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Sachin Tendulkar: Tendu, Ten Don't!

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The headline is borrowed from a famous Amul hoarding in the mid 90s. While some of Amul’s communication is cynical and most of it exaggerated, this line was indeed spot on. It succinctly captured the sorry state of Indian cricket throughout the 90s. It was a time when most (if not all) cricket fans simply turned off their TVs the moment Sachin lost his wicket. I can personally recount many instances of community viewing when the Tandoori chicken was left to turn cold and the beer warm… His dismissal symbolised a sharp free fall of hope and viewer interest!

Tendulkar has finally decided (or has been coaxed as some may argue) to hang up his boots. Publications and websites are replete with articles saluting the genius. Every self-confessed fan will be brandishing records ranging from 100 centuries (which he painstakingly accumulated) to the first ever ODI double hundred (though the record belongs to the Australian woman cricketer Belinda Clark – unfortunately, we don’t seem to think much about women’s cricket).

It might be a super idea to take Sachin to the nearest lab to decode his genius dna. But since that could risk a “copyright” battle with the mighty BCCI – I have resorted to the next best option… Here is my list of 5 “filtered” stats that possibly highlight the mammoth proportions of brilliance that flows through his veins.

Bigger the Better: Sachin played a lot of cricket and is bound to be among the runs, but he saved his best for the biggest challenge. No one comes close to his record in the World Cup – most runs, most half centuries, most centuries and the maximum number of man of the match awards. In fact, even in his last World Cup when he was well past his prime, he was the highest run scorer for India. It was only fitting he got his hands on the coveted trophy.
 
Read full article at : DNAIndia

Sachin Tendulkar: From Bradman to Brandman

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Kapil's Devils made India fall head over heels in love with cricket by winning the 1983 World Cup; by the Nineties, as the country opened its doors to the world, the game had captured the imagination of a billion people.

It is in this backdrop that Sachin Tendulkararrived, turning a pristine sport into a multimillion dollar industry. His meteoric rise was the perfect platform for dozens of brands, with his humility and simplicity connecting him to the masses like never before.

Cricket may have changed over those two-and-a-half decades, for better and for worse, but the Little Master, even as he evolved, has remained a calming constant.

As former India batsman Gopal Bose put it, "It's just plain unreal that a top cricketer should remain free of controversies through such a long career. He's the son every mother dreams of having, the brother every sister wants."

There have been huge brands among sportsmen but his impeccable image over such a long time has helped sustain him as THE brand.Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong and so many others suffered setbacks after falling from grace, but not Sachin.

"The phenomenon that he has been and the mass following that he has, certainly allowed the creation of the entire 'sportsperson as an endorser'. While a few existed prior to him, his professional peaks and the opening up of the Indian economy - did wonders as a combination," Harish Krishnamachari of World Sport Group told TOI.

"I believe the key part of the evolution of Brand Sachin has been his continued relevance. He continues to lend credibility to brands, products and causes that he has been associated with," added the country head of WSG, which has been handling the Little Master's endorsements since 2006.

Sachin may have become the richest cricketer in the world and helped make BCCI a cash cow but Shailendra Singh of Percept will tell you where the real credit should go.

"Often in India, too much credit is given to the athlete and very little to those who create the brand. In Sachin's case, I'd give 100 per cent of the credit to Mark Mascarenhas. Sachin did his job on the field and Mark off it. It takes two to tango," Singh reminded.

If the Dhonis and Kohlis are striking multimillion dollar deals today, they can thank Sachin for his talent and Mascarenhas, who died in a car crash in 2002, for the vision to believe and invest in him.

Both Sachin and Dhoni made it to the Forbes list of top 100 richest athletes in the world in 2011. According to a recent survey conducted by Wealth X, Sachin's net worth is $160 million, which makes him the richest Indian sportsperson.

Marketing experts are convinced Brand Sachin will actually get bigger after his retirement. With his squeaky-clean image and the trust he has earned, a whole new range of products and market has opened up for him.

