My first memories of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar go back to the day when he hit the leg spinner Abdul Qadir for 28 runs (or was it 27?) in a single over at Peshawar.My first memories of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar go back to the day when he hit the leg spinner Abdul Qadir for 28 runs (or was it 27?) in a single over at Peshawar.
Sachin wasn't originally supposed to play the game. But since it rained for the major part of the day, the game was turned into a 20 over exhibition match for the ticket paying public, instead of a full fledged one day international. (Sachin's one day debut was in the next game, where he was out for a duck. The wicket went to Wasim Akram)
Sachin had already hit Muhstaq Ahmed for two sixes in an earlier over. It seems Qadir then came to him and said "Bachchon ko kyon mar rahe ho? Hamein bhi maar dikhao." What followed was something like this: 6,0,4,6,6,6.
Sachin finished with an 18 ball 53, and despite that India lost the match. The main reason for that of course was Krishnamanchari Srikanth, the then captain of the team, and now chairman of Selectors. He had treated the game like an exhibition game, and even allowed Qadir to bowl a maiden over to him.
Sachin had played the test matches(which Doordarshan wasn't showing and all we could do was listen to commentary on Radio Pakistan) with Pakistan before this knock, and even scored a couple of half centuries, but this was the knock that really brought him into the limelight.
Now that was 21 years back and Sachin has played many brilliant knocks since then. To me, there is no better sight in cricket, than watching Sachin hit a straight drive of a fast bowler.
But even with all this awe and respect that I hold Sachin in, I simply can't understand why he is not playing the T20 World Cup scheduled to start in the West Indies in less than 10 days.
He is the leading run scorer in this edition of IPL that we all know. In the recent past he has been in the form of his life. And shouldn't that form be benefiting the Indian cricket team as well other than Mrs Ambani and Mumbai Indians?
There are several reasons that people who follow this game closely, have offered, at Sachin's reluctance to play in T20 cricket for India.
The first reason is that he wants to give youngsters a chance. That is the most specious reason to offer for someone's reluctance to play for his country. India should be putting out the best team possible and not the youngest team possible. The best team possible has to include Sachin, given that he is in the form of his life.
When T20 cricket first made an appearance, cricket analysts went to town pointing out that it's a young man's game. But this year's IPL has proved them clearly wrong. Muttiah Muralidharan in the few matches he has played has done very well for the Chennai Superkings. So has Chaminda Vaas for Deccan Chargers.
Shane Warne still gives it's a good tweak, despite not playing any cricket other than IPL. Andrew Symonds who is 34, is one of the best players for Chargers. Mahila Jayawardhane hasn't done too badly for King XI Punjab. And Anil Kumble has given away the least number of runs per over in the tournament. Jacques Kallis isn't doing too badly, given that he is the second highest run getter and has got wickets as well. And of course, on top of all this, Sachin at 37 (he turns 37 on April 24) has been the best batsman by far. So the argument about T20 being a young man's game doesn't hold at all.
The second reason offered is that Sachin aims to play for the 50 over world cup in 2011 and also looking to complete 100 hundreds in international cricket (he is currently at 93). So he should be trying to lengthen his test career and one day international career. While this clearly has some logic, but the logic clearly doesn't hold on questioning.
If the idea is to lengthen his career, why is Sachin playing IPL at all? Including the semi final match to be played today evening, Sachin would have played 14 games in under a month.
If the idea is to avoid T 20 cricket to lengthen his career, Sachin shouldn't be playing any T20 cricket. If he can play IPL, which isn't real cricket after all, he surely should represent India in the T20 world cup.
Some people, have had the view that IPL is a big money spinner, and it isn't fair to expect anyone to give it a skip. Fair point. But the question is how much does Sachin earn out of IPL every year? Around a million dollars. In order to earn that kind of money, all he needs to do is to advertise one more brand. I mean, that would be more feasible way of earning money than playing in this heat at the age of 37.
What makes me sad is the fact that none of the so called cricket analysts who appear on television and write for newspaper everyday have raised this question? Guess they are still waiting for that elusive interview that Sachin might give them.
