Ever since Sachin Tendulkar made the announcement of
retiring from international cricket, umpteenth eulogies, tributes, career
analyses and articles have been written by various individuals - some good and
others snide. I want to tackle all his critics through this article. The fact
that people can’t stop writing about Sachin proves he has been a significant player
in the history of cricket. The question “is he the greatest batsman ever” has
been doing the rounds for many years and various qualified and non-qualified
individuals have been presenting their theories to literally prove nothing. He
is a great among other greats but he is the most special of that lot.
Critics play an important role in anyone’s progress but I am
appalled at envious individuals who constantly try to run him down. I am not surprised
when many of his detractors, especially non-Indians, are now trying hard on
blogs and forums to put his contribution down to mere good numbers only. I
sense jealousy and nothing else. I’d say if your country ever had a Sachin, you would also celebrate him
like all of us do. It is always fashionable to support an under-dog but since
Sachin has shattered all records and belongs to the most powerful cricket nation
on earth, critics find ways to undervalue his contribution to the team. I have
read many such comments that raise ludicrous doubts about this greatness. I am
setting the record straight here -
·
Of his generation, Kallis (55.44) and Sangakkara
(56.98) average better so how is he the greatest?
o
If averages were the only criteria, Graeme Pollock
would be second only to Bradman and no one else would come close to their greatness
(Note: Pollock only played 23 test matches with average of 60.97). Kallis and
Sangakkara are 36 and 83 test matches short of completing 200 test matches respectively
so let them first finish with Sachin’s career average of 53.78 after 200 test
matches before even putting them in the same bracket. There was a time in
Sachin’s career when his average was over 57 but sustaining an average of 50+
in such a long career is a hallmark of a truly exceptional player.
·
Lara was a destroyer and could dominate attacks but
Sachin wasn’t as dominant?
o
Lara was one hell of a player but his strike
rate of 79.51 in ODIs, where strike rate matters the most, is lower than Sachin’s
strike rate of 86.23. Add Sachin’s 49
centuries and 18,426 runs to that strike rate to know why he was ahead of everyone.
Strike rates of other great players of his generation are: Kallis 72.97, Dravid
71.24, Ponting 80.39 and Sangakkara 76.89. None of these players come close to
the total runs Sachin has amassed.
·
Sachin mostly played on batting friendly pitches
in India.
o
Sachin has scored more runs outside of India 8,705
compared to 7,216 at home i.e. 54%
of his runs came abroad. Compare that to others and their runs scored abroad
stands at Kallis and Lara 47%, Ponting 43% and Sangakkara 41%.
o
If Indian pitches are so called Dream Batting
strips then how come, apart from Kallis (58 avg), rest have performed miserably
in India - Ponting averages 26.48, Lara 33.00 and Sangakkara 36.50
o
Since Australia was the most dominant team of
90s and early 2000, let’s see how Sachin measures up against them compared to
others – Test averages in Australia - Sachin 53.20, Kallis 48.23, Lara 41.97,
Dravid 41.64 and Sangakkara 60.33 (Note: Only 5 matches played).
·
A new impact player theory suggests Rahul Dravid
saved India more matches than Sachin.
o
By no means Dravid was any less of a player than
other great players of his era but Dravid couldn’t dominate like Sachin in any
format. Players like Dravid, Kallis and Sangakkara have rarely dictated the
games and mostly played with the flow of the game whereas Tendulkar (and Lara) could
easily dictate terms and change the course of any game on their own. Great men
are always assessed by their ability to single handedly win tough situations
and only Tendulkar (and Lara) could easily do that. Dravid, Kallis, Sangakkara
and Ponting have been great servants of their nations and played a huge part in
victories of their teams but no one had the ability to positively impact the
spectators’ interest and team morale the way Sachin (and Lara) did.
·
Lara was greatest since he played in a team that
was quite poor overall.
o
If you go by that analogy, you are simply
suggesting runs scored by Kallis and Ponting have been useless since both of
them played in very strong teams. Sachin played around extremely poor bowlers
and batsmen throughout 90s and always stood out as the lone warrior. In fact,
most of the other Indian great batters like Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman only
flourished post 2000 when the Indian side was much stronger. Watch Sachin’s
famous desert storm Sharjah inning (with Laxman) to know how superior Sachin
was to the rest. Laxman struggled to score runs when Sachin was spanking all
other bowlers all around the park. Sachin taught other Indians to score freely
at will.
·
If you give someone so many opportunities,
anyone can play 200 test matches and score that many runs.
o
Many other Indian greats were dropped from the
team due to poor fitness and loss of form. But how did Sachin survive? The
answer is simple - By performing and
staying fit! Not just test matches but ODIs too. You may argue he wasn’t
scoring consistently in the last two years but tell you what, Sachin must have
done something right in all these years to convince the captain, selectors and
management to stay in the team. He earned the respect like no other. Longevity
of Sachin’s career is not just a gift from Indian selectors but his hard work
and dedication. In the world where everything is driven by money, do you really
think he would have survived if he wasn’t scoring? Sachin’s monetary brand
value was hardly affected in those couple of years.
Sachin has lasted long enough and scored enough runs to
prove he was a gifted player but to go around comparing him to other players
from current and previous generations to assess his greatness is pointless. I
personally don’t believe in stats as much as the impact a player has on the team
and game in general which is why Sachin stands head and shoulder above the
rest. The primary role of any sport is to entertain people and if there ever
was a man who always held the spectators by their pulse, it was Sachin
Tendulkar only. He remained in the consciousness of every Indian which is not
an easy task considering India’s diversity and huge population. Not since
Mahatama Gandhi, has there ever been any other Indian than Sachin to have received
so much adulation and respect by the billion plus people of India.
On a personal note I want to say – “Sachin, you have given
me happy memories that will remain with me forever. You were one of the primary
reasons I remained joyful throughout my growing up years. Thank You and I
salute your dedication towards the game of Cricket”.