Also, he will now have more time for his sponsors. However, Singh spells out the challenge. "It's all about visibility. He's visible 300 days in a year; after retirement can he stay visible for that long a time in a year?"

Sachin of the 1,000 days: The Little Master's epic career

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Sachin Tendulkar's first innings in Test cricket is ended on 15 when he is bowled by another debutant, Waqar Younis. But he has already impressed, taking several blows to the body.

At 16 years 205 days, he is the third youngest Test player (after two Pakistanis). He was directed towards cricket partly to curb his bullying tendencies, which seems astonishing given the patient chap he became.

As a schoolboy he took part in an unbroken 664-run partnership with Vinod Kambli, another future Test batsman, and made 100 not out on his first-class debut for Mumbai against Gujarat when he was 15 in 1988.

Day 44: 14 August 1990

India are up against it on the last day of the Second Test against England. At 109 for 4 when Tendulkar comes in they are heading for defeat at Old Trafford, chasing a nominal 408 to win.

But Tendulkar scores the first of his 100 international hundreds, at 17 years 112 days old. Only Mushtaq Mohammad of Pakistan was a younger Test centurion.

The effect of this first visit to England was dramatic: two years later Tendulkar becomes the first overseas player in Yorkshire's history.

Day 74: 3 February 1992

On a rapid, bouncy pitch at Perth against a high-class pace attack, Tendulkar scores his second hundred of a series in which India are trounced. Fast bowler Merv Hughes says to his captain Allan Border: "This little prick's going to get more runs than you, AB." He was right.

Day 195: 10 October 1996

As was inevitable, Tendulkar becomes captain of India aged 23. By now he is already an icon of the game. His tenure starts with a handsome seven-wicket victory against Australia which is followed by a series win over South Africa.

But there are no other wins in 17 Tests and he withdraws 18 months later. He assumes the role again in 1999 but never looks comfortable and after another eight matches he steps down again. He is invited to take over again in 2007 but declines.

The record shows that although he averaged 51 in his Tests as captain, the side won only four of 25 Tests.

Day 313: 19 February 1999

Eden Gardens, Kolkata has been full for the first four days of the inaugural match in the Asian Test Championship. It has tilted this way and that and India are set 272 to beat Pakistan with two days left.

Then comes a riot, caused solely by an incident involving Tendulkar. Attempting a third run he collides with the bowler Shoaib Akhtar and the third umpire eventually decides he has failed to make his ground.

The crowd hurl objects at Shoaib, the players are led off and eventually Tendulkar makes a public appeal for calm. On the following day there are again disturbances. Play is held up for three hours while police evacuate the ground of 65,000 spectators. It is finally finished as Pakistan win by 46 runs, in front of around 200 spectators.

Day 406: 19 November 2001

World cricket is in crisis after Tendulkar is one of six Indians punished by match referee Mike Denness for misdemeanours in the Second Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth. He is accused of ball-tampering and banned for one match. But India dispute the penalties and questions are asked in parliament. The Third Test is deprived of official status when India refuse to recognise Denness as match referee. The ban is lifted.

Day 463: 3 January 2004

The Little Master scores a serene 241 not out at Sydney, the ninth and highest of his 11 Test hundreds against Australia and his 32nd in Tests. He broke Don Bradman's long-standing record of 29 hundreds in 2002 in England and has struggled since with a severe bout of tennis elbow.

Day 610: 19 March 2006

Decline appears to have set in and the unthinkable happens. Dismissed by Jimmy Anderson for one, Tendulkar is booed off the field at his Mumbai home ground and India lose. He needs shoulder surgery.

A few months later he is criticised by the India coach, Greg Chappell, for his attitude and uncharacteristically makes a public response.

Yet in 2008, he goes past Brian Lara's aggregate of 11,953 runs to become Test cricket's highest scorer.

