What is the Utility of Sachin Tendulkar to the Indian Team
66
The Failure of Tendulkar
India has lost the first three tests of the 4 test series with England by huge margins. This despite the presence of Sachin Tendulkar the much touted Indian batting star. His batting average in this series is a measly 27 and his over all contribution negligible. Many of his supporters have been crying hoarse that Sachin is the greatest batsman of all time, but I am afraid they can’t answer a question as to why is he not a match winner in the genre of a Bradman, Vivian Richards or Sobers.
Sachin has indeed piled up individual records, but in a team game which has 11 players, these records pale into insignificance if the end result is defeat. In fact Sachin who has been around for almost 20 years has done precious little to see that India win test matches abroad. During the almost two decades Sachin has been with the Indian team his presence has had no effect in India winning matches outside Indian soil. In fact his performance outside India has not been decisive and India has suffered some stupendous defeats. One wonders how with Sachin Tendulkar in the team India could not win a series in Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and News Zealand on their home soil. The bottom line is that India also lost to Zimbabwe and that is something difficult to explain.
A great player does pile up records, Bradman did so and so did Sobers and Richards, but they had an effect and saw to it that their teams won. Unfortunately this has not happened with Sachin in the Indian Team. He has piled up records but his performance has not ensured an Indian victory outside India. Even one can fault him on his commitment like he declined to tour the West Indies on the plea that he wanted to be with family. A professional player at the top will never give such a lame excuse to avoid playing on a difficult tour. The end result was disastrous as Sachin entered the English tour without match practice and has come a cropper. He may still hit a hundred in the last test at the Oval but that will be small consolation to Indian’s as the series is well and truly lost. The question is that if India cannot win abroad, do we need this man to just keep piling personal milestones?
CommentsLoading...
Thank you Binaya for your comment. Sachin may still do the trick at the Oval
I think that Sachin may be toying with Father Time for too long. Some batsmen bat until they're 40-odd. Geoff Boycott and Clive Lloyd did that. Recently, Sanath Jayasuriya did that. In his last ODI in England, Jayasuriya looked a shadow of himself.
Tendulkar may regain some form, but he is 38 and one day his age will bite him - sooner than later. He's just hanging on, but it seems as though Dravid is a better batsman in his old age than Tendulkar. Given that Dravid is not as flamboyant as The Little Master, it may be easier to block deliveries than to play a stroke-filled innings.
I doubt that India has anyone to replace Tendulkar or Dravid and that will be their problem. However, to keep him on and develop young players through IPL will lead to the demise of Test cricket in India.
Thank you Spiffy, for a wonderful comment
Binaya.Ghimire 9 months ago
I enjoyed England vs India because England, one of my favorites, was able to quell India. However, I feel sorry because Sachin, who holds wonderful world records for most runs and centuries in the world cricket, underperformed. I will be very happy if he scores a century to make another world record of 100 centuries. I was also happy for Rahul Dravid for scoring back to back centuries.