So Sachin has his way. The other guy blinked! and quit, without fighting. It would have been very nice if Greg Chappel had taken on the various issues facing Indian cricket, head on. He would have done yeomen service to the cause of Indian cricket. Do you expect Gavaskar or Sastri or anyone else with their hands close to the till to speak forthrightly?
Ok, so we did not like what Chappel said, or more accurately, our senior cricketers did not like what he said. But do we really need Chappel to say what he did? If our senior fellas were to examin their respective consciences instead of their bank accounts, even they would have shame facedly conceded that they really did not justify the confidence placed on them.
Tendulkar harps in the last 17 years. Is he trying to say " Look, I have been good enough..." But Mr Tendulkar, you were very good till 2 years ago, tell us honestly, how good are you today? From a time when u were never clean bowled, now you get bowled out ever so often, and that too in awkward postures. Or LBW. Your reflexes have slowed down, your body has taken a beating, and you are now a pale shadow of yourself.
You are a mountain, or were a mountain, and your dignity requires you to accept the truth, face reality and quit. Instead, many of us, and we are fairly reasonable people, believe that you are continuing only to fulfil your commercial obligations, and in the process you are undermining the very team you built. Do think over. There certainly is a kernel of truth in what Chappel said.
Ganguly? He seems to have come back, but somehow one gets the stench of politics whenever he is around. Some people are better kept away, and he seems to be one of them.
Harbhajan...there is no debate on this. He has to go, he is useless. He is a pretend bowler.
Agarkar- he has to go too, with clear instructions to the selection committee that he should not be selected even if he takes 10 wkts in a match and scores a 100 too!
Sehwag???? He is a question mark?
Dhoni should be told to practice on different wkts. Karthik shd be keeper for both tests and ODI.
Dravid? This is I think his first bad, or relatively bad patch. He can be given some rope.
Yuvraj swaggers arond like he is Viv Richards. Somebody should point out to him that he is not a patch on Viv. If he swaggering around for his looks, let him go and model in Lakme fashion week or something. He definitely needs a dose of home grown truth. But keep him.
If you were to do a poll of sensible, reasonable people, the results may surprise many. IT would probably say that Greg Chappel was not very far from the truth, and its time for many of these guys to go.
So where did Greg go wrong? For not manipulating and for his sledge hammer approach? For speaking the truth which the Gavaskars and the Sastris are unwilling to face, that their pet batsman is now a parody of his previous glorious self?
So what do we do now? Like the ostrich, stick our face into the mud, tell ourselves that this Gora had no business to tell off our icon, appoint Sachin as captain, give him Agarkar and the rest of his choices, watch him spend more time on our TVs rather on the ground, and then plead " Contribution for the last 17 years"?
Sachin its time for you to go. We love you, go while we still love you. Dont wait to be booted. No amount of money is worth that.
Eventhough Tendulkar's overall stats look impressive, check out his recent performances against the two best sides - apart from the 55 against South Africa at Centurion, he hasn't managed a single half-century in 11 innings. The best players always like to measure themselves against the strongest opposition, and in Tendulkar's case the recent numbers don't stack up well at all.
VERSUS AUSSIE AND SOUTH AFR. SINCE SEP 2005 - Sachins average is PATHETIC - MERE 14 runs per inng Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s Yuvraj Singh 5 209 52.25 1/ 1 Rahul Dravid 9 248 31.00 0/ 3 Virender Sehwag 10 247 27.44 0/ 2 Irfan Pathan 8 148 21.14 0/ 0 Mohammad Kaif 8 142 20.28 0/ 0 Sachin Tendulkar 11 155 14.09 0/ 1
INDIAN BATSMAN IN CRUNCH/PRESSURE SITUATIONS. - Sachins average is MERE 27 runs per inng.
RE:SHUT UP SACHIN !!!!
by raymond silva on Apr 05, 2007 05:32 PM Permalink
why ur interested in giving tendulkar a blow job or what? C if u don%u2019t know don%u2019t comment
RE:RE:SHUT UP SACHIN !!!!
by raymond silva on Apr 05, 2007 05:34 PM Permalink
why ur interested in giving tendulkar a blow job or what? C if u dont know dont comment.
RE:To Sachin
by Bob Seth on Apr 05, 2007 02:02 PM Permalink
India team selection is based on regional feelings, nepotism ,corruption and favortism. it was never on perfomance and form so every time we have a series with a good side like australia, south africa . our cricketers will be Shiting in thier pants. Sachin should now look forward to the bangladesh, zimbawe, kenya, bermuda tour. All our endorsemnet players may be paying a part of thier endorsement fees to the BCCI commitee, its a win win situation for both the corrupt NCCI and the useless cricketers.
