he is being thrown around as an opener or a two down batsman...so that's gonna cause lot of changes in the approach and again depends on the situation....I recommend a proper health check up(preferably psychiatric consultation) If they still say that he's lost "touch" after the two most memorable matches of the CB series finals against Australia....which brought back the memories of Sharjah....

Next ....coming to those set of wonderful people who say he plays selfish and only for his records....I saw this video footage which my friend showed me...Harsha Bhogle was attending the press and talking about Sachin ....he said that during the 2003 World Cup final when Indian bowlers were belted around the park and were set a target 356......In the Indian dressing room before the start of Indian Innings the players sat down to talk on how to go about the mamoth total....but couldn't really find a proper solution...at this time Sachin addressed the whole team and asked "can we score just one boundary of every over?" ...the response was "yes"...he continued "then that makes it 50 boundaries...which makes upto 200 runs in 50 balls....remaining runs are 156 and remaining balls 250....we can get 156 off 250 ,can't we?" ....the plan was set and they needed one batsman to go out against Glenn McGrath who had bowled splendidly throughout the WorldCup...Sachin put his hand up and said he'll take up the role of hitting Mcgrath and derailing him off his line and length in the initial overs...and eventually Sachin got out in the 3rd over after scoring a boundary through the covers...And this is just one of the instances which go onto show that Sachin has always played for his country and has put his hand up whenever required and led from the front and inspite of all this , we have a set of Wonderful people tagging him as selfish....Next on the list are those Wonderful people who say that his injuries have taken a toll on him and he isn't able to perform because of that...Now I would like to tell these set of people that they aren't only offending us...but also the physio of the team.....because not even in a desperate situation will he allow a player like Sachin to go onto play if he is not fully fit....and going by the nature of injuries Sachin has had....the physio will be sacked if he even thinks about clearing Sachin inspite of an injury....So these Wonderful people have to be told that the injuries have nothing to do with his form as such...when he comes back from an injury he is fully fit(ofcourse)...he will obviously take some amount of time to regain the momentum.....Next coming to my favourite set of the wonderful people....who say India never wins when Sachin scores a ton...I know that in India, even today superstitions play a major role to an extent but this is the limit (seriously)....try going back to the scores again....whenever Sachin has scored a ton and we've lost ...the remaining scorecard will show pathetic numbers...and my friends Cricket is still a team game on Earth!....And not to forget how we are so obssessed with our ficklemindedness....Sachin scores a ton and we blame him for the defeat ...and if he doesnt score he is a liability to the team....It shouldn't be this way....Afterall he is also a human and expecting him to go out there and score in each and every innings is too much to ask for....

The way he played in the 2 finals of the CB series shows how he still is the best player in the history of Cricket(After SIr Donald Bradman).....and it shows how he exactly is NOT what the wonderful people think or claim he is....

It is saddening to see after working so hard since the age of 12 ...at an age when U and I would have been busy making paper planes in classrooms....how dedicated he was towards the game ....practicing for 12-13 hours at a stretch at the age of 14.....And telling TOm ALter in his first interview how it "won't" be difficult for him to face the likes of Malcom Marshall and Micheal Holding whose bowling was the lethal best ,to say the least,at the age of 14 when U and I would have feared taking a high catch of that same leather ball as it might hurt our hands....

It really hurts to see this great player being treated the way he is by the cricket fans after serving Indian cricket for 18 long years so religiously and still going on and on and on!!

So I really feel that all the "Wonderful people" throughout the nation and abroad should really bow out!!

QuOtAbLe QuOtEs

I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...his compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel! in reference to Sachin Tendulkar.

- Sir Don Bradman

India's fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing.

- Sunil Gavaskar

He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling.

- Richie Benaud

Sachin is cricket's God!

- Barry Richards

Harder he works, the luckier he gets.

- Ian Chappell

Technically, you can't fault Sachin. Seam or spin, fast or slow nothing is a problem.

- Geoffrey Boycott

He is Sachin Tendulkar. I hope he stays Sachin Tendulkar. We need a new player, a player in his own way. He has a technique which is the hallmark of a great player. Everything indicates that he will be a great player and I am sure he will prove me right. Reminds me of Barry Richards.

- Eddie Barlow

He is a perfectly balanced batsman and knows perfectly well when to attack and when to play defensive cricket. He has developed the ability to treat bowlers all over the world with contempt and can destroy any attack with utmost ease.

- Greg Chappell

I'll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don't think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player.

- Shane Warne

I think he is marvellous. I think he will fit in whatever category of Cricket that has been played or will be played, from the first ball that has ever been bowled to the last ball that’s going to be.

-Clive Loyld

He can play in any era and at any level. I would say he’s 99.5% perfect.

