CricDigs Blogs

It’s been a roller-coaster kind of a Test Match so far. On the opening day/session it looked like India would get bundled out for a small total, but ended the day very strongly, only be bowled out relatively cheaply during the first hour on Day 2. Sri Lankans have posted an enormous total so far and would surely add a lot more to it, from where they almost can not lose this test.

Now the question is would India be able to save this test match? They surely have the batting line up that can play for days but it has also collapsed unceremoniously a few times. As seen many times in the past, Indian team somehow starts almost every test series badly and then tries to come back.

Would that trend repeat itself in Ahmadabad between today and tomorrow?

I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two…hi compactness, technique, stroke production… it all seemed to gel! in reference to Sachin Tendulkar.
- Sir Don Bradman

I’ll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don’t think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player.
- Shane Warne

Today, he showed the world why he is considered the best batsman around. Some of the shots he played were simply amazing. Earlier, opposing teams used to feel that Sachin’s dismissal meant they could win the game. Today, I feel that the Indian players, too, feel this way.
- Wasim Akram

Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don’t know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives.
- BBC Sports

What we (Zimbabwe) need is 10 Tendulkars.
- Paul Strang

You might pitch a ball on the off stump and think you have bowled a good ball and he walks across and hits it for two behind midwicket. His bat looks so heavy but he just waves it around like it’s a toothpick.
- Brett Lee

Nothing bad can happen to us if we’re on a plane in India with Sachin
Tendulkar on it.
- Hashim Amla, the South African batsman, reassures himself as he boards a flight.

We did not lose to a team called India…we lost to a man called Sachin.
- Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1997)

I HAVE SEEN GOD, HE BATS AT NO.4 FOR INDIA
- Matt Hayden

I am fortunate that I’ve to bowl at him only in the nets!
-Anil Kumble

On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations.
The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century.
This Genius can stop time in India!
- Peter Rebouck, Aussie journalist

There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One, Sachin Tendulkar. Two, all the others.
- Andy Flower

HowZat.com has launched!

Howzat is a mixture of management games like From the Pavilion and Battrick but also has an actual gaming interface like Stick Cricket allowing you to play matches online against other users. It’s an in browser cricket game with a management side and the first in it’s genre.

It’s Free to play, and you can play against your friends, or strangers from over the world !

What are you waiting for? Click here to go to Howzat.com and start playing!

Why do we have to go through this pain again and again?? Why can’t Sachin either win all the matches from soup to nuts or somehow give strength to fans like me to handle the disappointment??

We could see it coming…When Sachin kept on batting trying to reach that huge target, you could almost be sure that it is going to end the same way it has ended so many times. Sachin would get out just before the victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat and then it would be all over..It would only be the details that would change..It could be run-outs, bad shots, great fielding, panic and so on…

This is exactly why many of Sachin’s innings get written off as playing-for-himself and not achieving the ultimate target of victory. What is most amazing is that despite all these disappointments, he continues to march on and keep making thousands of runs for himself and his country..

Now the million dollar question…Would Sachin end his astronomical career without having the most coveted trophy in Cricket, The World Cup? Looking at history, it scares me even to think about what will happen in 2011…

Yep, Indian selectors should get rid of all the Kohlis and Karthiks of the world and bring back good old Dravid. He was brought back for the Sri Lankan Series and Champions Trophy and despite playing reasonably well was dropped for the home series…Not fair, I say…

Dravid is probably not a classic ODI player but may be he is the type of batsman you want to come in between (Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir) and Yuvraj. He also brings in all the experience and is definitely an asset while chasing smallish targets, when he can control the game nicely. He may not be as explosive or aggressive as players like Kohli but he would be much more predictable and consistent…

What do you all think?