Day 725: 15 December 2008

Perhaps his finest hour. The country was in a state of crisis after terrorists launched a murderous attack on Mumbai. England suspended their tour but, with emotions on all sides still running high, agreed to return. In the First Test, moved to Chennai, England set India an improbable 387 to win. Tendulkar took them home on the last day with 103 not out in more than five hours on awearing pitch. He dedicated the century to the 173 victims of the attack.

Day 842: 22 August 2011

All summer long the world waited for Tendulkar's 100th international hundred. At The Oval he reached 91. The long wait seems to be over but Tim Bresnan spears the ball into his pads and he is lbw.

In his next Test, in Delhi in November, he becomes the first player to reach 15,000 Test runs.

But it takes another six months before finally he attains the 100th 100, scoring 114 in Dhaka against Bangladesh in Dhaka.

Will Mohammed Shami 'reverse' India's pace fortunes?

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Going by the reams of newsprint and air time devoted to India’s ever-depleting bowling resources during the recent ODI run feast against the Aussies, Mohammed Shami’s performance in his breakthrough Test was as reinvigorating as finding an oasis in the Thar. 

Bowling with the old ball is one thing, getting it to reverse at will is another. Shami did both — and much more — to finish with a match haul of nine wickets as India wrapped up the first Test at the Eden with two full days to spare.

The other things that Shami did right were bowl quick and just short of a length, enough to keep the batsmen guessing all along. TA Sekar, the respected fast-bowling guru, can’t stop praising the Bengal bowler. 

“More than anything else, I liked the way he swung the new ball. Yes, he got all his wickets with the old ball, but that doesn’t mean he did not get conventional swing,” Sekar explained.

The secret to Shami’s success, like MS Dhoni also pointed out, was his perfect seam position. Sekar elaborates on that point. 

“Look at Zaheer Khan or even S Sreesanth. They succeeded because of their seam position. Shami is doing the same thing. Thankfully, he is not like Ishant Sharma who, more often than not, bowls with a scrambled seam. That’s why he neither moves the ball in the air nor off the wicket. No such problems for Shami. He bowls a very good Test match length and I am sure he will continue to do well.”

One is not trying to take anything away from Shami but truth be told, the West Indians are no Englishmen or South Africans. To say they made Shami look far more devastating than he actually was wouldn’t be off the mark. Their shot selection was poor, their footwork ineffective and they seemed to have no gameplan against our pacers. Did they devote all their homework time to the spinners?

“They misread most of the balls. They thought it was not going to come in all that much,” Sekar pointed out. “That’s the beauty of reverse swing. The batsman gets very little time to adjust. If you pitch it closer to the batsman (on off stump or thereabouts), it will do the trick. Look at Wasim (Akram) and Waqar (Younis). Look at Zaheer. Why have all these bowlers been so effective? It’s because of the seam position. Shami does the same and then uses the aerodynamics of the ball. He is a great find and should try and do well in South Africa.”

Talk of the upcoming tour of South Africa (from December 5 to 30), where India will play three ODIs and two Tests, and the biggest concern will be over the Kookaburra ball. Unlike the SG ball, which has a pronounced seam, the Kookaburra, used in South Africa and Australia, doesn’t. Moreover, as it gets older, the Kookaburra ball tends to get softer.

But MS Dhoni gave Shami his vote of confidence. “You need a bit of pace to dominate. You can get a bit of reverse swing, and he’s got very good seam positioning which means he can reverse the ball away from the right-handers. So on wickets that have a bit more bounce, I think he will be even more effective with the ball going both ways.” 

Bounce? Shami will get plenty of that in South Africa. Pace he already has.

Sekar went one step further. “Pair him with Zaheer and you will see the difference. They will do well in tandem,” he said. That, sure, is on Dhoni’s mind too. But Sekar also wants Shami to work on his angles, especially with the new ball.

