TINA for Sachin
 
Basith Aman |
There Is No Alternative(TINA) for Sachin Tendulkar. Do you agree, even though Sachin has decided to opt out of Indian team's tour of Sri Lanka ? |
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Abu Jacob |
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Cherian Mathai |
Virendar Sehwag says Sachin has the right to pick and choose series. I was wondering whether this is just for Sachin or for all players. I am concerned about the long term implication of this development for cricket. |
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Basith Aman |
Given the seniority and his undoubted commitment to Indian cricket, he should of course be given this privilege atleast. |
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Cherian Mathai |
Sachin's contribution to world of cricket is beyond reproach or question. But a player however big he or she is should not bow out at their whims and fancy. He could have easily opted out of the team before the team was selected. Playing in the country's cricket team is not like mandatory military service! |
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Abu Jacob |
I agree to the fact that he should have bowed out before the team selection. But I don't think this will be a precedent |
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Cherian Mathai |
"Human race will fall behind if Sachin's record is not broken in time" says Kapil Dev. Agree? |
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Basith Aman |
No. These records will not be broken in te near future as the format of cricket tournaments are becoming shorter! |
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Cherian Mathai |
Still the five day test cricket are not going to go away since "national pride" has to compete against each other. Analysts said that Gavaskar's 34 test centuries will never be broken! |
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Abu Jacob |
That is never going to go away. I mean the Test version since, is still considered to be the prestigious form till date. |
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Basith Aman |
My view earlier was keeping apart Test format. I was referring solely to ODI and T20 versions. |
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Cherian Mathai |
Is Sachin's record of 100 centuries for test matches or for ODI and T20 versions or all combined? I thought it was only for test matches. |
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Abu Jacob |
Will that be fair then to compare Sachin with Gavaskar, who has rarely played any ODIs ? |
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Cherian Mathai |
That is a good point. They should have seperate categories for test matches,ODIs and T20s. |
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Abu Jacob |
It is maintained so. But I think its the magical figure of 100 100's in all forms together which is the key figure. |
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Cherian Mathai |
So it is correct to assume that Sachin has not reached 100 centuries in test matches, ODIs or T20s individually. Wonder how his test centuries compares against Bradman and Gavaskar. |
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Cherian Mathai |
Thanks for the clarification, Basith. Do you by any chance know the statistics on how many test centuries does Bradman, Sachin and Gavaskar have scored? |
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Basith Aman |
Bradman has scored 29, Gavaskar 34 and Sachin 51 centuries in Test cricket. |
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Basith Aman |
But check these averages in Test: Bradman - 99.94 Sachin - 55.44 Gavaskar - 51.12 This shows Bradman is definitely made of sterner stuff. |
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Cherian Mathai |
Agreed. Bradman comes out ahead as a run scoring machine after all these years. Since he never played ODIs, I was wondering how the average in ODIs stack up between Gavaskar and Sachin. |
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Basith Aman |
Gavaskar: 35.13 and Sachin: 44.83 are the averages in ODIs between both of them. Here, Sachin is way ahead of Gavaskar. |
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Cherian Mathai |
Great information, Basith. The question then is whether Gavaskar was playing at Sachin's today's age or did he retire early. |
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Cherian Mathai |
Interesting. In that case, should Sachin retire? There are some who are already clamoring for it. |
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Basith Aman |
I wouldn't say so. His body language still shows that he is loving what he is doing. He should play on, I would say. |
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Cherian Mathai |
I tend to disagree. People said the same thing about Gavaskar but it is time to move on. Javed Sayed has written an interesting artilce in this regard and whose excerpts are noted below. Sachin Tendulkar made his debut for India in November 1989 during the last days of Rajiv Gandhi's prime ministership. Nearly half of India's present population born under seven PMs after Gandhi has not known an Indian cricket team without Tendulkar. The country consists of two kinds of cricket fans: those who have grown up watching him, and those who have grown old watching him. Over the last 23 years, Tendulkar has in full public glare transitioned from a child prodigy to the little master to the living legend, answering just about every prayer of over a billion Indians on the way. He has hit more centuries and scored more runs at the international level than any other cricketer. Fifty one test hundreds, one hundred test and ODI centuries--like Don Bradman's test average of 99.94--these milestones will remain the gold standards of international cricket for a long time to come.
