Blogs Was This Really Necessary?
November 23rd, 2008 by kapoorI honestly believe that for once Tendulkar has put his own interest before that of the team. This is with regards to the fact that India was already 3-0 up in the ongoing one-day series against England and Sehewag and Gambhir were establishing themselves as a reliable opening pair. The opening slot had been a problem area for the Indian team for time. After trying out many combinations, for once the Indians have a pair capable of opening the innings both in the one-dayers and test matches, not to mention Gambhir’s explosive exploits in the T20 appearances he had made. For his own benefit and that of the team, Gambhir and Sehewag should have been given the liberty to carry on tearing into the opposing team’s bowling in their typical manner and this seven-match series against England was the perfect platform for the Sehewag-Gambhir combo to mature as a ‘pair’ and silence any questions that may have been raised against their temperaments/techniques when it came to opening the innings.
However, the selectors chose otherwise. For some strange reason, rather than using this series as an opportunity to try out the likes of Badrinath, they went back to calling upon Tendulkar — that too when the series had already been wrapped up. Was Tendulkar’s inclusion really necessary? Was there really a need to offset Gambhir’s batting position for the fourth one-dayer? After struggling for nearly three seasons, Gambhir had finally arrived at the international scene and then for some stupid, unconceivable reason Tendulkar was chosen to open the innings with Sehewag and Gambhir had to demote himself to the one-down slot. This is where I am questioning the wisdom of Tendulkar. Wasn’t it apparent to him that Sehewag and Gambhir is the pair for the future and they really enjoy batting in each other’s company? In all probability, Tendulkar was asked to choose his batting position. Did he do justice to the young and upcoming Gambhir, who is in the form of his life, to come down the batting order? Couldn’t Tendulkar fathom that this might again disrupt Gambhir’s peace of mind and shouldn’t he have been looking out for his younger counterpart in the team?
I didn’t like Greg Chappell like most other people, but once there had been a report of how Tendulkar had insisted that he would open the innings or he had to be dropped from the team!! Some newspapers highlighted the fact most members of the team felt that Tendulkar’s presence was more wanted in the middle order. Since we were all in a Chappell-hating mode at that time, this issue didn’t register in many people’s mind but now it seems to have come up again. Isn’t Tendulkar prioritising his convenience above the team’s best interest?
November 25th, 2008 at 12:43 am
I think you have really got your facts wrong. In the past 8 to 10 years, when did India EVER struggle with the opening partnership? Now before you get all upset, my question is with respect to the ODI opening partnership. India has ALWAYS struggled with the TEST opening partnership, and NEVER with the ODI opening partnership. Please do not confuse between the two. Earlier for a long long time India had the world’s best opening pair in Tendulkar and Ganguly. After that, it was Tendulkar and Sehwag who were even better together. And actually, before Gambhir came, India always struggled with the opening pair if Tendulkar was NOT in the team for any reason.
There is no question about who should open the batting when Tendulkar is in the team. It is ridiculous to think that he should bat at No. 4 or 5. India have an in-form Yuvraj, Dhoni and Pathan to hit the ball out of the park much more effectively than Tendulkar. And at least Yuvraj and Dhoni can also steady the ship if India lose early wickets.
Do not blame Tendulkar for all the things that happen with him. We all know that Dhoni will not take any nonsense like this as a captain. Tendulkar has had so much success opening the innings, it is quite inconceivable to have him bat at any other place. Gambhir has been as successful batting at number 3 as he has been at the top of the order. I think it was the best thing to do in the scenario.
Even Dhoni had only great words to say about Tendulkar returning to the team. With all the youngsters in the team (Zaheer being the most experienced) it was good to have someone as experienced as Tendulkar in the team. He knows better than us where he is best suited to bat. And Dhoni also acknowledged that Tendulkar’s experience will be most useful during the opposition team’s batting powerplay.
Let us spare him of all the ridiculous and unwarranted criticism at the end of his career.
