Sachin’s mirror says what a billion Indians never could!

Three years ago,

Sachin to an “honest” mirror: Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the best batsman of all?

Mirror: Brian Charles Lara

Now,

Sachin to the same mirror: Mirror mirror on the wall, should I retire?

Mirror: Yes!

Bemused as to what’s going on? Well, this is Ian Chappell’s way of showing Sachin Tendulkar the exit route from cricket. For those who only follow cricket at the outer surface, Greg Chappell’s brother, Ian is a highly acclaimed cricket writer and arguably, the best Test captain ever. Whatever he has done in his stint with cricket, be it on the field as captain or off it as a media man, has been flamboyantly in-your-face. In my book (as well as Shane Keith Warne’s), he is the most astute talker of cricket. In one of his recent posts, he has ripped into Tendulkar’s conservative and ‘statistical’ (playing solely to boost the numbers) approach to batting in the last few years. He has gone on further in his assault on Sachin and established Brian Lara as a superior batter than Tendulkar, an opinion I have held for ages, amidst all the heated resistance. Sure Tendulkar has been more consistent but Lara has been more delightful to watch (through his uniquely different, “kids, don’t try at home” technique, making cricket more watchable), more match-winning and thus, more nightmarish for the opposition.

Even at the minute, the general view in India goes in defense of the 33 year old premier batsman (except some frenetically frustrated fans who want the whole team to be replaced by brand new faces). The most frequently encountered (and the most ludicrous) argument in favor of Tendulkar is the immense “pressure” he has to cope with. Pressure..hmm..what kind?

Financial: A big NO. He is India’s richest sportsman, head and shoulders above the rest.

The pressure of preserving his reputation: Again, no. His reputation was built around match-winning, stroke-filled, dominating play; not meek accumulation of runs aimed at keeping the Test and one-day averages above 50 and 40 respectively.

The only pressure I see is that of heart-broken, maddened fans setting his house on fire after a debacle like the one we witnessed in this world cup. Even that is a very meager possibility as no one has been revered as much in an Indian sport than ST.

This also reminds me of what the best left-arm bowler of all time, Akram said about the hyped word “pressure” recently. He said something like “Ask Imran Khan or Kapil Dev if they ever felt any pressure. Great players revel in crunch situations”.

This quality has been conspicuously missing from the Indian (ex-) giant.

B C Lara, on the contrary, bats like a true king. His recent pre-lunch century against Pakistan, wherein he absolutely pulverized the best leg-spinner going around, was an evidence of that (it was only the fifth hundred scored within the first session of a Test match). It should be noted here that where Sachin milks the spinners behind the wicket for two runs at best, Lara smacks them out of the park, straight down the ground. Mind you, Lara is 37, good four years elder to Tendullkar. So it’s not the aging of the proclaimed little master that has incapacitated him with regards to stamping his authority on the match. It’s the mental side of the game, as Chappell rightly pointed out. Lara has scored two record breaking Test knocks (highest test score in an innings), separated by 10 years. This shows his sustained dominance (not just numbers, but the sheer weight of the feat). He has had a much poorer team and thus, a much less competitive environment to contend with. But he has remained true to himself and said to himself and the world: I play my game this way (however “untextbookish” it is). I aint changing it for anybody, be it fans, ex-cricketers or even the captain (e.g., Jimmy Adams) on the odd occasion. It’s remarkable that the golf-swing-like follow-through, the imposing back-lift (even the slightly trimmed one following Sobers’ advice) and thereby, the fascinating flair of BCL have survived the test of time (17 long years).

Even in his captaincy, Brian hasn’t at all been averse to controversies and the threat of public criticism. His leadership has been as unconventional as his batting. The recent public spat between the national selector Andy Roberts and Brian, over the selection of a genuine batsman at number 8 over fast bowler Taylor, exhibited just that.

The summary is that having raw talent isn’t good enough to remain at the top. You need to mix it up with unflagging belief and pride (I would go to the extent of saying arrogance) in your talent. Having said what I have, I reckon it’s best for Indian cricket if Sachin does NOT retire for another year or two. Not because I am hopeful that he will read my blog and rediscover the winning ways. It’s simply because India’s reserve pool isn’t rich enough to find a decent (let alone better) replacement for him.

Reference: IC’s article