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Basith Aman |
I agree. National interest should be given weightage against one's interest to play longer. India should be well equipped for the future Tests, tours and the world cup 2015. |
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Abu Jacob |
Even though National interest should be of highest priority, and taking into consideration the fact that Sachin has not been at his best these days, he should be given time for it. This becomes more evident in the scenario that none of the young bloods have proved their mettle to get into Sachin's shoes atleast for now. |
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Cherian Mathai |
If people subscribe to TINA (there is no alternative) to Sachin, then no new talents will ever emerge. This was the case with Pataudi, Gavaskar, Kapil Dev etc. Once they gave way, new talents such as Sacin and others showed up. Further, "There is merit in the argument that the search for the 100th ton weighed him down, and freed of that burden, the Tendulkar of old will appear this season for one last hurrah. But can Indian cricket wait for such indulgences? It has to set its sights on building the team for the 2015 world cup, as well as for the next tours of England, Australia, and South Africa, which are still a few years away. Virender Sehwag may still be around, but India will have to build a new middle-order without the old galacticos. Also, I want to take issue with the argument that Sachin is still on top of his game. However, as Mukul Kesavan points out " Tendulkar is not at the top of his form or anywhere near it. In the last 13 months, he played 11 test matches, averaging 37.04, against a career average of 55.44. In his entire career, he averages one century in less than four test matches. Last year, he went without a century in 11 tests. As India crashed to eight consecutive defeats in away test matches in England and Australia, he was unable to save his country in one match". |
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Abu Jacob |
TINA for Sachin as of now I would say. There are Kohlis, Rainas, Gambhirs etc but none have been able to provide the anchoring(read morale boost) Sachin used to and still provides for Team India in any crucial match against opponents like Australia and South Africa. Maybe in due course, they might be able to make it after sufficient international exposure, but definitely not now. |
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Cherian Mathai |
TINA to any player is a sign of weakness of the team and the country. It is time to find a "deep bench" for country's team otherwise it will face disaster very soon. It is only a matter of time. No one is indispensable in any sphere of human activity. The others cannot provide morale boost if they are not given the role to do so. Unless new talents come and assume the role the team will be completely on one player which is damaging in the long run. |
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Abu Jacob |
I agree with the fact that this opens the weakness of the team and country. A "bench" equivalent to the playing members are a must too. But is it sufficient just to pick a bench without the 'right' talent - ready to occupy Sachin's shoes ? So I still stick onto the view that Sachin should be given more time to quit, unless he enjoys playing cricket. |
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Cherian Mathai |
Your statement is bolstering the TINA argument. I agree, if there in no good "bench" then the team is in trouble. If the country with over 1 billion people with a dedicated cricket fan base, cannot come up with a good talent to go forward in the coming years and instead has to rely on ONE person, then it is not a good omen. |
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Abu Jacob |
What you have said achieves more significance in the context of ace Indian Test batsman VVS Laxman, calling in quits, all of a sudden. Leaving the motive/provocation behind, Indian selectors have been stumped here - to find a suitable replacement for this Hyderabadi stylish batsman in the 6th postion against the visting New Zealand team. Had there been sufficient grooming for any youngster in the past couple of months/tournaments, this transition would have been a smooth process for the person who is to replace VVS. So if one such player, proves his mettle alongside Sachin, the time for him to call it a day should not be far way, I would say. |
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Cherian Mathai |
It is quite interesting that you brought the retirement of Laxman into the discussion. I think Dhoni made the right remark when he admitted that the experience of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman would be missed. However, he went on to say that “No doubt, the two great players will be missed. But, that’s how it is. It is an opportunity for the youngsters to step up and take responsibility.” |
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Abu Jacob |
But what right does Dhoni have to say “No doubt, the two great players will be missed. But, that’s how it is. It is an opportunity for the youngsters to step up and take responsibility.” ? Dhoni also belongs to the same set of players who did not perform along with Laxman in the overseas tour ?Why was Laxman alone targetted then ? He should have been given the time to retire. As Cheteshwar Pujara has proved his mettle on Indian soil, he can be said to have stepped into Laxman's shoes only if he plays with the same vigour abroad too. Hence let someone else prove his mettle to replace Sachin! |
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Cherian Mathai |
Dhoni as a citizen of a free country has every right to speak. What he said is incontrovertible. It is time for the old guard to move on. No one had heard about Sachin during the era of Bedi, Kapil Dev and others but he came up when the situation presented itself. Now Unmukt and Smit is proving themselves with their world championship few days ago by beating Australia. So to say TINA to Sachin is incorrect and inaccurate. |