November 25th, 2008 at 4:30 am
@kapoor: Also, I have to ask you this. Do you have a spy in the dressing room to be so sure about Tendulkar demanding to open? Dhoni very well knows that Sachin played a HUGE part in India winning the CB series in Australia and values his presence on and off the field. But may be not, right? Because he only scored one century and one Ninety in the CB finals!!
You also have to be kidding yourself when you said that India had wrapped up the series before the 4th ODI was won. It is not over until it is over. It is time we Indians start showing some respect for someone great like Sachin. Trust me when he is done with Cricket, there will not be anyone like him……
As for Gambhir, please note that generally the rule of thumb is to send your best in-form batsman at #3….
November 26th, 2008 at 11:42 pm
The question of having a spy in the dressing room really wasn’t neeeded. this fact was highlighted when Chappell wanted Tendulkar to play in the middle order and he had clearly declined. His reluctance and Guru Greg’s stubborness were in the news for nearly a week, so i didn’t really need to hire spies for peeping into anyone’s dressing room.
Sachin has had a preference for the opening slot and although i don’t have anything against that, — despite Ganguly and Tendulkar forming an excellent opening partnership over the years — how many matches did they manage to wrap up. Ravi Shastri too said that the Indian batting order has been top-heavy for nearly a decade. Now, the balance seems to be struck with Sehewag and Gambhir at the top — now we actually have a set of openers good enough to open both in the tests and one-dayers. further the middle order has many young/inexperienced players — thus, making it even more warranted that someone like Tendulkar guides them into their roles before he hangs up his boots. there is no one else capable of being equally good in the middle and top order as sachin.
Gambhir has had confidence issues for a very long time — this i actually know because his father had given an interview on NEO sports that how easily his son could get perturbed over the smallest of issues — if his slot is tampered with continuously there is a big chance that he might lose whatever rhythm he has gained so far —- and Jatan,
Dhoni can’t be asked to hold together the middle order always — and Pathans — irfan or yusuf can’t be trusted with being consistent either. so who do we have good enough to play in the middle order and help out the youngsters like raina, rohit sharma ?? we don’t really have a choice — it has to be Sachin. Yuvi too has just now hit a purple patch — so don’t get overboard with him being the next Mr. Consistent for India, he has a few more miles to go before getting there. even if Sachin vacates the opening slot for the last two/three years of his career would it really make a difference to him? no, but it will ensure a better prepared and stronger Indian middle order.
November 27th, 2008 at 5:22 am
Boss, if Gambhir is so easily perturbed, then I REALLY dont want him to be in the team, let alone open! He can be such a bad influence! And the Indian team cannot be ‘afraid’ that Gambhir will lose his rhythm because of such a thing.
As for holding the middle order, I do not expect Dhoni to hold it ALWAYS. But others should contribute when he doesn’t.
Sachin is not a cure-all. If he fails in the middle order, we will blame him for that too. Let him do what he does best!
And.. you expected Sachin and Ganguly to ‘wrap up’ a match? Like score 250 - 300 for no loss? When was the last time a team ever did that? Quite strange, your arguments!
November 27th, 2008 at 6:56 am
Wrapping up a match doesn’t neccesarily mean scoring the last winnings runs too. What the reply meant was that India traditionally had a one-day team that had superb starts from Sachin/Saurav but the middle order repeatedly/serially failed to take the team through. This problem has now been resolved somewhat with Dhoni + Yuvraj and Sachin’s presence would only help the middle order further. again, his vacating the opening slot won’t compromise the team’s interest as viru-gambhir have got their game on. As far as the question of self-confidence/”being perturbed” goes, everyone from the great Chapells to Gavaskar, Azzhu, Dravid have gone through such phases when they doubted their self worth — Ian Chappell even mentioned it in a book — How easy it happens to Gambhir only he can tell, but if there is a simple way of keeping it at bay and it causes no harm to the team, then what is wrong with it? Dravid too would start his innings very easily “perturbed”, chanting a small Shloka he had been advised, everytime he came to the crease for the first three years of his international cricket — so many people suggested that he was too tense — eventually he overcame the problem — he wasn’t thrown out because he had a problem, he dealt with it.. if Gambhir needs some time to figure this out , then so be it.