Sachin’s Absence in
the triseries
A Blessing In Disguise?
By K. Srinavas Rao
When Saurav Ganguly and his boys takes
on Kiwis in their first game in the Coca-Cola cup, it will be for the
first time in more than 2 years that Indians will be without the services
of the little big man of the Indian team – Sachin Tendulkar. The last time
Sachin missed an entire tournament was in April 99 when India took part in
the LG cup in Kenya. Such an amazing record this man has that in his 12
year international career, Sachin has just missed 5 full tournaments in
all due to injury. In fact, he has the world record of playing 185 ODI on
the trot. In all, since making his ODI debut against Pakistan in 1989,
Sachin has missed just 31 ODI in all. That is indeed mind blowing. Experts
are always short of words when talking about him or praising him. So, the
best thing to do when Sachin is batting is just to watch him play. That is
the reason why, his place is not easy to fill in for anybody.
Although, it is not for the first time that, Saurav would be leading a
team not including Sachin (he did that in the DMC cup against the Windies
in Toronto, which India won), still he will feel the vacuum. The reason
being that not only Sachin is the most experienced player in the current
outfit, he is also a very good thinker of the game. So, whenever, Saurav
wanted an advice on field or he was looking for a breakthrough he used to
turn to Sachin. But, he and India can no longer depend on the master
blaster, if they want to make an impact on the field, or in other words,
if they are aiming to win the coveted World Cup. Cricket is a team game
and each member of the team has to contribute in his own way to be called
a good team. They just can’t depend on individual brilliance. If they want
to produce good cricket consistently, its upto each team member to stand
up and be counted.
For long now, India has been known to be a team of BIG 3…namely, Sachin
Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid. These three are listed amongst
some the World’s best batsmen in contemporary cricket. Each one of them is
a match winner in their own right. Once the opposition gets these three
out, they know that the match is in their pocket. They realize that, if
they can get these three out early, India would not be able to put up a
decent total or chase a meagre target. Since the ban imposed on the
seasoned Azharuddin and the dashing Jadeja, there has been a lot of
pressure on these three to perform, as they are the senior most players in
the current outfit. Though, Indian selectors are doing a good job of
selecting youngsters and giving them a good run, but still they are
forgetting of mixing youth with experience. That is where the importance
of Robin Singh, Venkatesh Prasad and Srinath’s presence in the team comes
into picture. Their absence would mean added pressure not only on the big
three, but also on the youngsters who might lose their confidence.
This comes in the light of the fact that, since the ban on Azhar, Jadeja
and the absence of Robin, India has not won a match in which there has not
been a sizeable contribution from any of the big three. There have been
exceptions like the one against the Aussies in the ICC knock out. But,
even in that match, the early onslaught of Sachin and Saurav on the Aussie
bowlers had set the tone for others to follow. Another match which one can
remember is the first one-dayer against Zimbabwe in the home series in
2000. Indians were down and out chasing a target of 250 plus with the top
5 back in the pavilion and the score reading 130 odd for 5. That is where
young Badani and keeper Dahiya took over and along with Agarkar saw India
home. But, in that match also, Sachin and Saurav had an opening
partnership of over a hundred, which made the job much easier for others
to follow. And the last match, which comes to mind, is the one against the
Zimbabweans in the same series. Indians were without Saurav and they were
122 for 5. Thanks to the efforts of Hemang Badani, promising Reetinder
Sodhi and Agarkar India went on to post 301 for 6. In fact, Agarkar broke
Kapil’s record of fastest 50 by an Indian.
The point is that a one-off performance by others, like in the matches
mentioned above will not help India’s cause. The others would have to
produce such performances on a consistent basis, so that it not only eases
the pressure on the big three, but also sends positive vibes to the
opposition to not take others and the whole team lightly. So, now that
Sachin is out of the tournament, it provides the others with a golden
opportunity to prove to the world as to what stuff they are made off. Now
they have the got the chance, they have to prove that, they will not the
go the same way as Vikram Rathore, Praveen Amre, Pankaj Dharmani, Atul
Bedade and all who promised more and performed less. It is the time for
them to stand up and be counted. They can now perform and show their
gratitude to the captain and the selectors for reposing the faith in them.
It is the time for the Indians other than the big three that India is just
not a team of big three, it is a team of 11 tough nuts who won’t crack
easily, so that one can say that, Sachin’s absence has indeed been a
blessing in disguise.
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