Sachin - The master blaster is back

Image Source : Hindustan Times
Hi people

Those who had access to watch yesterday's match were literally feasted to a mouth watering innings by Sachin Tendulkar. He looked confident right from the start and had a very positive approach to his game, looking to hit the ball whenever he could ; sometimes even hitting rash strokes but it was great to see him come back to his old form - the ones that the greatest of bowlers fear in their dreams.

Sachin should have silenced his critics for the time being who had been behind his life for so many days, demanding his removal from the team. I think we Indians need to be more loyal to our heroes. As long as they are doing well we love them and some even go to the extent of worshiping them but the moment they commit a fault - we are behind their lives and start treating them as criminals. The world cup debacle left many hearts shattered, but in retrospect some bad management decisions were also behind our poor show.

There is no point discussing them now, but one thing that many cricket experts have been pointing out in various news channels is that Sachin needs to be kept as an opening batsman only. That is his usual position and he can play his natural game when he is opening. Keeping his 3rd or 4th down doesnt let him play to his full ability. He is forced to come in the game when India is not doing well and then he is expected to last till the mid 40 overs and stabilise the innings and when he doesnt deliver , we want his head.

Come one people, lets give this man his due credit. He has reached another milestone by becoming the first man to attain 15000 runs under his belt and that is no mean feat. Some people think he is played for so long thats why his records so let me make some things clear by showing you some stats..

Player	Span	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	0

SR Tendulkar (India)	1989-2007	387	377	37	15043	186*	44.24	17569	85.62	41	79	18
ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL)	1989-2007	395	384	18	12063	189	32.95	13317	90.58	25	64	29
Inzamam-ul-Haq (Asia/Pak)	1991-2007	378	350	53	11739	137*	39.52	15812	74.24	10	83	20
SC Ganguly (Asia/India)	1992-2007	294	284	23	10880	183	41.68	14763	73.69	22	68	14
BC Lara (ICC/WI)	1990-2007	299	289	32	10405	169	40.48	13086	79.51	19	63	16
RT Ponting (Aus/ICC)	1995-2007	280	272	32	10395	164	43.31	12950	80.27	23	62	16

Table Source : Wisden

. Now those who say that Ponting is a much better batsman. Think again.
He has played 100 matches less than Sachin and has scored about 5000 runs lesser. To equal his record he would have to score at 50 runs per match. His current average is 43.31 so I dont see him overtaking Sachin anytime soon .Moreover it takes a heck of a long time to play 100 more matches.

Sachin needs to do more to please his fans who are waiting for a century by him. It was disappointing to see him get out in the 90's in the last two innings and am really looking forward to his next.

All the best Sachin ... May you keep making India proud.

Cheers
Sparsh

England rediscovers the joys of Spin Bowling

Phenomenal success ofMonty Panesar has guided Enland to a 3-0 sereies win against West Indies. Monty Panesar picked up 23 wickets at 19 apiece to show once again that spinners can perform well in English conditions. His 2006 summer exploits against Pakistan further confirm the same fact.

So have England finally found a match winner in Panesar? It seems that they certainly have. An impressive part of his bowling has been to consistently attack the stumps which gives him maximum chances of picking up wickets in comparison to his teammate Ashley Giles who was critised for bowling a negative line. One thing is for sure that if panesar keeps bowling some of those perfect balls, which got him the wicket of Denesh Ramdin, he certainly is a very bright future for England.

Does this make him the best finger spinner in the world? Better that Daniel Vettori and Harbhajan Singh? This question is yet to be answered. But who knows if there is another wonderful performance in the forthcoming series against India, having some of the best players of spin bowling, the question will certainly have a positive answer.