Attention TOI, Sachin Tendulkar deserves better than this...
This has been on my mind since yesterday (09.01.2012) and I
could not have let it go like that. For me, it was definitely not a good start to this
chilly morning in New Delhi and the onus goes to TOI (Times of India) and its
cartoonists. For those who have not had a chance to look at it please see below
(TOI, Edit page, Monday, 09.01.2012):
It is not very funny. Is it? Their dig on world’s most
prolific batsmen is completely preposterous and unjustified. I respect their
freedom of expression and their opinion; however, I am provoked enough to
exercise mine too and that’s because of such an inconsiderate and ridiculous
cartoon feature they have come up with. Should TOI have allowed it to be printed at
the first place?? This piece of mine is an open letter to them and any other
cricket enthusiasts who have similar views on Tendulkar.
In fact I just want to add some figures to what Abhishek
Nandwani wrote in his column on cricketnext.com (http://tinyurl.com/6qbg9yv ). I am appalled by this “quick to
praise, quick to blame” attitude and shortsightedness of some of the critics
and so called cricket experts. Especially this above cartoon is far from being
hilarious. In fact it has hurt my sentiments and I am sure billions of Sachin
admirers would feel the same. For heaven’s sake; how can you mock a player of
Tendulkar’s caliber like this? I am aware that the great Sachin would choose to
remain indifferent to it if he were to see it and yet I feel this is highly
insulting to the great torch bearer of cricket for India. Why? Let me prove it
with some of the Data published by TOI itself:
Data published by TOI, New Delhi edition, sports page
(Saturday, January 7, 2012):
INDIANS ABROAD IN 2011
|
||||||||
T
|
I
|
NO
|
Runs
|
HS
|
Avg
|
100
|
50
|
|
Rahul Dravid
|
10
|
20
|
3
|
860
|
146*
|
50.58
|
4
|
2
|
Sachin Tendulkar
|
7
|
14
|
1
|
659
|
146
|
50.69
|
1
|
4
|
VVS Laxman
|
10
|
20
|
2
|
543
|
87
|
30.16
|
0
|
6
|
MS Dhoni
|
10
|
18
|
2
|
405
|
77
|
25.31
|
0
|
4
|
Gautam Gambhir
|
6
|
12
|
0
|
358
|
93
|
29.83
|
0
|
3
|
Suresh Raina
|
7
|
14
|
1
|
337
|
82
|
25.93
|
0
|
4
|
Virender Sehwag
|
5
|
10
|
0
|
173
|
67
|
17.30
|
0
|
1
|
Virat Kohli
|
5
|
9
|
0
|
119
|
30
|
13.22
|
0
|
0
|
What does the above data tell us? I think the following
questions will give clear answers-- Who averages the most? What is the average
of the third best batsmen in 2011? How effective young guns of India have been?
How about the captain and super Sehwag (Whom some of the experts want to see as
the captain in tests)?
Now Sachin Tendulkar in the present series has an average of
56.50 with two half centuries and he is also the only batsmen who has played
Australian pace batteries at ease. Do you remember the next best batsman on
this tour so far (Ravichandran Ashwin perhaps?)? Majority of the good cricket
experts have agreed that Sachin Tendulkar is in prime nick. While it is little
unfortunate that he has not been able to get that elusive tone, can anyone deny
that he is still the BEST? And aren’t we thinking of honoring him with the
highest civilian honor of our country “Bharat Ratna”.
Do you want to talk about how many innings Sachin has failed
to score the hundred? Let’s see an example of Ricky Ponting. His Sydney hundred
came nearly after 2 years of drought and in 34th innings after his
last hundred. Can Australia’s downfall during this period be attributed only to
him? Haven’t they given enough respect to the former captain by showing their
confidence in him? On the other hand can you imagine some of the news channels
even going up to the extent of pointing fingers to the only performing Indian
batsmen for the loss?
By the way, in the above abroad figures, have you also not
noticed that Laxman has failed to score a single hundred in 20 innings, Dhoni
in 18 and Sehwag in 10. Forget about centuries, look at their average. How
about young guns like Raina and Virat? Have they not been given enough chance
to prove themselves? If this were the situation dear cartoonists, wouldn’t you
let Tendulkar carry on till 2040 AD.??
Please excuse me if I am sounding a little harsh on other players. That is not my
intention honestly. The idea is not to criticize them severely and being
considerate and logical in doing so. At the end of the day it’s the entire team's effort that matters. I do not think it is so hard to fathom.
Now let’s have a look at a bigger picture. This is again
from the same edition of TOI and it points out that since January 2008 Sachin Tendulkar has now scored 4,043 runs in 43
Tests at an average of 59.45 with 14 centuries and 17 fifties. He is the ONLY
batsmen to post 4000 runs or more in this stretch. Does it not prove that
he’s only grown better with age and that master will know when to call it quits
himself? Is it so hard to take a note of? And if you cannot respect the above
figures, please do NOT humiliate an epitome of greatness like this publicly. It
does not augur well for cricket as a whole. For a moment only, but just try and
imagine the weight Sachin carries on his shoulders every time he goes out to
bat. Hasn’t he been doing this happily for 22 years? Have you listened to him
complaining even once?
Is it a time for coming up with such notorious cartoon
structures? Or is it a time for us to collectively pray for the great batsman
without losing our patience?
I had emphasized on the importance of building a positive “collective consciousness” on my earlier
blog on a World Cup 2011 match. “I personally feel that putting up a brave show
in the field at such a level is not at all an easy task. I just think of a
situation, when I am supposed to perform under pressure/publicly and then I
realize how nervous and anxious I get. Each player of the India cricket team is
carrying the exception of billions and last thing we would do at this stage is
to criticize them unjustly as it would only yield to a negative
"collective consciousness" making it even tougher for them. “
Having said that, I am not saying that the flaws should not
be fixed; however, some unjust hullaballoo by Media and their propensity to
jump to a conclusion at the drop of a hat may prove fatal. It affects common
people’s perception rather negatively as they may not want to check out these
details themselves every time when they see something like the above cartoon.
Now one last question: Who’s the only India batsman to score
a century at Perth? The answer is Sachin Tendulkar. Does this mean he is bound
to hit one in the next test? NO. And yet will he try his best to get one for
India to emerge victorious? YES and I do not have an iota of doubt about it.
What can we do? Either pray for good or criticize. I choose
the former.
Comments