Tendulkar - reinforced my fears.
Tell you the truth, no matter how great a batsman I consider Tendulkar to be, have always found him suspect against a quality fast bowler. And God I hate when Tendu gets out to Akhtar. Apart from one dominating display against Akhtar in South Africa, (there too Akhtar got him in the end with a stunner) Akhtar me feels has reasons to feel happy against Tendulkar. Its sad Tendu is not working hard to develop this short and intermittent rivalry into a great evenly contested boxing match. Tendu falls to Akhtar once again.
If my views smack of unwanted fears and over reactions, read this. Its a post that I had written in December, and somehow my archiving is not working, so I am copying the post here.
India had just lost a batsman, perhaps Rahul Dravid. I felt India were batting well. They had seen off Akram and Co. quite well. Plus the Indian team was fresh from having defeated the Pakistanis, days earlier at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium, where Kumble had taken 10 wickets in an innings. So, in came Tendulkar , cameras focussing on him, to a huge roar from the fans.
By the way if you haven't ever witnessed the reception Tendulkar gets in Eden Gardens, be sure to witness it personally once before you die. I can tell you its worth billion and billions of dollars..as the ad says, there are some things money cant buy..really it just can't.
Coming back to the scene, my TV was mute, I thought Tendulkar's gonna blast this fellow away. Really was not interested, I mean this was to be expected from Tendulkar. But moments later what I saw, still psyches me out. It instilled a fear so deep down in my conscious that I still pray like mad when Akhtar bowls to India. I was just not prepared for it...didnt have the capacity to imagine it...or maybe Tendulkar never gave me reasons to, before that delivery. That was a snorter of a delivery. It was like a laser guided bullet. The ball, a yorker, travelled at approximately 150 kmph, mid air it swinged slightly from off stump line to middle stump and hit the feet of the middle stump, which cart-wheeled and landed miles away from its orignal position. Tendulkar, bowled first ball and that too his middle stump, which is uprooted.
I cant tell the shock waves it sent around the stadium and I personally felt it in my body. I was stunned, the crowd was stunned. It was pin drop silence in Eden Gardens. I mean who was Shoiab Akhtar then, and he was bowling to arguably the gratest batsman ever. A shiver ran through my body and that one delivery for me destroyed the air of invulnerability about Tendulkar. That one delivery, I think went a long way in making the Pakistan team the favourites for the world cup which was to be held later that year. Ofcourse it hit our moral so badly, that Pakistan remained undefeated in the rest of the series
By the way if you haven't ever witnessed the reception Tendulkar gets in Eden Gardens, be sure to witness it personally once before you die. I can tell you its worth billion and billions of dollars..as the ad says, there are some things money cant buy..really it just can't.
Coming back to the scene, my TV was mute, I thought Tendulkar's gonna blast this fellow away. Really was not interested, I mean this was to be expected from Tendulkar. But moments later what I saw, still psyches me out. It instilled a fear so deep down in my conscious that I still pray like mad when Akhtar bowls to India. I was just not prepared for it...didnt have the capacity to imagine it...or maybe Tendulkar never gave me reasons to, before that delivery. That was a snorter of a delivery. It was like a laser guided bullet. The ball, a yorker, travelled at approximately 150 kmph, mid air it swinged slightly from off stump line to middle stump and hit the feet of the middle stump, which cart-wheeled and landed miles away from its orignal position. Tendulkar, bowled first ball and that too his middle stump, which is uprooted.
I cant tell the shock waves it sent around the stadium and I personally felt it in my body. I was stunned, the crowd was stunned. It was pin drop silence in Eden Gardens. I mean who was Shoiab Akhtar then, and he was bowling to arguably the gratest batsman ever. A shiver ran through my body and that one delivery for me destroyed the air of invulnerability about Tendulkar. That one delivery, I think went a long way in making the Pakistan team the favourites for the world cup which was to be held later that year. Ofcourse it hit our moral so badly, that Pakistan remained undefeated in the rest of the series
posted by Y @ 1:20 AM
2 Comments:
Wow..You sent a shiver through my spine.Damn..ok don't hate me for this..I have a lot of respect for Tendulkar.And I think he has made India very proud by achieving all the milestones that he has.But then thats all he has done.He has achieved his milestones.I don't remember many a victories that were attributed to Tendulkar's winning performance.And don't shoot me..cos I could be wrong..But thats what my memory tells me.And truly I have more regard to Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh.Kumble. and the likes..Because I have seen them perform even under pressure..I have seen them giving their 100%..when it mattered most and not get out for 3..with the whole world justifying that it was too much pressure for 'a' particular batsman to shoulder.
I see where u come from. The space is too short for a wholesome discussion on this issue. As a batsman and thats leaving aside a competitor or in other words only as an artist, he is incomparable at the moment. But yes as a batsman and a warrior, I think he is over estimated to be great. There is one point that has always troubled me: when ppl say he is under a lot of pressure. I think he has no pressure bcoz we all know he can never be dropped, so he shud have done more. On the other hand take the case of Dravid. That man had to go thru what not to cement his place. He had to become a wicketkeeper just to be in the side! Even now as a captain, he could have opted for a comfortable spot for himself but he took the harder decision. His tactics at certain parts of the ongoing test match were questionable, but they can be improved upon. But he has got something which is hard to improve upon or for others to develop. And thats character.
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