ARTICLE: Tendulkar making it one-sided (S.Gavaskar) - 21 Mar 1995
Tendulkar making it one-sided : S.M.Gavaskar
If there is anything that the India No.1 Challenger tournament
has proved, it is that for the event to be competitive Sachin
Tendulkar must not play for any team. He simply makes the match a
no contest with his genius. We all know that he can bat like a
dream and he has a most powerful arm in the field but, even as a
bowler, he ties down the batsmen and reduces their footwork to
nothing.
Take Tendulkar out and the whole tournament becomes a competitive
affair. With him in the side it is hopelessly one-sided. Perhaps
this is being unfair to the other players in the India team but
just look at the influence the little champion has had on both
matches the Seniors have played and one will perforce have to
agree that he and he alone makes the difference.
The hundred has eluded him so far and hopefully he is keeping it
for the big matches in Sharjah in a couple of weeks time.
Perhaps, he should see how Brian Lara lofted the ball only after
he got his century in the one dayer in Trinidad and thus minim-
ised the risks of getting out even without sacrificing his
stroke-making. Sure, nobody should complain if a player gets runs
in the quick time he does but then even if he is not greedy for
more runs, we the Indian cricket followers are for the simple
reason that the more he bats, the more we can enjoy his batting.
Also, most records have come about when players are in their ear-
ly 20s than later when physically and mentally it becomes that
much more difficult.
There were other impressive performances, too. Vikram Rathore,
the tall, upright player from Punjab, impressed with the way he
moved into the strokes. He was up against Prabhakar and Srinath
and he looked comfortable against both. Even when the spinners
came on, his footwork was sure and the way he moved back to a
short ball from Raju and dispatched it over midwicket for a six
indicated the time he had to play as well as the power in his
shots.
Utpal Chatterjee was the other India `A` player to catch the eye
for he went to bat positively and, even when Tendulkar was savag-
ing everything, he did not wilt under the onslaught but kept go-
ing and claimed not only Tendulkar but also Kambli later on. More
than actual performances, it is the attitude and approach that
should be considered by the selectors for a player can have a bad
day.
If that is the criteria, then Saurav Ganguly and Salil Ankola
have done their chances no harm at all.
Salil Ankola has a point to prove to the selectors. Suddenly and
inexplicably he found himself out of the Indian side, inspite of
bowling well during the few opportunities he had. Plus, the
way he was given out, off Tendulkar was upsetting, so he concen-
trated his fire on Tendulkar and had the little man in some
measure of difficulty with his pace and bounce. It is hot out
here in Calcutta and fast bowlers should be brought in spells
of five overs but Ajay Sharma gave him that one extra over
when he was tiring and Tendulkar swiftly had his comeback.
Sharma`s captaincy was baffling and he seemed to have lost in-
terest after Tendulkar went on the rampage. He did not remove
himself from the slips or close-in position inspite of hardly a
ball going past the edge off the India batsmen. Such lacklustre
leadership does tell on the performance of the others in the team
and the youngsters seemed to be at a loss at the lack of direc-
tion from the top. The India team in this tournament have no such
problem. They have an assured captain and an even more assured
deputy!
Source :: IndiaWorld online
Contributed by cric8wala (sidi@iastate.edu)