Given these reasons I see no reason why Sachin is not playing in the T20 cricket other than: Has Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar become bigger than Indian cricket?
Sachin wasn't originally supposed to play the game. But since it rained for the major part of the day, the game was turned into a 20 over exhibition match for the ticket paying public, instead of a full fledged one day international. (Sachin's one day debut was in the next game, where he was out for a duck. The wicket went to Wasim Akram)
Sachin had already hit Muhstaq Ahmed for two sixes in an earlier over. It seems Qadir then came to him and said "Bachchon ko kyon mar rahe ho? Hamein bhi maar dikhao." What followed was something like this: 6,0,4,6,6,6.
Sachin finished with an 18 ball 53, and despite that India lost the match. The main reason for that of course was Krishnamanchari Srikanth, the then captain of the team, and now chairman of Selectors. He had treated the game like an exhibition game, and even allowed Qadir to bowl a maiden over to him.
Sachin had played the test matches(which Doordarshan wasn't showing and all we could do was listen to commentary on Radio Pakistan) with Pakistan before this knock, and even scored a couple of half centuries, but this was the knock that really brought him into the limelight.
Now that was 21 years back and Sachin has played many brilliant knocks since then. To me, there is no better sight in cricket, than watching Sachin hit a straight drive of a fast bowler.
But even with all this awe and respect that I hold Sachin in, I simply can't understand why he is not playing the T20 World Cup scheduled to start in the West Indies in less than 10 days.
He is the leading run scorer in this edition of IPL that we all know. In the recent past he has been in the form of his life. And shouldn't that form be benefiting the Indian cricket team as well other than Mrs Ambani and Mumbai Indians?
There are several reasons that people who follow this game closely, have offered, at Sachin's reluctance to play in T20 cricket for India.
The first reason is that he wants to give youngsters a chance. That is the most specious reason to offer for someone's reluctance to play for his country. India should be putting out the best team possible and not the youngest team possible. The best team possible has to include Sachin, given that he is in the form of his life.
When T20 cricket first made an appearance, cricket analysts went to town pointing out that it's a young man's game. But this year's IPL has proved them clearly wrong. Muttiah Muralidharan in the few matches he has played has done very well for the Chennai Superkings. So has Chaminda Vaas for Deccan Chargers.
Shane Warne still gives it's a good tweak, despite not playing any cricket other than IPL. Andrew Symonds who is 34, is one of the best players for Chargers. Mahila Jayawardhane hasn't done too badly for King XI Punjab. And Anil Kumble has given away the least number of runs per over in the tournament. Jacques Kallis isn't doing too badly, given that he is the second highest run getter and has got wickets as well. And of course, on top of all this, Sachin at 37 (he turns 37 on April 24) has been the best batsman by far. So the argument about T20 being a young man's game doesn't hold at all.
The second reason offered is that Sachin aims to play for the 50 over world cup in 2011 and also looking to complete 100 hundreds in international cricket (he is currently at 93). So he should be trying to lengthen his test career and one day international career. While this clearly has some logic, but the logic clearly doesn't hold on questioning.
If the idea is to lengthen his career, why is Sachin playing IPL at all? Including the semi final match to be played today evening, Sachin would have played 14 games in under a month.
If the idea is to avoid T 20 cricket to lengthen his career, Sachin shouldn't be playing any T20 cricket. If he can play IPL, which isn't real cricket after all, he surely should represent India in the T20 world cup.
Some people, have had the view that IPL is a big money spinner, and it isn't fair to expect anyone to give it a skip. Fair point. But the question is how much does Sachin earn out of IPL every year? Around a million dollars. In order to earn that kind of money, all he needs to do is to advertise one more brand. I mean, that would be more feasible way of earning money than playing in this heat at the age of 37.
What makes me sad is the fact that none of the so called cricket analysts who appear on television and write for newspaper everyday have raised this question? Guess they are still waiting for that elusive interview that Sachin might give them.
Given these reasons I see no reason why Sachin is not playing in the T20 cricket other than: Has Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar become bigger than Indian cricket?
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