Ruthlessness and Killer instinct

Ian Chappell says that Sachin Tendulkar had little less killer instincts than Brian Lara and that the later was more ruthless in terms of matchwinning ability.

The reality is that Sachin Tendulkar has won his country more matches than what Lara has for his team. Be it ODIs and Tests, the GOD of cricket has more centuries in victories than in the defeats. Only if the stats could prove a point to the atheists, the debate over the worthiness of Tendulkar had been rested long back.

Ponting has supposedly more matches than any of the other 2 greats. But then didnt he have so many other greats in conjunction with him like Steve and Mark Waugh, Hayden, Gilchrist, Langer in batting plus Warne, McGrath and Gillespie in bowling. Contrast that with the Laras and Tendulkars.

Only time Sachin had a settled team to his credit was in this decade when the Fab Five were in their prime and the result was evident in the change in the victory patterns abroad in Tests. The duration of 2002 - till date has been the best for India in terms of victories abroad in Tests. We now have won Tests in almost every country we have toured in. Something which was unimaginable in and till 90s. 90s had Azhar, Manjrekar and Siddhu for assistance to Sachin in first half and then Saurav, Rahul in second half, but then they were in early stages of their career.

Critics point out Chennai 1999 or a Hyderabad 2009 for the so called inability of Sachin to win a game for country, but then they conviniently forget the 2003 World Cup when he got India to the finals and then in 1996 when he got India to the semi finals only to bow out due to a default and a bad decision by match referee. They conviniently forget the 192 he made in Headingley 2002 or the 155 in Chennai vs Australia that first established his supremacy over Shane Warne and that went on till 2007.

We have this discussion on abilities of Sach to win the matches ignoring many facts. We dont consider the team support the guys had -- the greatest guys of this generation -- Lara,Ponting and Tendulkar. Sachin did not score 300s or long 200s as Lara did, but then he was and is consistent in scoring hundreds that have often changed the course of the series. His epic 155* in 4 hours in Chennai established supremacy over Shane Warne and for long time to come kept Aussies at bay from winning a Test series in India.
241 in Sydney or those twin hundreds in last year Series against Australia changed the course of the series. 241 got them close to win the series only to be Bucknor'ed in the end. 116 in Trinidad 2002 got India first victory in WI for 32 years and 4 years later India won their first series in WI in 35 years. His 90s made a huge difference in England 2007 which India won first time in 21 years in England. His 194 in Multan and partnership with Viru got India first taste of victory in the rogue land in 52 years of Test history with them. His 35th century in 2005 got India an upper hand on SL and that helped India shoo away the batting failure of 1st test in Chennai which was rain affected.

His distribution of hundreds is even. He has had hundreds against the best of his generation. He hasnt allowed any bowler except the debutants to get better of him. And the debutants later have got a good lesson from the man. Monty Panesar, Mendis, the Zim spinner (name not recalled) are prime examples how they were given a lesson or two.

The upcoming Test series against the SL would be another example of the domination he would look forth against Mendis who made him score his lowest total in a 3 Test series in his 20 years of Test cricket. The Ahmedabad test would also be his 160th one which would make him 2nd highest Test player in the world.

On a concluding note I'd say that the criticism of Tendulkar is unfair on killer instinct and ruthlessness. May be he has it in aplenty and his team mates dont. For that matter, the young guns, the IPL kids dont have it too.

Great Innings and Averages

Absolutely true. Dilip Premchandran on numbers and their relevance against the backdrop of quality of opposition the batsmen played. Spot on. Thats why we would always say Tendulkar, Dravid and Lara would be over the top than say a Inzy or a Ponting or even a Kallis. Who can forget the marvels of 114 in Perth, 148 in Sydney, 136 against a rampaging Saqlain and Akram, 117 in Melbourne, 241* in Sydney and again 154 in Sydney by Tendulkar. Or for that matter 277 in Adelaide / Sydney, 153 and 110 odd in 1999 series in wins scripted by himself -- Lara against Australia ? Not to forget that 1991 Australia team had awesome pacers too good for India and then in 1999 India were another rubbish team on tour to Australia with the Fab Four just had started playing together. Besides 117 from Tendulkar, the only other innings of substance by an Indian on 1999 tour was 167 by VVS which started his love affair with Sydney and Australia.

Lets not forget the 180 by Dravid in Calcutta and then 233 and 72* in Adelaide 2003. Laxman's 150 odd in Adelaide and epic 281 in Calcutta. Ricky Ponting's saving 156 in 3rd Test Ashes 2005 was another effort of greatness. Steve Waugh's batting efforts are full of valiance and bravery. Mohinder Amarnath in 1983 or Vishy in 1975 (perhaps). DBV in 1986 in England. This are landmark innings to quote just a few. And then contrast this with the innings by SL batsmen off late. Which ones would hold substance and weight ? Consider the opposition, conditions and match situations before judging a batsman quality. Many times batsmen dont score 100s but their efforts are as great as it can be. Who can forget Dravid's effort in 4th Test in WI when no other batsmen either side crossed 50. Gavaskar's last innings in Test cricket was in a losing cause. For that matter 138 by Inzamam which saved his career and got his captaincy in 2003 against BD. And JImmy Adams holding on with Walsh against strong Akram, Akhtar and Waqar in 2000 Carrib series. Does that count less than a great innings ?

The best test, as it has always been, is to check how the player did
against the finest team of his era. Sunil Gavaskar had 13 centuries against West
Indies, Sachin Tendulkar has 10 against Australia. Brian Lara had nine.
Inzamam-ul-Haq finished with one from 14 Tests.

Reason behind WI series

Those who say the ongoing India - WI series is useless and uncalled for, let me just state here for the record that this series is in response to the WI series prior to the world cup 2007 in India. This is a return series and was under "agreement" between BCCI and WICB.

4 ODIs then, 4 ODIs now. Before world cup then, after world cup now.

And yes that series was last time BC Lara played official international cricket last time in India. Its a pity that he didnt play a Test in India after 1994. Blame it on the scare tours WI make to India. 1983, 1988, 1994, 2002. 4 times in my life time.