No, you evil people, not me.... its still a decade away, okay, 8 years away... i was referring to sachin's record breaking 35th century..During the initial years of his career, i had always been a skeptical 'okay, how long before he burns out' observer.. a bit later, when his schoolmate joined him in the team, i was supporting him - vinod ganpat kambli.. i have this default thingie of supporting the underdog...ironically, it was kambli who burnt out, and never played to his potential..well, almost never ever.. and then the match fixing controversies made me less of a keen observer of the game...
but while all that was happening, my admiration of the little master was growing, grudging at first, but growing nevertheless.. i even remember a friend during my post grad days, who was a die hard fan, whom i used to chide whenever sachin failed to score.. times had begun to change when i used to counter his high scoring with the point that he never clicked when we needed him most to applauding his efforts.. i still remember the two matches against australia in sharjah (?),centuries in consecutive matches - match winners...but wait, before i digress and throw off the non cricket aficionados, this isnt about the game, its about the man...
i think what makes him great IMHO, is that he remains untouched by his greatness.. on the contrary, it has made him better... it takes great character to resist the temptation of letting yourself talk instead of your bat, especially when there are jibes and barbs hurled at you by people far inferior to yourself... and so, when the man finally silenced yet another group of question marks after a year (between #34 and #35) its defintely an occasion for a post...
and i couldnt help but notice the contrast between the two men occupying the crease...sachin tendulkar - an all time great who has just scaled another height, and yet the epitome of humility... and sourav ganguly - who has fallen from heights, and who is perhaps just realising that in the path to greatness, humility is indeed a great asset...
until next time, bowled over.....
until next time, bowled over.....
23 comments:
Sachin sure did us proud! But i wonder what happens to this spirit of his in one dayers...just cant figure it out! ;)
You know I've often wondered what it is that distinguishes those that are great from the ones who are the greatest? I heard Vinod Kambli say yesterday that in his view, Tendulkar would be the former, while Gavaskar the latter. And somehow I tend to agree. The conditions that Gavaskar played in were not as comfortable as those that Sachin has enjoyed. And I think it's sad that what everyone looks at is what the records say. Saurav is battling to keep his place in the team ... Sachin has had his place reserved for him inspite of many spells of below par performances. Frankly it would do a lot more for Indian cricket to have a promising younster make century #1 than to have a veteran gunning for #36.
Root for the underdog, eh? Strange, that it took all these years for the commonalities to show up. :-)
oh yes, his bat does the talking....
he did not learn the art of getting it in style ..
295 n.o and a six to 301 ... thats is the spirit which shewag is having .. is defintely missing in 10dulkar
It makes all his hundred a boredom ceremony ... ( the count down of his nervous moments starts from 90s)
it looks ugly/strange for the batsmen of his standard ..
he should learn the art of getting it in style than getting it in shell.
Cheers,
Kamal.
It was nice seeing something good in the news.. after all that crap.. good for him..
a decade!!! you're such a bachha! :)
Oh btw, the big 35 is less than 8 years away.
Am not talking about myself.
mirage: but most cricketers believe that tests are the real tests.. :D
SwB: i look at it more as a contribution thingie as far as the place in the team is concerned.. but like i said, my respect is more for the man than the game he plays.. as for gavaskar, i would think he had a more comfortable time, didnt he - media pressure, public expectations, the focus on all the nuances on and off the field, match fixing.. isnt it less comfortable now... and dont you think i have gone on and on and on... ;)
hyde: genes, get better with time.. :)
deez: and a very talkative one too :)
kamal: hasnt he 'been there, done that?' ... not a triple hundred , but otherwise.. and i , for one, prefer the 'nervousness' over the 30s and 40s contributions...
pallavi: yup, good for him...
prero: ahem ahem... bachha!!! and its 8 years, not a decade..
hyde: of course, nitty gritties, hmmph.. 7 years, 3 months, 5 days!!!!
Ask anybody who followed cricket in those days and he will not agree with you, Manu. Gavaskar and the players of his day had as much pressure on them to perform as do players today - the media was just as ruthles sthen. The fact is, that Guys like Gavaskar and Kapil Dev brought respectability back to Indian cricket at a time when it was in shambles, and made it a lot easier for youngsters like Tendulkar to just come in and play their "natural game" (and we all know how well Tendulkar performs under pressure!) But as I said, it's the records that everyone looks at .. Gavaskar would probably had made fifty centuries had he played as many matches as Tendulkar.
But that's not taking anything away from Sachin. He is definitely a great player .. but calling him 'the greatest' would be doing a lot of other fine players a huge injustice.
As for the man himself, I too think he's a great guy ... though he could learn a thing or two from Steve Waugh.
Talking about Gavaskar and Tendulkar, SG had to face the quickest quicks in his time, often all at once. And he did not have the luxury of equally accomplished batsmen. Sure there was Wadekar, Surti, Sardesai, but I don't think they are in the same league as Azhar, Kapil, or Dravid.
hmmmm...Sachin is Sachin and SG was SG.
Comparison won't do any justice to both greats.
Manu : Right .. but i am 100 % sure he will become more consistent soon .. only time can answer how capable he will be ...
Probably u urself will write a blog on him soon
cheers,
Kamal.
sachin had much greater pressures than sg. diff place in time, more expectations
oh!!i wasnt quite expecting THAT moral. i thought the moral of the story would be "it doesnt matter even if you are a little person" :-|
SwB: i wouldnt agree with the pressure scenarios... and actually his PR guy could learn a lot from waugh's PR guy :)
hyde: hmm, true to an extent... but the mc graths, muralis and the akhtars bring their own set of worries for any batsman...
cynic: yippe, finally someone on my side :))
rapunzel: have always been bad with morals ;)
MANU-i am sorely tempted to test u on that;-hush bad me. go away.
Are you saying the Holding/Garner/Marshall, Thomson/Lillee/Hogg, Willis/Botham or Imran/Sarfraz did not bring their set of worries? :-)
Have you heard about the "Massacre at Sabina Park" in 1976?
Talking about taking a Moral Science test, Raps, I am very interested in seeing how you test Manu. :-))
Post a Comment