Now, a little on that one problem every promising bowler in India tends to suffer from: over-coaching. Sanjay Manjrekar summed it up beautifully with this tweet: “Mohd Shami should just keep bowling and not take too much advice. Not sure there are too many in Ind(ia) who really know the art of fast bowling.” 

Sekar is one of the few fast bowling technicians we have and he agreed that Shami must not be over-coached. “That’s the job of the team management, especially the bowling coach (Joe Dawes).” Yes, we don’t want Shami to go through what Irfan Pathan did.

Stellar Shami
Shami’s bowling figures in Kolkata were the fourth-best by an India fast bowler at home and the best since Javagal Srinath’s 13/132 against Pakistan at the Eden Gardens in 1999.

Before that, only Kapil Dev’s 10/135 against West Indies in Ahmedabad in 1983 bettered it.

His figures are the best by an Indian fast bowler on debut and the second-best by an India bowler on debut.

Source: DNA India

Ind vs WI: Indian bowlers rock West Indies top order

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NEW DELHI: Debutant Mohammed Shami took nine wickets in the match as India crushed the West Indies by an innings and )) runs on the third day to take a 1-0 lead in the series.

Scorecard

West Indies lost their ninth wicket when Ravichandran Ashwin had Tino Best caught by Pragyan Ojha at deep mid-wicket. 

The West Indies lost their fifth wicket when Mohammed Shami had Denesh Ramdin caught by Murali Vijay at forward short leg. 

Ravichandran Ashwin took his second wicket when he had Darren Bravo caught by Rohit Sharma at backward point after tea. 

Ashwin pitched a delivery outside off and got the ball to bounce a bit more from the rough, Bravo went back to cut and hit it in the air, Sharma dived forward at backward point to take the catch as the ball dipped on him.

Kolkata Test, Day 1: India on top in Sachin Tendulkar’s 199th Test

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Pacer Mohammed Shami announced his arrival on the Test arena by scalping four wickets in a dream spell against the West Indies as a dominant India started Sachin Tendulkar`s farewell series by taking early control of the first Test here on Wednesday.


Shami returned impressive figures of 4/71 in 18 overs as India bowled out the visitors for a paltry 234 after they opted to bat at the Eden Gardens on the opening day.

At stumps, India were comfortable placed at 37 for no loss with the two openers, Shikhar Dhawan (21) and Murali Vijay (16), at the crease. At the end of first day`s play, India trailed the West Indies by 197 runs with all their wickets intact.

West Indies skipper Darren Sammy`s decision to bat may have prevented the crowd from watching Tendulkar bat on the first day itself, but the 40-year-old retiring legend did his bit with the bowl picking up a wicket in his first over itself, taking his Test wicket tally to 46.

While Tendulkar was undoubtedly the cynosure of all eyes, Shami grabbed the opportunity with bot hands as he rocked the West Indies middle-order with a hostile spell that included quite a few reverse-swinging deliveries.

The 23-year-old Shami`s wickets included Kieran Powell, top-scorer Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin and Sheldon Cottrell.

Earlier, West Windies were placed were placed comfortably at 107 for two at lunch, but Shami wreaked havoc in the second session, extracting excellent reverse swings from the Eden pitch to trigger a collapse. The touring side lost eight wickets for 96 runs to be skittled out in 78 overs.

Samules scored 65 off 98 balls with the help of 11 fours and two sixes.

About 40,000 turned up on the first day, expecting Tendulkar to bat. While that did not happen, with the ball he turned the clock back as he trapped Shane Shillingford in front of the wicket with a straighter one after bowling three turning deliveries.

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha (1/62) too impressed with his tidy bowling but he was unlucky twice with skipper Dhoni dropping Samuels and Shane Shillingford on two occasions.

Ravichandran Ashwin claimed 2/52.

Born in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, Shami moved to Bengal eight years ago on coach Badruddin SIddique`s insistence as there were not many opportunities for the young pacer in his home state.

