'Good that Sachin missed 100th ton' - Nasser Hussain

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Nasser Hussain feels it was "best" for India that Sachin Tendulkar missed out on his 100th hundred as it would have diverted attention from the team's "abysmal" in the match series.

Tendulkar was dismissed on Monday for 91 on the fifth day of the fourth Test which India eventually lost by an innings and eight runs to suffer a 0-4 series whitewash.

Hussain, who commentated during the series, says had the master blaster reached the magical figure, it would have also taken the gloss off the Rahul Dravid's performance in the series in which he scored three hundreds.

"As someone who has played against him, knows him a bit and respects him so much, I thought this would be a fitting stage and the perfect occasion for him to get there," Hussain said on Tuesday.

"There was a sell-out crowd here with a large Indian support and it also seemed right that the piece of history should come in a big Test match rather than a one-day game.

"I was also hoping I would be able to commentate on the big moment. But now I think it is best for India that he got out when he did.

"If the piece of history had come now, the whole of India would have been celebrating and the partying could have gone on for days. And that would have papered over the cracks in Indian cricket and overshadowed all that Rahul Dravid has achieved this last month."

"Nothing should be allowed to obscure how bad India, with the exception of Dravid, have been. Nothing should get in the way of the fact they have been absolutely abysmal."

Hussain reckons that India were one of the poorest team to have toured England since he retired and sees the hosts winning the five-match One-day series starting Sep 3.

"They are without doubt one of the poorest teams I can remember touring England, either as a player or since I retired. The gulf between India and Andrew Strauss's team has been massive.

"Sachin will get to that 100th hundred, don't worry about that. Maybe even in the one-day series next week. How India could do with a lift because, looking at their squad for those five matches, I think England will be more than capable of being stronger than them again, particularly in the field."

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Tendulkar's ton of tons will come in ODIs: Ganguly

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Ganguly backs Tendulkar to complete ton of tons in upcoming ODIs vs England

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has backed Sachin Tendulkar to complete his elusive hundredth international hundred in the forthcoming five-match ODI series against England.

Tendulkar was dismissed lbw by Tim Bresnan for 91 on the final day of the fourth Test on Monday. "His dismissal (by Bresnan) proved that cricket is a one-ball game. It doesn't matter how much you have your eye in, one good ball can get you out," Ganguly told MiD DAY after England completed a 4-0 whitewash of India here at The Oval.

Indeed! Tendulkar had concentrated for 235 minutes in India's pursuit to draw the Test: "I know the entire nation is disappointed. A century from his blade would have at least given some respite to them since it has been a forgettable tour."

Ganguly expressed confidence that Tendulkar will score heavily in the ODIs. "I am pretty confident that his hundred will come in the one-dayers. Let's not foget Tendulkar is only human after all. He has reached 99 hundreds, so obviously he will get to the 100 mark. I cannot stop being proud of him," said Ganguly, a close friend of the Little Master.

Ganguly got nostalgic while recalling his first meeting with Tendulkar. "When I went to England for the first time with Kailash Gattani's Star Cricket Club as a teenager, Sachin was part of that team too. I observed him and had no doubts that he would blossom into a great player. It's been an incredible journey," said Ganguly, before defending Tendulkar's performance in the four Tests (273 runs from 8 innings). "In fact, he has not had a bad Test series in England. He started batting well at Lord's itself. It's just one those series when things don't click," said Dada admitting he was fortunate to have seen Tendulkar's greatest efforts first hand. "According to me, his best knocks have been Perth (1991-92), Cape Town (1996-97), Chennai (1998-99 & 2008-09) and Headingley (2002). I was fortunate to witness them from close quarters. He still has some great knocks left in him," concluded Ganguly.

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England apply maths to keep Sachin silent

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A mathematician's plan and modern technology have helped England keep Sachin Tendulkar's bat quiet in the ongoing Test series against the Indian cricket team, according to reports. England has relied on drawing Tendulkar outside his offstump in the early part of his innings rather than let him get h
is runs on the onside and this ploy is the result of a computer simulator plan, created by team analyst Nathan Leamon.

"We feed into the simulator information about pitches and the 22 players who might play, and it plays the game a number of times and tells us likely outcomes." Leamon was quoted as saying in a British newspaper.

England believe Tendulkar largely gets his runs on the onside until he has made 50 and they have denied him the advantage completely.

Of the 261 balls bowled to Tendulkar by England's fast bowlers till the Edgbaston Test, 254 have pitched outside his off-stump, six have been in the line of the stump and just one beyond leg-stump.

Tendulkar, world's greatest run-maker ever and on the cusp of his 100th international hundred, has so far got 34,12, 16, 56, 1, 40 and 23 from seven innings for a combined total of 182 from the series at an average of 26.00.

Leamon, nicknamed "Numbers" by England players, breaks down the target area of the pitch into 20 blocks, each 100cm x15cm, in his software and bowlers begin to get a better idea of where to aim against a particular opponent.

The software records how many times a ball is pitched in each block and the resulting shot. This data is then used by England bowlers to work out the best areas to bowl to exploit each batsman's weakness.

On the basis of this data, Leamon helps England's coach and captain, Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss, to see clearly which players might do best to a certain ball in a certain situation.

