Nov 23, 2004 12:37 PM
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(Updated Nov 23, 2004 12:39 PM)
Many people will not agree with this review but it is about one of the most selfish cricketer in the history of the game. Many people compare between Sachin and Lara that who is best between them, but this question doesn't arise, because Lara is ahead of Sachin in several respects, not only as a batsman but also as a captain.
Having highest number of centuries doesnt make a player a great player. It is his ability to win matches for the country which make him great and in this respect Sachin is far behind than other players of his era. He has not been able to win a world cup for India and a test series outside India, then what is the use of his 33 test centuries and nearly 10000 runs in test matches.
He has got so many opportunities to win matches for his country but he has failed in all of them. Some of his performance which justify the above said statements are -
136 runs against Pakistan in 1999 at Chennai test match where India lost by 13 runs.
Asia cup 2004 final against Sri Lanka at colombo where he batted almost till the end and scored 78 runs and couldnt win the match for India.
His 141 off 135 balls at Rawalpindi in 2004 where India needed runs almost at the rate of 5 per over and he couldnt win the match for india.
He has never scored when India needed most. He has always been fail in crunch situations and pressures games. Some of the performance which justify the above statement.
Performance at World Cup Final 2003.
India failed to score 120 runs agaisnt West Indies in 4th innings in 1997 at Barbados.
Natwest trophy Final.
Kolkata test match 2001 against Australia.
Adelaide test match in 2003.
Whenever he reaches in 40's and 90's he slows down his innings to get his 50 or 100 without even thinking of the team and the situation. His innings against Australia at Sydney in 2003 where he scored 241. At the end of the 1st day he was batting at 75 and Laxman was in his 20's and on the 2nd day Laxman completled century earlier than him.
His 194* against Pakistan at Multan where to get his double hundred he batted extremly slowly ignoring the fact that team needed scoring at a faster rate and captain Dravid has to forcefully declare the innings. And his selfishness is reflected when he in media criticised this decision of Dravid.
He don't have patience, courage, guts to play long Innings like Laxman Dravid, Lara, Hayden and such other players of his era.
He scored his 1st double hundred on a placid batting track against a weak opposition New Zealand at Ahemdabad in 1999. He took 10 years to score his 1st double hundred in international cricket, this shows his lack of patience and inability to stay on the crease and play big innings.
Where on the other hand Lara who started his carrer in 1991 and scored his 375 in 1994 in the month of April against England at Saint Johns. And immediately after two months in June he scored 501* in 1st class cricket. He is the only batsman in the world next to Bradman to hit 2 triple centuries and sachin doesn't have one. And recently Lara became the only cricketer in the history of the game to hit a 400!
This clearly shows that Lara is ahead of Sachin in all respects. His performance against Australia in 1999 where he won 2 brilliant matches for West Indies and saved the series. In one of his innings in these 2 test matches he scored 90 run patnership with Ambrose for 9th wicket and scored 153
His performance against Sri Lanka in 2001 where he scored 673 runs in the series against Muralitharan & company in turning tracks. And after series Murali himself commited in media that Lara has played him better than other batsmen including Sachin.
Another justification of my statement is Wisden's top 100 innings. Lara has 4 of his innings in them whereas Sachin has none!
Now here is an astonishing fact which very few people know about sachin. In 1998 where sahara cup and commonwealth games held simultaneously and India had to send two teams for Sahara cup and commonwealth games. BCCI asked sachin to play in the team of Commonwealth games but sachin urged to play in Sahara cup because he was getting more match money there. And at last BCCI has to give him extra money to play in the team of commonwealth games.
And his request to central govt for duty waiver for his Ferrari is another example of his greediness and selfishness.
What I mean to say in this review that sachin is a good player but not great!