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Abu Jacob |
Unmukt and Smit may have proved themselves on the ODI side but are yet to prove themselves on the Test arena, which is in fact considered to be real serious cricket. Even though there has been embarassing moments for Sachin in te just concluded Test against New Zealand, I would still stay there is lot more crticket let in Sachin. Putting Sachin "older" than Dhoni may not look good as Dhoni was equally responsible for the disastrous Australian tour. Hence I would round up saying there may be alternatives for Sachin, but not in Test cricket. |
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Cherian Mathai |
Again, the issue here is not Dhoni and who is responsible for the disastrous Australian tour. The question is, is it time for Sachin to quit so that new talents can come up similarly when Pataudi, Bedi, Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and such luminaries left the scene. This opened up the opportunities for people like Sachin himself. I couldn't agree more with Imran Khan on the same topic. Imran's view is attached below, from The Hindu. Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has joined the debate on Sachin Tendulkar’s future, saying the senior Indian batsman should call it quits at the top of his game instead of leaving himself at the “mercy of selectors“. “Sachin is such a great player but I can only say if I were in his position, I would want to leave on a high and my greatest worry was that I should never be at the mercy of the selectors,” Imran told NDTV. The future of Tendulkar, who has spent over two decades in international cricket, is being debated after he was bowled out thrice on the trot during the Test series against New Zealand recently. Asked if a player of Tendulkar’s calibre could ever be on selectors’ mercy, Imran said, “No, but why put yourself in such a position. I mean Sachin, what a brilliant record he has. Would he not want to? “Again I put myself in that position, my greatest worry was that I would not be able to perform best to my abilities. So people will not remember me for when I was at the peak but when I was leaving my career.” Imran said Tendulkar should be the sole person to decide his future. “I think Sachin is such a great player and people are emotionally attached. I can understand the Indian public, who has been watching him for 23 years. They can’t imagine life without Sachin. “But from Sachin’s point of view, knowing that the kind of pride that he takes in his cricket. There must be a time when he should decide that this is the right time to leave,” Khan said. Imran also reflected on his own career and his decision to retire after the 1992 World Cup. “The reason I retired was because I did not want to be at the mercy of the selectors. I wanted to go out at my peak. The only reason I kept playing was for the cancer hospital,” he said. “The board of governance told me that if you get out of cricket you won’t be able to collect money. That’s the only reason for which I kept playing. Having seen those heights, I just did not want to be at the mercy of selectors or people saying it’s the time you should leave. “That’s why I respect Sunil Gavaskar. He left, he could have gone on. Sunil had one of the best defensive techniques I have seen in a batsman. Given that technique, he could have gone on but he left at the peak,” he added.
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Abu Jacob |
Since you have quoted Imran Khan saying that Sachin should not be at selectors' mercy, I would like to quote another batting legend and Sachin's contemporary Brian Lara : "I know he has already exited from the Twenty20 version of the game, I am not sure if he is still playing the 50 over game but may be another year or two in the Test cricket is left in him ... may be still define himself at the top of scoring the most runs in both the Test and One Day Internationals," Lara had said. This was exactly the point i was trying to emphasize. Sachin, has a good more number of years ahead of him until he hangs up his boots and especially as he is currently focussing only on the Test version of the game. |
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Cherian Mathai |
Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar has admitted for the first time that he is considering retirement. The 39-year-old batsman, who is the leading run-scorer and century maker in Test and one-day international cricket, said he would decide his future on a "series-by-series" basis. Leading century makers
However, he said he expected to play in the home Test series against England in November and December. "I don't think I have plenty of cricket left in me," Tendulkar said. "I will go by what my heart says. At this moment, my heart says I am OK." Asked if he has been thinking of retirement, Tendulkar added in the interview on Indian television: "Of course I have been." Tendulkar, who has scored more than 15,000 Test runs at an average of 55 since making his debut in 1989, has gone 25 innings without making a Test hundred. He was also clean bowled by New Zealand three times in a row during the series in India, failing to make any significant contributions. Before that series, any talk of dropping Tendulkar, the first player to score 100 international centuries, had been taboo in India. However, some former India players and captains now say it is time for him to make way for a younger player. Tendulkar insisted he does not need to make a decision "right now", adding: "When I play in November, I will reassess things. "I am still the best judge of what happens to my mind and body. When I feel it is time, I will take a call. It is going to be a tough call nevertheless, because this is what I have been doing all my life." England will play four Tests against India, the first starting in Ahmedabad on 15 November. Well, we can now conclude the discussion on TINA for Sachin here on lifedotsport. Sachin is contemplating retirement.
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