"It helps us in strategy and selection. I've checked the program against more than 300 Tests and it is accurate to within 4-5 per cent."

Leamon apparently has chronicled every ball bowled in Test cricket for the past five years, dissecting to the last detail how each pitch and player perform in different circumstances and situations.

Leamon, a former Cambridge mathematician, does use video data but he makes greater use of Hawk-Eye ball-tracking system.

"It's all about asking the right questions, which can be short cut to six months of work. A lot of the old ways of looking at the technique of opponents leads to guesswork—feet position, how they hold the bat. Hawk-eye enables you to come up with answers.

"We classify balls in certain ways nad how opposing batsmen deal with each type. It is unusual for anyone not to have an area in which they don't have some sort of weakness. If the bowlers can hit the right block twice an over, it markedly increases the chance of success," Leamon said.

"Of all the Indian players, we have executed our plans best to Tendulkar. We have bowled brilliantly at him," he added.

According to an insider in the Indian team, Tendulkar did work out what England were doing to him by the time the third Test match was played at Edgbaston.

Tendulkar realised that he was being made to reach out to deliveries, that the strokes he was attempting were going on the left of the cover fielder—an indication that he was playing beyond his body.

He was getting out to catches in the slip cordon as well as leg before because his head was falling outside the line of off-stump.

In order to counter this tactics, England took a middle and leg stump guard in the second innings of the Edgbaston Test and stood outside his crease.

He thus became surer of his off-stump and his off-side strokes were now going to the right of the cover fielder.

England then tried to desist Tendulkar from following his change in batting tactics and Matt Prior immediately came up to the stumps to James Anderson to force the little master back into his crease.

Leamon, 39, was recruited by Flower shortly after he became England's coach in 2009. He is also a qualified cricket coach.England apply maths to keep Sachin silent
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Sachin completes 33,000 international runs

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London: Sachin Tendulkar reached another milestone on Sunday when he completed 33,000 international runs in the fourth Test against England here at The Oval.

Needing just five runs to reach the landmark, Tendulkar brought it up with a clip for a single off England spinner Graeme Swann, even as India stared at the prospect of a 4-0 whitewash after following on.

He is the first batsman to score 12,000, 13,000 and 14,000 runs in Test cricket.

However, the Test series against England has not been a productive one for the Indian master, who has failed to live up to the challenge posed by the in-form England bowlers.

He arrived in England with 99 international centuries but failed to convert his starts into anything big, which has been a major reason for India losing their No. 1 Test ranking.

In 2008, Tendulkar surpassed Brian Lara's record for most runs scored in Test cricket. Subsequently, he also became the first batsman to score 12,000, 13,000 and 14,000 runs in the longer version of the game.

The little master has also scored a world record 18,111 runs in one-day cricket and 10 runs in the only Twenty20 international he has played for India.
#Sachin Tendulkar #India, #England

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Cameron meets Sachin, says it is an ‘honour’

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London: “It’s an honour to have met with and spoken to (Sachin) Tendulkar... I’ve been his fan.”

That was David Cameron, the United Kingdom’s flamboyant Prime Minister, in a brief chat with The Telegraph, at The Oval, on Friday evening.

It was around 7.30 pm local time.

Speaking exclusively while walking briskly to his dual coloured Jaguar, after having spent more than four hours at the ground, Cameron added: “I’m actually big on cricket and have been following this series...

“England had such a great day in conditions ideal for cricket... An entire day of sunshine, plenty of runs... Very enjoyable.”

By then Cameron reached his car and the five security officials surrounding him made it clear that the questions had to end.

The Prime Minister was off in a flash, with a Range Rover, driven by a lady, leading the way.

Cameron met Sachin in the India dressing room after making a “specific request” for a one-on-one with The Master. That was at the end of Day II of the fourth and final Test.

Late on Friday, Sachin texted the following to this Reporter: “The Prime Minister had just come to say hello... He said that I was welcome in the UK anytime.”

Cameron also met the India manager, Anirudh Choudhry, and ‘reserve’ Pragyan Ojha, who happened to be standing near Sachin.

To talk of the day’s cricket... An excellent first session, followed by two forgettable ones... From India’s perspective, the script didn’t change.

Friday, therefore, turned out to be another day of misery for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his band of mentally and physically drained men.

Possibly, emotional wrecks too.

The first hour, though, had put England in a spot of bother. Alastair Cook fell in the very first over and captain Andrew Strauss scored two from 32 deliveries before getting out.

After that, it was Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen all the way. Both got ‘Daddy Hundreds’, pleasing Graham Gooch no doubt, and held India by the jugular.

That it would again become a one-way traffic became apparent in the afternoon itself, which is why former captain Andrew Flintoff, who’d come with his sons, left shortly after tea.

“A wonderful day for England, I enjoyed it,” Flintoff told this newspaper, holding each son by the hand.

By then, both Bell and Pietersen had got hundreds.

Pietersen fell shortly before the close, for a superb 175, which had one blemish only, but Bell is in sight of his maiden double hundred. His 181 not out has been chanceless.

Given India’s bowling, which lacks just about everything, another day of frustration is on the cards for those who’re still backing Dhoni and Co.

The state of affairs couldn’t be sorrier.

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