Sachin's struggles: a literary creation?

I think I have already read 3 reviews on Tendulkar’s problems with getting bowled and if his time has come. Funnily, each one of them has shown full faith in his ability to iron out the flaws and come out stronger than ever. Let us also consider that Tendulkar’s last test century was against South Africa in January 2011. 16 tests have gone since then, Sachin playing in 13 of those, and 11 centuries have been scored by Indian batsmen in this period, one even by Ashwin, and strikingly 5 by one RS Dravid! All in all it makes it one of the driest periods in Sachin’s career.

I am a big Tendulkar fan. He is the one because of which I started following this great game. And no matter how bad a phase he has been going through, my faith in him has never wavered. Yes, he didn’t have enough 4^th innings performances in bailing India out- something which he has corrected over the last 5-6 years, and yes, he is blocking a youngster’s place in the eleven. But, is there a young batsman in this country who has given performances to stake or even deserve a claim in the XI? Kohli did and Dravid gracefully retired. I still feel there was no debate for Laxman’s place with the no. 6 slot still unclaimed. But maybe the constant controversy forced him to retire.

As mentioned before, I did find the reaction of critics quite funny. It’s because it seems like everyone is now too scared to write the little master off. They did this mistake in 2007-2008 when almost everyone, even respected writers and experts like Ian Chappell and Sanjay Manjrekar wrote their obituaries telling it’s time for Sachin to retire, and then Sachin responded with 2 breath taking years in 2009 and 2010, capping them off with a World Cup win in 2011. The turnaround was so stunning that it seemed for the last 1 year no one had the courage to speak a word even with the 100^th century struggle continuing. Now, it feels they are obliged to speak. But each one is choosing their words carefully, with no one looking for another ‘egg-in-the-face’ moment. It’s all too interesting from an outside perspective- because, if anything Sachin’s struggles in 2008 were of far lesser magnitude than they are now.

If you look at the figures, they would prove so. Though the average is lower back in 2006, but what’s worth noting is that 12 of the 14 tests were played in the subcontinent and on extremely low and slow pitches with most of them resulting in pretty average team scores. In that light, the average of 34 still looks decent. In contrast, 8 of the 13 tests currently are overseas. Especially in Australia, in the later part of the series, Sachin really struggled for his touch.

Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0	4s	6s
2005-2006	14	22	1	711	109	33.9	1508	47.1	1	4	1	108	1
Feb 2011- Now	13	24	0	841	94	35	1581	53.2	0	6	0	113	3

For now, the critics are quiet. Sachin’s powerful response last time might keep them quiet for some more time. If runs still don’t come, we might find these same people asking him to retire soon. Not that Sachin would care. He knows best when the time is right.

RISE OF MSD?

The other thing I wanted to talk about in this section was about MS Dhoni’s response to the retirements of Dravid and Laxman. Before the series started, I thought this might just bring more responsibility on Dhoni (I won’t use the word ‘pressure’- because for MSD there seems no pressure ever), partly because he had a role to play in their faster-than-usual retirements. With no Laxman at 6, and a struggling Raina there to go with Kohli, he might just be expected to bail India out more regularly than usual. He has started well with 2 50s and a 48*.

A big part in MSD coming of age in ODI cricket was the usual inexperienced look of the batting line up, where he was generally in the crease too early, or he was expected to shepherd the innings to a good total. Though his average had always remained at pretty unbelievable levels, but his consistency in scoring has been in sync with him having to move down the order and holding his own in the middle order. His exceptional run of form against England last year in ODIs, when it seemed most others were struggling, and he remained unbeaten throughout the 10 ODIs against England is a case in point. But in tests, the unbreachable ODI avatar gives way to a tentative prodding one.

At least in home conditions, MSD might just gain the consistency we expected from him. Since his debut, only once has he scored 3 consecutive 50+ scores. Otherwise, he has generally been disappointing. In overseas condition, whether he has the technique to survive against decent pace bowling, that’s a question that remains to be answered. Often people ask him to play like Gilchrist, but to keen cricket observers, it would easily be noticed that Gilchrist had a strong technique against quality pace bowling. Yes, later on in his career, Flintoff and co did show a potential weakness by going around the wicket to him, but still not many bowlers could produce that skill level.

Maybe it’s just a mind thing with him. Let’s hope he shows the same consistency again! That would bode well for this new look India!