RE:Kickout the Mumbai Idiot
by manoj dobhal on Apr 05, 2007 02:51 PM Permalink
My dear the debate is not to ascertain the worth of Sachin as a batsman. How many Sachin's have India produced. Let's not discuss what Sachin had won for us. For that matter If India had better match winners than him, they would have become even bigger gods. We are debating the usefulness of Mr Irritating Mr Greg as a coach. Sachin would retire that's for sure when he sees someone pushing him on merit out of the Team. But Tell me a team of Youngsters (Greg's Chosen ones) were finding it difficult to survive 50 overs till Sourav arrived on the Pitch. See, it's a human tendency to look for new faces after getting bored of seeing these oldies, but are our youth ready to take-over if yes why they have knuckled down even after persisting with them for 18 months and more. Come on seniors would retire but not before they know that there is a serious challenge being mounted to them by the fresh legs. till that time they have the right to stay as in any profession. It is "better" which replaces the "Good":, but sorry mate where is that "Better". At present I can only see "Worse" to replace "Good".
RE:Kickout the Mumbai Idiot
by Deepak Singde on Apr 05, 2007 03:10 PM Permalink
Dear Manoj, I don't know about the 'Worse' but the 'Good' that you said is no Good at all!! Its just Shit my dear friend. Do they have to play more worse than what they have already done in the WC, for you to recognise the truth? Kick these seniors and let the new faces play for India, whether they are good enough or not. These so called seniors have taken their position in the team for granted. Their prime days are over. If the young team fails they still have the age to learn and become a good team.
While India's players blame their recent poor form on everything from a manipulative coach to a sense of insecurity to an indifferent captain, the plain truth is this: When it really mattered, India's batsmen failed to deliver. It's a fact that has been obscured by emotion, hype and selective memory but a reading of the statistics is revealing.
First, India's overall ODI record under Greg Chappell:
Played 62, won 32, lost 27. It's a fair record - more victories than defeats, a win-loss ratio (1.18) which is better than that achieved by West Indies (1), Pakistan (0.94) and England (0.65), and only marginally behind Sri Lanka (1.22).
Scratch the surface, though, and some disturbing trends emerge: India won 19 out of 28 matches at home - mostly in comfortable batting conditions - but only 13 out of 34 when they travelled overseas. The win-loss ratio of 0.68 is comfortably lower than Pakistan's and England's, and only marginally better than West Indies' 0.57.
That Indian batsmen flourish on the flat tracks of home is well documented, but the star-studded line-up had briefly demonstrated an ability to perform in more demanding conditions as well. That has all but disappeared in the last 21 months - the big names have appeared far too vulnerable to the merest hint of seam, swing or even spin.
The analysis below brings out how the runs scored by the Indian batsmen during this period has been a function of the conditions and the strength of the opposition, not of their own form, which comes and goes depending on the might of the bowlers.
For the purpose of the analysis, all the ODIs played by India during this period have been divided into two categories - the first comprises matches that were played in relatively batting-friendly conditions; and the second includes the games in which the bowlers had more say. The first category includes the following: all ODIs played in India except the Champions Trophy and the four ODIs versus South Africa in 2005-06, plus India's five-match series in Pakistan in the same season, and their World Cup game against Bermuda. These were games in which the bowling attack or the conditions or both allowed the bat to dominate. Not surprisingly, all the Indian batsmen except a couple have excellent records, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni's numbers reaching Bradmanesque proportions.
The story is entirely different, though, when the batsmen have been tested a little more. The next table includes matches which have been a bigger test for batsmen - the Videocon Cup in Zimbabwe, all matches in Sri Lanka, the DLF Cup in Malaysia, and the ODIs in South Africa in West Indies.
The batsman who was the most successful in these tougher games didn't even make it to the World Cup. Mohammad Kaif made unbeaten knocks of 102 and 93 against New Zealand in the Videocon Cup and was consistently among the runs in the West Indies in 2006, but a few failures thereafter pushed him out of the side. Apart from him and Yuvraj, none of the others averages even 30 in these games.
The differences in batting averages between the two tables shows just how much the batsmen have been found wanting when the team's needed someone to put his hand up. Dhoni's average drops by a whopping 73 runs, while even Dravid's and Tendulkar's performances have dropped by 50%.
All these numbers are of course masked when you merely look at the overall figures during this period: Dravid averages 39.82 in these 21 months, Tendulkar 40.16, Dhoni 46.13. They look like healthy numbers - and they are - till you delve deeper.
Tendulkar's overall stats look impressive, but check out his recent performances against the two best sides - apart from the 55 against South Africa at Centurion, he hasn't managed a single half-century in 11 innings. The best players always like to measure themselves against the strongest opposition, and in Tendulkar's case the recent numbers don't stack up well at all.
Versus Australia and South Africa, since Sept 2005 Batsman Innings Runs Average 100s/ 50s Yuvraj Singh 5 209 52.25 1/ 1 Rahul Dravid 9 248 31.00 0/ 3 Virender Sehwag 10 247 27.44 0/ 2 Irfan Pathan 8 148 21.14 0/ 0 Mohammad Kaif 8 142 20.28 0/ 0 Sachin Tendulkar 11 155 14.09 0/ 1
Through most of India's recent ODI travails, it's the less-heralded bowlers who have done well - only twice during this period have they conceded more than 300, while the average runs per over conceded is only 4.93. Twenty times they've restricted the opposition to less than five per over, but India have only managed to win 50% of those games.
