Sports : life magnified

More than whether Tendulkar scores runs (which hasn’t been great in tests lately), there is disappointment at large at the way he scores his runs.

I think this is where people are largely mistaken. He can’t score runs the way he did in 1998. I remember he was even more aggressive in his early days and used to get out so much more in the 1992-1996 period.

I do see Tendulkar has curtailed the risk in his batting and removed getting out shots a lot. Despite this he is getting out. So people say he should play in way x, way y. I think it should be left to him to figure out, or him to consult who ever he wants, if he wants.

Just to speak about batting styles, Dravid comes to mind. His one day batting was highly criticised. He has been such a good one day player because he has the batting base required to adopt.

Tendulkar too has the batting base required to adopt. Has his body deteriorated so much that he cannot perform at test level? I strongly don’t believe it but we can only ascertain after he finishes his career for sure.

I do not buy the logic that he has lost it mentally. Maybe he is doing things wrong mentally, maybe he isn’t. But how can a player who has one of the best cricketing brains lose it mentally when mental prowess is bound to increase over a cricketers career.

South Africa chase 434 to win the 5 match one day series. Is this the greatest one day match of all time? I have been a strong backer of the first one dayer between India and Pakistan in 2003. A lot of people will still feel the South Africa-Australia World Cup 1999 semi-final was better than this. I would not give this game the best one day game tag because it wasn’t a contest between the bat and the ball - some thing which is essential to me when I judge the greatest games.

If a team was dismissed for 65 and another team dismissed team 1 for a total below 65, would you call it the greatest one dayer? Not really. So why even consider this conclusion here.

However, no team had even made 400 before this match, let alone chase such a score. Crap bowling from both teams? Most definitely. But it takes more than crap bowling to score 400. It takes even more to chase such such a 434. Has one day cricket taken another step forward with further insignificance of bowlers? It appears so. The bowling standards and the batting adapatability has been increasing with every year. A total of 230 was par score in the early 90s and a total of more than 250 a winning one.

I can rejoice for the moment and savour the victory regardless of the future.