Should Sachin Tendulkar retire? Is this time ripe for Indian ‘oldies’ batsmen to bid goodbye? A tough question! Indian batting line-up is the most terrific batting line-up of all the times. According to Sir Ian Chappell, the bowler who has the ability to get through the Indian line-up is surely the bowler who will find himself higher in rankings. Then what lead to the batting failure against England last year and the recent debacle in Australia? Lets have a close look at the Indian batting greats and then decide whether the goodbye time has come or not.
Strength of any batting order is represented by the quantity and quality of batting talent it has. They usually take responsibility for every success, every single criticism and all the debacles. Indian batting order includes Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Lets look at their age, performance, future and most importantly weakness.
- Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar: This is the man who is called by flattering sobriquets such as, ‘the man of the centuries’. ‘Superman’, ‘Master blaster’, ‘little master’, ‘Super-class’ and many more. With over 50 test centuries, Tendulkar has torn away many bowling line-ups all his life. But this is what Tendulkar has scored in his last few outings against England and Australia. Against Englishmen he scored 34, 12, 16, 56, 01, 40, 23, 91 in all 4 test matches. Against Aussies he scored 73, 32, 41, 80, 15, 08 with one match remaining. He got the starts but could not convert it into big hundreds. The problem lies with his thinking and technique, which are really essential for any batsman to grow in cricket. The tendency to go beyond your playing area will earn you runs but it’s a task full of risks. Tendulkar usually gets so much attracted to his weakness i.e. ball wide across the off stump that he himself forgets which ball will come to him and thus gets trapped LBW or gets caught behind the stumps. Tendulkar is full of talent, no doubt, but he should understand that he is living in the era of T20 cricket in which a person has to prove himself every day. He should take a close look at his basics and do not get tensed because of the expectations from him. He has done it in the past and we all are very sure he will continue doing this for the rest of his life both on and off field. As they say, players retire but GOD don’t, so Lord Sachin Tendulkar should not retire ever (A fan’s musing
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- Rahul Dravid: Rahul Sharad ‘The wall’ Dravid, now a days people often joke about crack in The Wall, Rahul Dravid. Many cricket experts and legends accept that Dravid has more class than any other batsman. His square cut, stylish cover drive, pull and he himself, mesmerize many. His copybook style of defence is famous all over the world. But what has happened to his defence? In last few outings, he has been bowled for more than 7 times. He has the ability to play a whole day of cricket and can stick to the wicket for all most 3 days but now what? Looking at his recent performances and the way he has given his wickets, his style of playing is under scanner. It is alright to play defensively upto an extent but now he mostly relies only on his defensive side and does not look forward to playing aggressive shots. For any batsman, getting bowled is the most shameful way to get out and surely Dravid does not deserve this. He ought to work on his attacking mode now and look to score quickly and also look for singles.
- VVS Laxman: Vangipurapu Venkata Sai Laxman or ‘very very special Laxman’! Debut in 1996, VVS has made a place in the hearts of his fans by playing heroic innings. He has the 4th highest average in the second innings all over the world. Who can forget that special innings of 281 against Australia and an under pressure 73* against his favorite bunny Aussies. Now what has happened to this classy batsman? Has he lost his midas touch? Many would like to answer in yes, but for me it’s a big NO. After the retirement of Saurav Ganguly all the burden of no. 6 has come on VVS laxman. He just needs to look for some good luck, the next time he gets off to the field. He has potential and no doubt, class but he is going through the harder patches of his life. He will return with a bang for sure…
They do not deserve retirement and we all are very sure BCCI won’t give them one. They need support and love of their fans. We need to show faith in each and every member of the team. We all are very sure that they will play quality cricket and will make INDIA proud.
