|
|
| CricketZone.Com | IndiaExpress.Com ApunKaChoice.Com |
 |
|
NEWS Cricket World Cup 2007>Keeping faith in Sachin Tendulkar 07th Feb 2007 22.02 IST By Manish Kumar Just when some ‘intelligent’ cricket writers were busy writing the obituary of Sachin Tendulkar as a cricketer, the Master Blaster delighted his fans with a stunning century at Vadodara against the West Indies. That century on January 31, will surely shut up the so-called cricket pundits who not only thought that Sachin is well past his aggressive best but also questioned his place in the team.
Sachin’s knock that day defined the innings for 25 overs as he had come to bat in the 25th over of the match. With Sachin set, captain Rahul Dravid and Mahendra Dhoni played their natural game which helped in India posting their highest total ever against the West Indies. Sachin’s knock increased confidence in the Indian dressing room — even the hapless Irfan Pathan was smiling and increased frustration in the fielding side as evident by dropped catches, misfields, confused tactics. Sachin’s knock also ensured that India lost only three wickets and scoring heavily in the last ten overs. Having silenced his critics with the century, Sachin said he had been in the game long enough to know about his batting and never paid heed to others views. "I always bat as I feel is the correct way to bat. I have played long enough to know what is good for me. I do not want to know what others are thinking," Sachin said after winning Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards. Prior to his knock at Vadodara, some believed that Sachin may not score many more centuries and thus questioned the place of a player in the side who has the following records in ODI cricket to his name: -Most runs (14,728) -Most centuries (41) -Played most number of ODIs (378) -Played most number of consecutive ODI matches (185) -Most Man of the Match (53) awards -Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs as of October, 2006 -Third most number of Fifties (75). Inzamam-ul-Haq (83) and Dravid (76) are the only other batsmen who have scored more fifties than Sachin -Appeared on the most grounds (90 different grounds) -Most ODI runs by any batsman in any given calendar year - 1,894 ODI runs in 1998. -Most Centuries by a player in one year - 9 ODI centuries in 1998 -Most centuries vs. Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. -Holds the record for scoring 1,000 ODI runs in a calendar year. Sachin has done it six times - 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2003 -Highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs (as of October 2006) -First cricketer and fastest cricketer to cross 10,000-run mark, 11,000-run mark, 12,000-run mark, 13,000 run-mark and 14,000 run-mark in ODIs -Only cricketer to cross 14,000-run mark in ODIs -One of only two players to pass 10,000 runs and take 100 wickets in ODIs ( Sanath Teran Jayasuriya is the other) -Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186 (not out) against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999). Not just that, Sachin has most runs (1,732 at an average of 59.72) in World Cup Cricket history and scored 673 runs in 2003 World Cup, which is the highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup which saw being adjudged Player Of The Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup. Sachin is also first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket. He has now scored 76 (35 in Tests, 41 in ODIs). Questioning one’s faith in the ability of Sachin is like challenging everything one once believed in. The Gem is to be cherished, not questioned. Also View In-Depth Coverage: Cricket World Cup 2007 Team Page: India Team Page: Australia | LIVE CRICKET COVERAGE NEWS ~ Gilchrist has no plans to retire after World Cup ~ Ganguly's new batting approach may cost him sixer record ~ India 'squash the Orange' in World Cup warm-up game ~ Symonds gets a new hairdo for World Cup ~ Dhoni readies himself for stand-up act at World Cup (more in NEWS) FACE-TO-FACE ~ 500-mark a possibility in World Cup: Hayden ~ Minnows add charm to World Cup: Dravid (more in FACE-TO-FACE) COLUMNS ~ Will Sri Lanka replicate 1996 World Cup success? (more in COLUMNS) OFF-THE-FIELD ~ Ganguly again the darling of corporate world ~ Ganguly roped in as brand ambassador of Puma (more in OFF-THE-FIELD) PLAYERS Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble (more PLAYERS) TEAMS India, South Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Kenya, Holland | 
|
|
|