The batsmen have always been the ones who've been feted after most of India's ODI triumphs. It's time they took the bulk of the blame for the losses too.
RE:Chappell wad denied of taking in youngsters by senior MAFIA (the Real culprits)
by Srilatha Ravichandran on Apr 05, 2007 03:02 PM Permalink
Excellent analysis. We have really over-hyped our players. We? Shall we say media and corporate sponsors? Built up needless expectations and when the edifice on slim foundations collapsed, you howl?
You want change? Ban direct advertisement contracts for sometime. Let the Board sign contracts, and individual gets his fee on basis of performances. This way show ponies will be out, and only performers will get their due.
NOW THE MOST INSULTING AND SHOCKING PART IS CHAPPELL LEAVING. WHAT SACHIN DID WAS TOTALLY UNPROFESSIONAL. THIS GIVES A VERY BAD IMPRESSION ON THE ATTITUDES OF INDIAN CRICKETERS/ADMINISTRATION TO THE WORLD.(they are unworthy bunch of people ,and cannot be working with etc,.)
RE:Bad message ?
by raymond silva on Apr 05, 2007 06:12 PM Permalink
Totally agreed with you vajika,what i feel is that chappel is professional coach and there is no space for him to breath in front of indian team and BCCI politics.What low he wanted our team to taut with is Listern ,learn or move which is absolutly right.
Greg Chappell tried to fix this broken culture but didn't know that the plague which Indian mindset is filled with cannot be cured in 1-2 years. Truths hurts most of the time and we Indian do not like it. This is one of the worst day in Indian cricket where a person who speaks truth have been make to resign. Gregg Paid the price for trying to remove the dirt, being straight and calling spade a spade.
Gregg probably didn't know that this is the country where people celebrate Dewali on destroying Babri Maszid, do not let Sonia Gandhi be prime minister after winning the election by playing emotional cards of false patriotism to cash on sentiments of the country , make Khusbhu apologizes for talking on pre-marital on the name of Indian culture and behind doors do the same, where no comes as a witness when professor Sabbarwal was murdered in view of 400 public, where CBI protects the biggest gambler of Indian cricket Kapil and Azharudin on match-fixing, where Jagmohan Dalmiya leaks the email and Media and Indians blame it on coach, where politician still cash on increasing reservation even after 60 years of independence, where people still believe in astrology , fate and magic more than themselves to blame luck for failing in life and where people feel happy by seeing someone else being humiliated.
Truth is always bitter. The current crisis in the Indian team is just because of the fact that the dirt has always been swept under the carpet. All this blame game and accusations was an attempt to divert the anger of whole nation and I am amazed to see how our incompetent players are blaming it on the coach. We have never had a good team in the first place and didn't perform well on the field outside our country. Seniors players are still in the team on the basis of past glory. Since Sep 2005 Sachin averages 14.09 in 11 one-day matches, Sehwag averages 27.44 in 10 one-day matches and Dravid average is 31.00 against Australia and South Africa. Harbhjan still lives on the miracle of 2001 against Australia, Agarkar no body know why is he consistently in the team. Only gods knows how long Harbhajan will go wicketless. Ganguly returning back to India team was a blunder and Ganguly name has now become a synonym of dirt. How many times these played well against AUS, SF, NZ and ENG?.
How cowardice was it from Sachin to come out in Media and create the sas-bahu kinda emotional drama to divert his and team failure attention. Didn't he has enough courage to speak earlier?. No doubt he failed as a captain and on more than one occasion. I ask where is the performance?. Don't these so called super stars of indian cricket believe in themselves and their capabilities?. Fear of failure and security comes only when you either do not talent and don't believe in urself and reach a position which you didn't deserve. If you are good enough, you will automatically come back if you are dropped.
Same team was happy about the experiments Greg did earlier and never raised any issues why?. Isn't it true that when the team did well by experimentation everybody went gaga over Gregg%u2019s tactics, but with every loss and the same tactics were thrashed?. No questions where asked and no tactic were questioned when we won continuous 17 one-day matches, first time we won a test match in South Africa in cricket history and we won a series in west Indies after 35 years?.
Gregg was a perfectionist and always played to win. He wanted to build an indian team who believe in themselves and do not fear of anyone. He needed a new blood for that as old minds are always sick and tired as you can see now but even new blood didn't live up to the expectation and he had to become the scapegoat of another typical plagued indian culture.
Thank Gregg, you have been a true leader and showed the Indian cricket and players the mirror. You have done what Jhon Wright couldn't do for 4 years and other coaches which we anyways didn't except to do anything new. You have taught us what is good and what is not and where do we need to go from here now. Only after coming you Indians board realized that selections should be on performance basis. Thanks for being the first person to expose the so called demi gods of cricket, selectors and BCCI and making everyone being awake all the time. You will be remebered the first person to break the rule as Gibbs will always be remembered being the first person to hit 6 sixes in an over no-matter who breaks the record now.
