Sachin - past his best?

[Craig]

Nah, no way - there's far less pressure on him now than there ever has been.
If anything, it might be the opposite - he's needed less, so his performance is noted less?

Interesting therom. I think you maybe right. Having the added pressure on him probably brought out the best of him, now that it is off him to an extent, he may not preform to his potential.

 

[Jono]

he's worth a hell of a lot more than the runs he scores. the man's got a cricketing mind -- honestly, I think he's a second captain on the field, and probably more of a strategist than Ganguly is.

And remember what he did to Warne? That wasn't too long ago. I still think he will be the best batsman since Bradman by the time he's done, which is a good 6-7 years from now.

For chrissakes, you're talking about the man of the tournament in world cup 2003. you'd drop him?

If anything, all this "is he past his prime" talk is more indicative of what people expect from him, and less of his form.

I don't know if people care about stats, but here goes -- total tests, followed by last 10 tests, last 20 tests, last 30 tests.

unfiltered 111 9265 241* 57.19 32 37 31 3/10 47.12 0 71 0
filtered 10 825 241* 51.56 2 3 4 2/36 68.50 0 5 0
filtered 20 1592 241* 51.35 4 7 6 2/36 74.66 0 9 0
filtered 30 2688 241* 58.43 8 11 9 2/36 77.88 0 15 0

Hell, I'd pick any player averaging 51.56 in a slump...

He's class, he's having a rough patch.(301* was a scratchy innings
:rolleyes End of story.

Thankyou. Great post.

There may be less pressure on him now, but tell me the last time a single player has faced so much pressure than when Tendulkar came out to bat in Sydney in the 4th test. His team was in a bit of trouble, and he batted with sheer determination. He wasn't in form, but he fought himself into form. That's something to be admired, and anyone that thinks he should be dropped really needs to take a hard look at themselves.

I refuse to forget his 2 test innings in Sydney, his ODI innings in Melbourne and his innings in Brisbane where he was injured and pounded the absolute crap out of Australia's bowling attack. The man is still great, maybe he's past his best, but he's still damn good. Name one team in the world that would decline the opportunity to have Tendulkar in their side. You won't find one.

 

[biased indian]

ya i agree he just got past his best !!!

he scored 241* in his last test which is his new best

LOL

 

[Arjun]

The only way Ganguly is going to get dropped as if he loses the captaincy. And I doubt they would take it off him.

I hope they do. His methods of captaincy have always defied belief. He has far too much hope in a rubbish pace attack, treats his spinners like they don't belong, made strange bowling changes and field placings and has done the job of wicketkeeping a lot of harm. Plus he has now started a trend of negative cricket and a really stupid mindset that to win, you have to outsledge]/i], when in reality, you have to OUTPERFORM! The Indian ODI team has gone from bad to worse under his so-called leadership. The sooner he is replaced by the innovative Dravid as captain, the better.

About Sachin, I am surprised, even shocked to hear a fan say that he'd be shocked to see Sachin bat aggressively. That's how he bats and that's how he should, so someone has to tell him-

1. He is not captain now.
2. He has support from the whole batting side.
3. There are two other world class batsmen in the team.
4. All he needs to do is bat freely and hit as many fours and sixes, to take the game away from the opposition.
5. Dravid will steady the innings.
6. His place is not under threat.

Anyway, he'd be a far better player if he was made captain. And a far better captain, too.

Abotu Sehwag- he can't face quality fast bowlers without getting out for less than 2. That's as good as not having a batsman.

Hmmmmm maybe the added pressure of carrying a nation is starting to effect him.

What about Hayden,Gilchrist and Ponting? What about Williams, Bracken and Lee? What sort of pressure?

 

[ReallyCrazy]

for all you guys who say that Ganguly sucks and is not agood captain...how is it that it is only under him that India have achieved their most success? They hadn't won a SINGLE test outside India (except SL) from 1986 till 2001 against the WI, I think it was. How is it that now they have actually started winning? Ganguly has got a killer spirit and his attitude is superb. He is fully in support of all his team members and backs them to the core. He put an end to the image that all indian captains are "nice". I think a lot of credit should go to gangs for the way he has moulded the team.

It has not been a long time since the test series in Australia in which he played really well and averaged almost 50. Have you guys forgotten the part he played in the first test with india on 62/3 and both sachin and Dravid out. He came out there under intense pressure (almost everyone had written him off) and scored a glorious 100. This 100 set the series up nicely for his team.

Even in the VB series he started very well. He played well in the first 4 games. And then he failed. But you guys need to leave him alone. Even Sachin had a hard time in the tests.

 

[Pratters]

ok so ppl liked the agressive sachin n not the current less aggressive sachin? well he used to get out earlier and if you look at his average in recent years, its much better than before. He is just 30/31. How he can reach his peak at this point I dont know. If any thing, he has more support of other good batsmen like Dravid and Laxman at the other end and the pressure is less on him to perform. So the best can be expected to come now. And to the one person who thought sachin should be dropped for 'poor form', sharpen your memory n get some cricket sense in your brain.

 

[Craig]

I hope they do. His methods of captaincy have always defied belief. He has far too much hope in a rubbish pace attack, treats his spinners like they don't belong, made strange bowling changes and field placings and has done the job of wicketkeeping a lot of harm.

Ok as far as I am concerned he is the best man for the job. He is also India's most successful captain in most form of the games AFAIK.

I didnt see any innovation from Dravid when's was in charge )albiet that was limited).

 

[Richard]

IMO the situation is near-perfect - Ganguly must be able to do something captains of the 14 years prior to him couldn't - it's not as if there haven't been quality players around.
Ganguly's batting form has, eventually, held-up to the captaincy, he's won games where others have been unable to do so, so his motivational skills, even if indirect, must be excellent.
Ganguly's one fault is that everyone knows he's not a master-tactician in the field. I can't believe no-one's addressed that before now - it really doesn't seem conceivable that there are no good tacticians in the team. Just get John Wright to take him aside and tell him, and Ganguly, to make sure he thinks about it and puts in his input.