To Sunil Gavaskar and other sachin suppoters:

Sachin Tendulkar Stats

1) Out of the 34 centuries, 11 have come in matches when India has won. So 23 centuries have been wasted.
2) So 11 centuries 1 by 1
a. 165 against England , India won by an innings. Score 560 on a batting wicket NS sidhu also got a century. Anil kumble and raju spun India to victory on a spinning wicket. No pressure on tendulkar, 1st innings century when India were already in a commanding position.
b. 104 vs sri lanka u r talking about. Kambli and sidhu had centuries in the same match. India had a 1st innings lead of 100 and India were ahead by 300 runs before sachin got his century. So I guess that’s no big deal.
c. 142 agst sri lanka. Sidha again had a century in the same match. India won by an innings and some 100 runs. Thanks to the bolwers. Sachin under no pressure…score 142 out of Indias total of 511.
d. 155 vs aus at Chennai…superb knock, saw that live. But ….India were 200 or so for 2 , with sidhu smashing and dravid in pretty decent form. India under no pressure…but yeah I must agree that this contributed to a victory. India might not have won without this knock. so I must say this contributed to a victory. But no pressure……not exactly a crunch situation.
e. 122 Vs Zimbabwe at delhi. Dravid got a 200 in the same match. India were in a brilliant position , no big deal.
f. 126 Vs aus at Chennai. Again saw this match. 126 out of 501. all the top order batsmen got 50s , but then we needed harbhajan singh to win the match for us in the 2nd innings. 126 out of 501, man is it a crunch situation?
g. 176 Vs Zimbabwe. SS DAS and S Bangar got centuries in the same match. 176 out of a total of 570. opposition is Zimbabwe, and make a note of the other century makers.
h. 117 Vs WI at Port of spain. 1st innings century. In the 2nd innings it was laxmans and gangulys 70s that won the match for India. Ofcourse srinath and nehra got the WI for less than 300.
i. 193 vs England at Leeds. 193 out of 670. ganguly and dravid got huge centuries too.bangar got a 67. 1st innings.
j. 194 vs Pak recently. Sehwags test match. Sehwag made 309, paki bolwers were tired and out before sachin even came out to bat. Started his innings at 160 for noloss, and shewag had a 100 more runs before sachin crosees 25 runs.
k. 248 n.o sachins highest in tests. Against Bangladesh. Pretty much signifies sachins contribution to victories against important opposition.

Summary
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1) out of the 11 centuries, one of them- the 155 n.o agast aus at Chennai was pretty high level.
The other 10 centuries satisfied one of the 3 points below
1) Mediocre opposition- Zimbabwe, weak sri lanka , west-indies, bangaladesh.
( 6 out of 10 have been agast weak opposition when India have piled out huge 1st innings totals, when ppl like das and bangar have also got centuries.)
2) two against England when India piled on huge 1st innings totals of 670 and 560 odd. Atleast a couple of other players made centuries. Bolwers spun the opposition out on a spinning track.
3) 1 agt pak when sehwag had already won the match for India.


So Indias highest run getter in tests has come close to contributing to Indias victory once agst Pak ( but only came close..we didn’t win, that’s it) and once agast aus in chennai when he got that 155( which is super, but not totally pressure situation, when u knw u have kumble waiting to spin India to victory).

All the other 10 have been agst
1) weak oppoisiton
2) on batting tracks
3) when some 2-3 other people have already taken the match away from the opposition.

I am a sachin fan too (??) , but when he doesnt contribute to victories no point blindly idolising him.

If you still think Sachin is the worlds best player, drop me a line.

Is the King really back ?

3 ODIs against Sri Lanka, Comprehensive victories for India , Talks about the King is back, India have found the right winning combination, Sourav Ganguly is shown the door - is a quick jist about whats happening in Indian cricket over the last week.

But, are we doing the same mistake of thinking we have found the winning combination too early. Sachin proved, as he has done in the past ( no, I am not talking about his ability to whack the ball) , that he is no good under pressure. Chasing 298, Sachin gets out in 3 balls. How many times has he done this in the past. ?

Mahendra Dhoni played the innings of his life , 120 runs in 25 balls, 15 fours and 10 sixes....but is he going to remain in the team for 5 years , just the way Kaif did with 1 innings at Lords and Yuvraj did with 1 innings at Dhaka...Lets hope he plays the same way ,but is he going to make a couple of crores, just because he smacked 25 balls to the fence.

What is Venugopal Rao doing in the Indian team. VVS Laxman who has actually won matches for India, is on the sidelines.

Ajit Agarkar walks in to the Indian team, cos Sachin's scared to fly out of Bombay alone. Dont know what Kiran More is thinking. He doesnt realize that Dr Anajali Tendulkar can be made team doctor or something.

I agree, that Sourav ganguly doesnt deserve a place in the Indian team as such. But considering the fact that Venugopal rao and ajit agarkar can be picked, I think its fare that the most sucessful, and enterpising Indian captain ever, deserves a second chance.

No point repeating what Sourav has done , everyone knows it. But doesnt he deserve a more respectful exit.

Its pretty clear its politics thats controlling Indian cricket. Thats not new. It has always been. But , has the power point moved from Jagmohan Dalmiya and Sourav Ganguly, to somewhere in west-India. As long as India keeps winning, it doesnt matter. Lets hope its south-India next(yeah right !!), I'll make my son a cricketer.