Son of a farmer, Shami, who hails from a remote village called Sahaspur abouut 22kms from Moradabad, found his calling in Kolkata where club cricket was very much active as he went on to ply his trade for clubs like Dalhousie AC and Town before being called for Bengal under-22.

He was also a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders squad in IPL 2011 and the tips from bowling consultant Wasim Akram proved invaluable.

It was a good move by Dhoni as he preferred Shami over the out-of-sorts Ishant Sharma, who, incidentally, gave the Test cap to the debutant pacer. The other debutant of the day was Rohit Sharma and he got the cap from Tendulkar.

Shami showed fine fitness as he bowled in four spells with the third being the longest and most fruitful (7-0-30-2). He was at his best in the last spell that read 3-1-2-1.

Shami was also instrumental in Darren Bravo`s run-out as West Windies committed a harakiri in the middle, losing three wickets in as many overs to tilt the match in favour of India.

Shami got his maiden Test scalp in the form of Powell (28) after Bhuvneshwar Kumar gave the initial breakthrough, taking the prized wicket of Chris Gayle (18).

India exploited the slow Eden pitch to good effect as Bhuvneshwar dismissed Gayle with a low delivery. Both the WI openers looked impatient and got out in the space of four overs.

Playing his first Test at his home ground, Shami was impressive from the first over as he troubled both the openers.

With his second ball, Shami nipped one back against Powell, but the height saved the left-hander who appeared a little tentative to start with.

Gayle, on the other hand, went about in his usual brisk manner and even had an inside edge off Shami but was lucky as the ball missed the stumps.

Dhoni made a smart change, bringing in Shami from the High Court end that resulted in the wicket of Powell.

Samuels slowly repaired the damage as he completed his 19th half century in his happy hunting ground, where he had scored his maiden Test hundred in 2002, as the Caribbeans went to lunch smiling.

Shami castled Samuels with a sharp in-cutter to grab his second wicket, which broke a fine 91-run partnership with Bravo.

Dhoni gave the last over before tea to Tendulkar, bringing the crowd on its feet. It turned out be a masterstroke by the `Captain Cool`.

After bowling three deliveries, the maestro unleashed a flipper and Shillingford had no answer.

- Zee News

India needs a genuine all-rounder: Dhoni

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Captain M S Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar during a practice session at Eden Garden in Kolkata on Monday.

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Tuesday said the lack of a genuine all-rounder is a concern and the team needs to find someone like Ravindra Jadeja who has been rested for the two-match Test series against the West Indies due to a shoulder strain.

India will begin Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell series in international cricket with the first Test beginning at the Eden Gardens here on Wednesday.

The absence of Jadeja has tilted the balance of the side.

“It has been a bit of a concern. I’ve always said that we need good seam bowler or a frontline spinner who can bat a bit. At times you don’t realise the importance of a particular player. People criticise so much.

“Now that we don’t have Jadeja we are thinking whether to have a fifth bowler or maybe another spinner who can bat a bit. Is it that the batting will become thin,” Dhoni told reporters at the pre-match press conference.

The skipper said there are not enough options at the moment.

“We will have to find someone to do the job. It’s always good to have a plan B or C... At the moment we don’t have too many who can do the job,” Dhoni said.

India are in a quandary over the bowling line-up and they are not sure whether to play with a five-men attack or give in-form Rohit Sharma the Test cap while using him as a part-time offspinner.

Asked whether Ajinkya Rahane or Rohit Sharma would get the No 6 spot, the skipper said: “Well the thing is whether we want to go with four bowlers or have a fifth to the attack, or someone who can bowl a bit if needed. That’s one major decision. Though the decision is one, it’s divided into three different aspects.

“If we go with five bowlers, both of them may not play.

If we need someone who can bowl a bit of off-spin then Rohit plays. Thirdly, if we go with four specialist bowlers, Ajinkya stays,” he said.

-The Hindu
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