Experts keep writing off the great man. The Little Master keeps answering with his bat - and keeps his critics busy chewing over their words - 49 times over!
The slightest dip in Tendulkar's form, an injury scare or two, getting out to a mere rookie bowl, crashing out of the 2007 World Cup - all these ring in the alarm bells and the prophecies of doom. Especially from the 'Group of Death' - Ian, Greg, Peter, Tony or Geoffrey - who so often write the epitaphs.
Why is it that our media gives so much space to 'outside' opinion on Indian Cricket, while not giving an inch to the real 'Indian Cricket Follower' - no place for the 'right to refute' - with facts?
How many times do we have to slavishly lap up the dishing out from 'foreign hands' - though their offerings can be way below par?
And when they are proved wrong, none of these critics have the grace to retract and apologise. Au contraire, they unashamely become 'fair-weather' columnists.
Exceptions are there, of course. Rohit Brijnath (a damn good writer) is the first (and the last) to retract. He apologised gracefully, in 2007, that he was completely wrong about Sachin.
Wish some other cricket writers/experts would follow suit, in particular Ian Chappell and Peter Roebuck. Undoubtedly legends in their fields, and for good reason, but...
It's all very well to be appreciated as a great cricket expert but greatness also means acknowledging one's mistakes...you owe it to your readers, don't you? Especially when the readers follow cricket keenly and can judge players and situations for themselves !
No, I am not being defensive, xenophobic, touchy, hero-worshipping, fault-finding or patriotic. It's just that I have a very good 'foul-weather' memory - unlike most other cricket fans!
And I'd like to put the record straight on the not so straight talk from those who 'shoot off their mouth' - on Indian Cricket.
Refresh the Memories:
Ian Chappell on Sachin
After India's untimely exit at the World Cup last year, Ian Chappell went to town on Sachin, charging him to retire. A couple of Chappell's remarks are replayed here:
"Sachin playing for the wrong reasons...Sachin to honestly look in the mirror!"
How wrong and short-sighted that assessment was! How badly did Chappell misjudge a player and the situation? The Aussie showed none of the acumen and sharpness that made him such a great cricket captain.
In Peter Roebuck's case - two glaring examples of 'shooting off his mouth' are:
1. When he wrote in December 2005 that Ganguly should be 'tossed overboard....'
2. And in June 2006 when he lashed out at Sachin for taking the 'lamentable' decision to join the 'Lashings Club'...
In June 2006, Sachin, making a comeback to international cricket after surgery on his left shoulder, joined the Lashings Cricket Club in England and promptly made a smashing hundred.
Mr. Roebuck, in turn, wrote a 'lashing' piece titled "Tendulkar's decision lamentable" in The Hindu (June 24, 2006), wherein he castigated Tendulkar for the "mistake" in joining "past players in their unending parade, for "casting himself as over the hill", for "swanning around," in the quest for rehabilitation.
"Nevertheless, it is a mistake. Tendulkar does not belong in this company. Far from advancing his rehabilitation, these appearances may set him back. By offering the temptations of the easy life, they may weaken his resolve."
"Great warriors belong in the field, not in tents re-enacting their most famous victories"
How lamentable this criticism proved to be!
Soon after the 'Lashings' stint, in September 2006, Sachin scored a scintillating comeback century (40th one-day ton), remaining not out, against the West Indies in the DLF Cup Tri-series in Kuala Lumpur.
Peter Roebuck must be 'lamenting' that piece now - for Sachin remains (to use Peter's own words) "sharp of mind, strong of limb and quick of wits," nor has he lost "the competitive drive." Time has shown what "Company he keeps."
Greg Chappell
Flash back to what the ex-India coach had to say about the "Seniors," and in particular questioning the attitude and commitment of a Tendulkar.
It would be relevant to give here the views of another Aussie legend, viz, Bobby Simpson (a highly respected 'Western' Australian Cricketer) who had strongly criticised Chappell for his attitude towards the Indian 'seniors'.
Simpson said, in April 2007, and I quote from Rediff India Cricket
"Sachin was a dream to coach...Obviously Greg Chappell had problems with the attitude of some of the top players. I found his public declaration of his dissatisfaction over the attitude and commitment of his senior players most disappointing.
"His lack of success with the Indian cricket team has come as no surprise to the Australian cricket fraternity. He is admired greatly for his wonderful, graceful and successful batting and I feel he was one of the greatest slip fielders of all time but his captaincy and coaching did not command the same respect."
Allan Border
It's ironical that Border, who was 38 when he called it a day, recently called the 'Srikkanth-selected squad for the Indo-Australian series' - a 'Dad's
Army...a very, very old Indian side." Had he stopped to look at his vulnerable, venerable team - with 34-to-be Ponting heading a bunch of '33 and plus' players - Hussey, Stuart Clark, Katich, not to mention the injured 36-year-old McGain, he wouldn't have presumed to give advice to our selectors on how to deal with the 'F' factor. 'Fading Fab Five' or 'Fantastic, Fabulous, Famous Five'.
Tony Greig
"Indian players never quit - they have to be pushed out," without stopping to reflect on the average retirement age of the Aussie players - 36-38.
We harp on the 'Indian' shelf factor, comparing our 'reluctant to retire' players to the 'knowing when to quit' Aussies, without stopping to think each to their own, and that the Australian Greats who retired were all well over 36 and had their fair share of loss of form and fitness prior to leaving on a high.
Geoffrey Boycott
"Some Indian batsmen just there for endorsement deals."
Legendary as he is, do we really need a Boycott to endorse our legends, whose deeds endorse their characters.
We have our home-grown detractors as well.
The 'white elephant' remarks come to mind, the 2006 booing by the Wankhede Stadium spectators during the England-India Test Serie, the 'End'ulkar captions, "can make and break records only against Bangladesh."
Any true Sachin follower would be able to tell the critics: Assess Tendulkar by his personality, by the exemplary way he plays the sport, by his evidently boyish enjoyment of the game, by the fact that not only is he such a good judge of a run but can judge for himself how long he can run.
He would be the first to call it a day and not keep people in the dark - if he was not up to the task at hand.
There is no way he would carry on playing if he did not have the same hunger and enjoyment - and ability to perform - as when he started out.
Let's respect ourselves more, without waiting for approval from outside.
Why do some cricket experts knee-jerk into sweeping statements? Sure, a player (and his fans) must be able to swallow bitter pills but so must the critics!
There is a big difference between voicing constructive criticism, and between taking a very strong and wrong stand on certain players and then - when one is proved totally wrong - the retraction should follow, shouldn't it?
When will cricket writers stop writing off champions? And when will they stop taking their audience for granted?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment