Will Sachin get to century of 100s?

Now that Sachin has scored two centuries back to back, the chances of him reaching a century of 100s in tests and ODI are looking better. However, I wonder if he can really get there if he is going to play only till 2011 World Cup.

Sachin scores an average of one test century per 3.7 tests or 6 innings and one ODI century per 10 innings; though he hadn't scored one till he turned opener in his 84th ODI. By just looking at averages, he will need 60-70 ODIs to get to 7 more ODI centuries and 29 tests to get to 8 more test centuries--assuming he gets to 5o each in both tests and ODIs. Looks tough given this.

But great men don't just go by averages. They do better when it really matters. Sachin had scored 20 centuries in a 1.5 years stretch in 1998-99. So he can indeed get that to the so-thought improbable 100 centuries mark if he plays at his best.

Sachin stats from 1998-99
ODI: 56 matches 2737 runs 186* 55.85 avg 12 centuries
Tests: 15 matches 1735 runs 217 highest 72.29 avg 8 centuries

Go for it Sachin.

Nostalgic feelings...the 1983 World Cup win!

THE SUMMER OF 1983
By Vivek Atray
The silver jubilee anniversary of any event of significance is
a noteworthy milestone. India’s victory over the domineering West
Indians in the final of the Cricket World Cup on a balmy evening
at Lords on June 25, 1983 was a momentous occasion in more
ways than one. 25 years later memories come flooding to one’s
mind.
India as a nation was not really known for its killer instinct at
that time and even less so on the sporting arena. We were used to
losing. Even so, I remember weeping uncontrollably as a child
when India lost to New Zealand in the 1975 World Cup. The
victories over the West Indies at St. Kitts and over Australia in
their triangular series a few months prior to the World Cup in 1983,
were to mean much more on the day of reckoning than we had
anticipated. The upswing in our fortunes had begun back then.
This was a team of believers that somehow broke the mould
and rubbished prevailing theories that Indian teams could not be
world beaters. The Tournament began for India with a stunning
win over the Windies in a league match and was followed by wins
over Australia and Zimbabwe. That particular victory against
Zimbabwe is probably as much a part of folklore, as anything
before or after, accomplished by the Indian cricket team. Kapil
Dev’s magnificent 175 after he walked in when India were
precariously poised at 17 for 5 took the team to an astounding win.
Those were the days when we would thirst for a glimpse of a
ball or two, of the action on television and indeed Kapil Dev’s
innings is still part only of the imagination as no video of it is
available. Apparently the British TV Channels did not consider it
to be a match fit for telecast.
The final and the semi-final were, however, telecast in some
detail on Indian TV screens and despite the very basic technology
used in those days we could make out that our team had come of
age despite all odds.
It was, perhaps, the ease with which Yashpal Sharma hit Bob
Willis for a slog-pull over the mid-wicket fence and the searing
shots which Sandip Patil displayed that made us sure of victory
over hosts England in the Semi-finals.
The West Indians of those days were akin to the Tiger Woods
and Roger Federers of today. India’s opponents in the Finals were
awesome in all respects. Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gorden
Greenidge, Malcolm Marshal, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and
Andy Roberts were fearsome figures on the cricket field. Pitted
against them were India’s military-medium-pacers Roger Binny,
Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath along with some classy
batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar, K. Srikkanth and Sandip Patil. Kapil
Dev was the one outstanding one-day player in that line-up.
One remembers a familiar heart-sinking feeling as India
struggled to get only 183 runs, falling like ninepins to the dreaded
West Indian pace-quartet. We were all resigned to our fate, as
Syed Kirmani also admitted on TV last week, and to having
accomplished more than we could hope for just by reaching the
final of the World Cup. Fate had something else in store, however,
as arrogance coupled with failure to take on some steady swing
bowling led to the West Indian down fall.
Three memories that stand out from that West Indian innings
are Balwinder Sandhu’s ball-of-the-millennium to an armshouldering
Gordon Greenidge, Kapil Dev’s unparalleled
athleticism in catching the dangerous Richards and celebrated
commentator Richie Benaud’s high-pitched remark “Gone !” when
Clive Lloyd fell to a catch at point.
Amarnath’s little in-swinger accounted for Holding’s wicket
to end the match and a delirious country erupted with joy. At that
moment it seemed to every Indian that he or she was a World
champion too.
The victorious team visited Chandigarh soon after their
success and one recalls the simplicity with which each of them
conducted himself in that hour of glory. Wide eyed at finding
myself, an impressionable 16 year old, amongst my heroes at the
inaugural ceremony of Kapil Dev’s hotel, I realized that India and
its people were second to none.

Ishant Sharma gets NZ reeling at 60 for 6

Cricket is the greatest of all levelers

By Vivek Atray

Cricket is such a great leveler that fortunes can soar or plummet, careers can be made or marred, opinions can fluctuate like the sensex and reputations can be enhanced or left in tatters, within a matter of days. The Indian team which had been flying high with three consecutive victories in the one-day series against New Zealand was brought rudely down to earth by a devastating defeat in the final encounter on Saturday. The same opponents, who had looked bedazzled, wonder-struck and clueless in the previous matches, came up with such a tour-de-force at Hamilton that it was India’s turn to look out of breath as a unit.
Not that one defeat should halt the march of one of the most exciting Indian teams in history. It is just that the euphoria over the brilliant performances of Dhoni’s team was so exuberant that certain basic weaknesses were overlooked. The Indians have undoubtedly been blessed with some of the most aggressive and destructive batsmen of our time at one go. Sehwag, Raina, Yuvraj, Pathan and Gambhir could destroy any bowling attack on their day, and they have indeed done so with amazing regularity. While this approach should lead to victories in most 20-20 matches for sure, they have to plan better for the 50 over game. Even though they lost both 20-20 games and won 3 out of 4 of the completed 50 over games that they have played on the current tour, their approach suggests that they are more likely to scale unprecedented heights in the shortest version of the game than in the 50 over version. In the 20 over format, even if quick wickets fall, there is not enough time for a team to collapse without utilizing their full quota of overs, unless they play really terribly! The world champions are thus well poised to retain their ICC World 20-20 title in England this June, given the extent of the firepower they possess.
India’s best ODI game of the just concluded series was the third one, in which they scored 392 (thanks to Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Raina) and won, in spite of the fact that the Kiwis ran them quite close in the chase. The other satisfying finish was the Sehwag-Gambhir show in the fourth game, wherein the master destroyer blasted India’s fastest ever ODI century while Gambhir played the waiting/supporting game.
The fact that winning cricket matches does not just depend on the slam-bang approach, is well known. Strategy, technique and playing according to the state of the game are important elements of cricket too. Dhoni has shown great acumen and understanding of the finer aspects of the game and he would have realized that the Indians took their foot off the pedal, to their peril, in the final match on Saturday.
While the impact of that crushing defeat, on the Test series, would be known soon enough, what India must realize immediately is that the difference between a great team and a good team is simply the fact that true champions never give in without a fight. All in all, with 3 matches lost and 3 won on the tour so far (with one no result), India have a lot to play for in the Test Matches. The addition of specialists like Dravid, Laxman and Balaji should bolster the Indian line-up significantly in the five day version. Tendulkar, after his injury-break, following his magnificent knock of 163 runs in the third ODI, would be raring to go, as would Sehwag who, strangely enough, has always looked even more at home on the Test Match stage than on any other.
The manner in which Virender ‘the Destroyer’ started the tour, with sixes off each of the first three balls he faced in the first 20-20 game, left us gasping in awe. Even the great Vivian Richards would have been proud of the way in which Sehwag goes about spanking perfectly respectable bowling attacks. His form continued in the ODI’s too, with good length balls disappearing into the stands with alarming regularity. Those who think that his 60 ball century will take a while to be bettered in ODI’s, better think again, for Sehwag has the power and panache to break his own record many a time over in the coming years.
Another star performer in the series was Yuvraj Singh, who seems more at ease at the crease nowadays than he has ever looked in his career. His imperious presence not only uplifts the morale of his batting partners but also instills the fear of God in the hearts of the opponents. His clean hits could clear any ground in the world, but he is particularly devastating on the small Kiwi grounds. Suresh Raina too looked in such sublime touch that he couldn’t play a false stroke till the final match, when the Indians fell like a pack of cards.
Dhoni, Gambhir, Harbhajan and Zaheer came up with useful performances too, and Yusuf Pathan pitched in with a few important wickets. The Pathan brothers better watch out however, for they may be labeled only as 20-20 players, if their current performance-level in the ODI format continues. Overall India’s fielding and bowling were below par and it was only their batting which really flourished in the limited over games against the Kiwis. Time and again the Kiwis threatened to stage as effective an onslaught as the ones affected by the Indians with their hell-for-leather batting approach. They would be equally dangerous in the Tests, with the best left arm spinner in the world, skipper Daniel Vettori, along with exciting players like Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor in their ranks.
All in all though, the Indians are on a roll under the tutelage of the wily Gary Kirsten, aided by Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh. But they would have to tighten their fielding and their bowling in the coming months. Sterner tests await them on their road towards becoming the best team in the world. We shall be watching very closely!

BCCI, IPL and ICL saga

I saw the news story on BCCI objecting to Ravi Shastri doing commentary with Craig Macmillan for the India-NZ test matches. The reason is that Craig plays in the "rebel" cricket league ICL. Now this reminds me of a new form on apartheid: stop interaction with a few cricketers completely because they play in ICL. Soon BCCI may be saying to Indian cricketers--don't take this airline flight because ICL player is on the same flight or don't go to this restaurant because ICL player eats there. 

More on BCCI, IPL, Lalit Modis soon...

How the mighty have fallen

HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN!

By Vivek Atray

The sudden and unprecedented decline in the performance of the Australian cricket team in all three formats of the game at the international level has set the cat among the pigeons, literally. All of a sudden, India and South Africa have started to lick their lips at the prospect of becoming the undisputed world champions in the coming months. Even Sri Lanka, England and New Zealand have probably started entertaining visions of being the world’s best team in the near future. Pakistan, because of lack of match practice, and the West Indies, because their re-birth is still too recent, may be the only ones among the top teams who are not in a position as of now to harbour such thoughts.
This situation has come to pass simply because the hitherto invincible Aussies, have started faltering more often than not in all three avatars of the modern game. They have lost to India, to South Africa, and very nearly to New Zealand in recent series that they have contested. Their defeats at the hands of the effervescent South Africans, led by the resolute and doughty Graeme Smith, in both the Test series and the ODI format, and that too in their own back yard, must have sent shivers down the spine of the Aussie selectors, players and fans alike. Not for decades has Australia suffered at the hands of any team in this manner.
The reasons for this fall from grace, and from their once lofty pedestal, of the awesome Aussies, are not difficult to seek. Never before has any international cricket team seen such an exodus of talent class and experience from the scene, almost simultaneously. Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martin and Justine Langer bid adieu to their beloved team in the recent past, thus totally exposing their greenhorn replacements to the mercy of resurgent opponents like India and South Africa. Meanwhile the likes of Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds, for reasons related to injury or otherwise, also became largely unavailable to the already beleaguered Australians. The sheer quality and class of the aforementioned group of players was the reason for the unfathomable run of successes that the Australians enjoyed for years. This was coupled with excellent preparation for each series and a never-say-die attitude that pulled them out of seemingly impossible match-situations to come out triumphant in the face of all odds, time and again. McGrath and Warne were among the greatest bowlers ever to play the game and they led their team to one famous victory after another without ever seeming to lose steam. There was even an sms joke after the 2007 World Cup, and Australia’s third-straight triumph at that level, about a plan for simply handing them the Cup in 2011, even without a ball being bowled! How things have changed since!
Perhaps another reason for the decline of Australian cricket could be the lack of foresightedness in blooding younger players one by one while the greats were still around. For example it would have been much easier for new talents like Peter Siddle and even David Warner to settle down nicely, while the likes of McGrath and Gilchrist were still around on the field and in the dressing room! All through cricket’s history we have seen that when the experienced players were around to pass on their magic to their successors the transition had been smoother.
Imran Khan passed on the magic to Wasim Akram, Steve Waugh did the same to Ricky Ponting, and the incomparable Sachin Tendulkar is still around to follow suit with the likes of Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma. It is another matter that Tendulkar had already mentored another generation in Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag, who are world class players in their own right today! Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are still batting superbly at the Test level, even as the younger lot takes over from them gradually. Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble have just retired, but then by now, skipper MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh are highly respected players on the world stage. India has somehow been able to soften the blow of the transition, either due to a glut of available talent, or due to better planning. This is the way to go! Not the Aussie way, where the cupboard suddenly looks bare.
Is all lost for the Aussies then? Not really! If one looks back, the West Indians suffered a much steeper fall from the top of the cricketing world during the nineties. That they have still been unable to recover from that shock is as much a reflection of the sheer greatness of players like Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge and the fearsome fast bowlers that they possessed, as also due to the sheer lack of interest in the game among the youth in that part of the world today. However, under Chris Gayle, the Windies seem to be in the process of rekindling that spark once again and their recent annihilation of the Poms is a case in point.
The Aussies themselves suffered severely in the eighties when Kerry Packer took away most of their greats. Kim Hughes, followed by Allan Border, was left to pick up the pieces. The fact that Border went on to become the world’s most prolific batsman at one time and that under his leadership (followed by that of Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting), Australia scaled great heights, must give hope to the Australian selectors in the current hour of crisis.
All the same, the mighty have indubitably fallen and while they may not be out just yet, they are surely down! Much like the once impregnable Roger Federer, who is now struggling to come to terms with Rafael Nadal’s game, the cricketing Aussies must re-group at the double. Else India and South Africa would be the teams to look out for, not only during the ICC 20-20 Cup later this year, but also in the longer versions of the game. The menu on offer could not be more mouth watering for us cricket-lovers. Let’s keep that remote-control handy!