Call It A Day
The misfield by Sachin Tendulkar on the last ball of the series was befitting, and sums up of the situation for him.
The bottom line is - he is not only way away from his prime, and his form is on perpetual decline - he has, in fact, stooped to the lowest level in his career now. I believe, he should have called quits long before, but he doesn't do that now, his erstwhile greatness may get permanently removed from our memories, and that would not be fair to him.
To put things in perspective, here are some statistics. Of all his 35 centuries, since November 2002 he has scored just 4 of them! Amongst these, one century (248 not out) is against Bangladesh; another is against Pakistan (194 not out) at Multan, in which he was playing so slow that acting captain Dravid had to declare even before he could complete his double century!
His earlier century against Australia (241 not out) was dubbed by Ian Chappel as the worst Tendulkar century ever because he just refused to play on off side!
It all started when media commented that Sachin Tendulkar cannot graft in Tests. He plays as if he is playing one days. This reportedly changed the whole psyche of him. Just to show people, he tried to graft. The situation now is - he can neither graft nor play his natural Cricket. The Midas touch is gone, it seems, for ever.
I have no clue why he is still continuing - for country's sake or for his personal ego - but he must go now for his own sake. Its just not happening with him. He looks helpless, clueless, and pathetic on the field.
The way he patently hops down - after every LBW or Bold dismissal, as if to show that ball kept low, which is usually not the case - cuts an extremely sorry picture. Already, people have begun to ridicule about this, and soon the ridicule will expand to the other features of his game with likes of Barry Richards and Imran Khan already sniggering "I told you so".
The worst part is that his old competitors to throne - Lara, and Inzymam are still at their prime, and the new ones like Ponting have hit a perpetual purple patch. That puts Tendulkar's patchy performances even more dismal in comparison.
The last Test match was lost just because of that inexplicable partnership of 24 Runs in 15 overs between Sachin and Dravid. With Ganguly, Dravid was playing decently which is typical to his habit. If the person at the other end is playing good, Dravid would blossom; but if the other guy plays like all is lost, Dravid creates even more dismal scenario.
Anyways, lot said. Time to rethink Sachin. Don't be another Kapil. Give a last try, and if it doesn't happen for you - Call it a day.
The bottom line is - he is not only way away from his prime, and his form is on perpetual decline - he has, in fact, stooped to the lowest level in his career now. I believe, he should have called quits long before, but he doesn't do that now, his erstwhile greatness may get permanently removed from our memories, and that would not be fair to him.
To put things in perspective, here are some statistics. Of all his 35 centuries, since November 2002 he has scored just 4 of them! Amongst these, one century (248 not out) is against Bangladesh; another is against Pakistan (194 not out) at Multan, in which he was playing so slow that acting captain Dravid had to declare even before he could complete his double century!
His earlier century against Australia (241 not out) was dubbed by Ian Chappel as the worst Tendulkar century ever because he just refused to play on off side!
It all started when media commented that Sachin Tendulkar cannot graft in Tests. He plays as if he is playing one days. This reportedly changed the whole psyche of him. Just to show people, he tried to graft. The situation now is - he can neither graft nor play his natural Cricket. The Midas touch is gone, it seems, for ever.
I have no clue why he is still continuing - for country's sake or for his personal ego - but he must go now for his own sake. Its just not happening with him. He looks helpless, clueless, and pathetic on the field.
The way he patently hops down - after every LBW or Bold dismissal, as if to show that ball kept low, which is usually not the case - cuts an extremely sorry picture. Already, people have begun to ridicule about this, and soon the ridicule will expand to the other features of his game with likes of Barry Richards and Imran Khan already sniggering "I told you so".
The worst part is that his old competitors to throne - Lara, and Inzymam are still at their prime, and the new ones like Ponting have hit a perpetual purple patch. That puts Tendulkar's patchy performances even more dismal in comparison.
The last Test match was lost just because of that inexplicable partnership of 24 Runs in 15 overs between Sachin and Dravid. With Ganguly, Dravid was playing decently which is typical to his habit. If the person at the other end is playing good, Dravid would blossom; but if the other guy plays like all is lost, Dravid creates even more dismal scenario.
Anyways, lot said. Time to rethink Sachin. Don't be another Kapil. Give a last try, and if it doesn't happen for you - Call it a day.
Labels: Cricket, Lara, Sachin Tendulkar, Sports
posted by Unknown at 10:38 AM
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