- Viv Richards

Today, he showed the world why he is considered the best batsman around. Some of the shots he played were simply amazing. Earlier, opposing teams used to feel that Sachin's dismissal meant they could win the game. Today, I feel that the Indian players, too, feel this way.

- Wasim Akram

Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives.

- BBC Sports

I Was fielding in the covers Tendulkar came out to bat in his debut Test at Karachi. I still remember Waqar Younis was at his peak form at that time. Tendulkar tried to drive Waqar through the covers off his very first ball in Test cricket but was beaten all ends up. But I walked to captain Imran Khan and told him 'this kid looks very good' and Imran agree with me.

- Abdul Qadir

I have watched a lot of Tendulkar and we have spoken to each other a lot. He has it in him to be among the very best.

- Sir Garfield Sobers

Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours. -Michae Kasprowicz

If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard.

- Dennis Lillee

I still think Tendulkar is the best batsmen in the world ahead of Steve Waugh and Lara.

- Glenn McGrath

What we (Zimbabwe) need is 10 Tendulkars. - Paul Strang

Sometime back I had written a piece that said that Sachin's the master and Lara a genius with his head high up somewhere. That's it!

- Peter Roebuck

Sachin is an attacker. He has much more power than Sunny. He wants to be the one to set the pace. He has to be on top. That's the buzz about him.

- Jeff Thompson

Tendulkar is the most complete batsman I have stood behind. I saw the hundred in Perth on a bouncy pitch with Hughes, McDermott and Whitney gunning for him he only had 60-odd when No 11 came in. I've seen him against Warne too.

- Ian Healy

Sachin's the best. I've had this view since I saw him score that hundred in Sydney in 1992. He's the most composed batsman I've ever seen.

- Mike Coward

The pressure on me is nothing as compared to Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin, like God, must never fail. The crowd always expects him to succeed and it is too much pressure on him 

- Mark Waugh

Sachin is a genius. I'm a mere mortal. - Brain Lara

His life seems to be a stillness in a frantic world... [When he goes out to bat], it is beyond chaos - it is a frantic appeal by a nation to one man. The people see him as a God...

- Mathew Hayden

It was one of the greatest innings I have ever seen. There is no shame being beaten by such a great player, Sachin is perhaps only next to the Don.

-Steve Waugh

You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket. His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it around like it's a toothpick.

- Brett Lee

Introduction!!!

If cricket is a game ,he is its Lord & Master

If cricket is a religion ,He is God

 blah blah..... 

This is the most difficult part i guess coz  have to make sure the thing i write shouldn't be cliche`d . 

 

If India needs to chase a "Big Target" , when I say big target it doesn't necessarily mean "Huge targets" but "small targets" against "tough opposition" or in "difficult conditions". I don't want to steal the credit from  the players who have won matches for us [like kaif & yuvraj etc;]. What i want to say is India still need Sachin to win matches come what may . They depend on him heavily. I read somewhere that If Tiger woods had the pressure & expectations in his break-fast which tendulkar carries often "He Would CHOKE". That is the amount of pressure which he has been carrying for almost 2 decades.From the day I started watching cricket I have been a great admirer of this batsman ! I cant imagine a team without Sachin ! I switched off the TV during the T 20 WC saying that this cannot be the Indian Team playing !!

According to Wisden none of his 39 centuries are in its elite list of centuries, reason it didn't win matches!!! I seriously pity the Wisden , for it cant have the great innings of sachin in its book. He is always cool & composed . He's one person who is never into controversies.

Coming to the variety of shots in his armour 

Straight drive :- Its sachin's trade mark . He plays it so well that the keeper & the bowler would love to watch it again & again.

Square Cut, Pull ,cover drive,leg glance,his roll of wrists is impeccable,His most innovative & improvised shot is his Upper - Cut for which he waits till the last second & just nudges the ball above the keeper's head .

He started playing as a 16 year old against pakistan. People will know what happened in that match. W.Younis hit him on his nose ...... In that series Sachin was so commanding in the point area that Pakistan were forced to place a unorthodox field .. they placed a short point. The reason i mentioned it is Australia have done the same thing in the recently concluded tri series. This clearly suggests that He is the same old sachin whom we have seen , admired , dreamt of.

OuR fIrSt StEp ToWaRdS.......

Our First step towards what??? towards unfolding sachin's greatness? certainly not because he's the most famous batsman in the world!!  to spread the message that he is our God?aybe!! To prove the critics wrong? Yeah with some support from the Man himself[according to him there isn't anything to prove to anyone!!!]!!!

This blog is for all those ppl who believe Sachin as their God!!!

Prakash & I will publish our views about this great Player!!! It's for the fans to Comment on it!!!!

We are here to promulgate the fact that critics are wrong ....