Sachin Tendulkar to retire

[Top_Cat]

Could easily get 15 mins out of the times he's been bowled and ended up on his knees acting like it kept low alone.

 

[Jono]

Definitely has a trade mark on that.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Do you not know Smali?

Know about his unhealthy Imran fetish. Somehow slipped my mind

 

[The Battlers Prince]

Know about his unhealthy Imran fetish. Somehow slipped my mind

Not that unhealthy imo, he was a hell of a cricketer

 

[OverratedSanity]

Not that unhealthy imo, he was a hell of a cricketer

When did I say otherwise?

 

[SJS]

First things first

- Its easy to run down anyone - its probably easier to run down great people - surely is going to get one more attention
- Its easy to find flaws in a career that lasts very long.
- Its easy to run down those who are deified - those who treat them as Gods are probably asking for it in the first place
- Sachin is going. Too early - hardly. Too late - perhaps. Does that matter - not today, not any more - except, perhaps, in an academic debate.

I called up my sons in Switzerland to inform them. The younger one was more distressed because he was a more die hard fan but the elder was very sad too. I am sure they do not watch much cricket nowadays but Sachin and Indian cricket is a constant whenever we meet and talk. Sachin was their idol not mine. I was in my 40th year when he made his debut while they were in their early teens. That is the age when you make idols - sporting ones at least. My sons are just a year or two younger than him but his playing the game so early is what made him their idol. They were at that age.

Gavaskar and Vishwanath were older than me by the same time-gap as SRT is from my boys but they were not my idols either. I was 21 and 20 respectively when those two made their India debuts. Funnily all three alr "Little" masters.

My idol was the dashing, flamboyant and incomparably stylish (to an eleven year old's eyes) ML Jaisimha. I remember being told a few years later of what his initials stood for (Motganhalli Laxmirassu) and hated the friend who informed me. It did not fit, to my North Indian ears, the handsome image of my hero.

Coming back to Sachin. Its a sad day to see, on the Indian Express, a full front page picture of the great man "walking away in the sun" as it were - but really it is a day to celebrate and rejoice in the innumerable moments, hours, and days of pleasure this remarkable young man has given us. We will have enough opportunities, here, and in bars across the world, to discuss the merits and demerits of Imran, Lara and Ponting and so on.

SRT was not just not my idol, I have also often been on the other side of the debate when he was being compared to other cricketing greats of the modern and earlier eras but that does not stop me from realising that it would be amiss to go into all that today of all days.

It would be so much nicer to read what the great man meant to all of us. Surely that would take some writing as well :o)

 

[dermo]

deserves a proper send off IMO

Mark Nicholas to introduce a piece on his career narrated by Ray Warren, followed by Sachin being paraded around the ground on a deck chair in the tray of a Hilux.

 

[Burgey]

deserves a proper send off IMO

Mark Nicholas to introduce a piece on his career narrated by Ray Warren, followed by Sachin being paraded around the ground on a deck chair in the tray of a Hilux.

Dermo's golden summer continues.

 

[harsh.ag]

Perhaps a point which is overlooked is that Sachin actually did everything. And by that I don't mean his records, he was everywhere in the thick of things. He was the one who began the attacking opener syndrome of the 90s, not Jayasuriya (a point which is seldom, if ever, mentioned), with a blistering 82 off 49 in his first innings as an ODI opener. He was the first person to be adjudged run-out by the 3rd umpire. He bowled that amazing final over of that Hero Cup semi vs the Saffers. He took out Warne. He tried to take out Murali but didn't succeed. He handled captaincy after the dark days of Azharuddin's betrayal.

He invented so many shots, and also took in more shots in his repertoire as other batsmen invented them, unlike some other greats. He played the upper-cut (now thought of as Sehwag's signature); the helicopter shot (now Dhoni's signature; Link: sachin the inventor of helicopter shot - YouTube); this shot of Brett Lee - Sachin Tendulkar invents a new shot off Brett Lee - YouTube

Plus, he has played shots like the reverse sweep, the paddle sweep and the Marillier sot or the Dilscoop so effectively over recent years. And of course he was the classical master before any of this. The straight drives, the backfoot punches, cover drives, leg flicks. His peak years straddled two decades, both from 98-02 and 09-11. He has seemingly been there for so many significant moments in cricket, that it seems foolish to me that Mike Hussey, marvelous player that he is, was given the sobriquet of Mr Cricket.

One last thing, and I will say it for the last time today - there are plenty of people in the world, sane people, not fanboys, who think that Tendulkar was more exciting to watch than Brian Charles Lara, and that in Tendulkar's case, those who ignore his ODI exploits while judging him, are doing cricket history a MASSIVE disservice.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Was fortunate to see his first scg innings and his last. Also saw his 200 there.

A great player. I think maybe the greatest I've seen, I dunno. He belongs in the argument anyway. He stood out like dogs balls here as a subcontinental batsman who dealt really well with the conditions. Others have done it well since but he really was the first.

A lot of people won't realise, because of the amount of touring India does now, that we missed lots of his best years here. India toured here in 91-92 iirc then didn't come back until 99-00. First time I really saw him dominate a series was the 98(?) series in India against Australia, which was shown here on pay TV. I remember him standing tall (comparatively) and hitting the quicks off the back foot back down the ground from about waist height. They are probably the best cricket shots I think I've ever seen.

Remarkable player really. Sustained excellence over a couple of decades barring a couple of lean patches. He deserves a long and happy retirement. Well played him.

Did someone hack Burgey's account? IP check please

 

[Black_Warrior]

I have wanted him to retire for a while..but now a part of me feels a little sad. This is a man who hasn't known anything else since the age of 11 and the greatest thing about Tendulkar for me was his ability to evolve, adjust and upgrade his skills constantly, which is the reason that he has managed to play 200 test matches over 24 years. Unbelievable.

 

[fredfertang]

deserves a proper send off IMO

Mark Nicholas to introduce a piece on his career narrated by Ray Warren, followed by Sachin being paraded around the ground on a deck chair in the tray of a Hilux.

With Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Viswanath leading the parade on scooters

 

[Hurricane]

Dermo's post is a CW classic.

 

[OverratedSanity]

One last thing, and I will say it for the last time today - there are plenty of people in the world, sane people, not fanboys, who think that Tendulkar was better and more exciting to watch than Brian Charles Lara, and that in Tendulkar's case, those who ignore his ODI exploits while judging him, are doing cricket history a MASSIVE disservice.

Agree. And even if you look at test cricket, he played his fair share of rapid game-changing innings throughout his career, and especially during the first half. But somehow when he's compared to Lara he's made out to be a plodder.

 

[Hurricane]

Nah - for the most part they'll still be obsessed with the question of who the latest Precam multi is

Agree. And even if you look at test cricket, he played his fair share of rapid game-changing innings throughout his career, and especially during the first half. But somehow when he's compared to Lara he's made out to be a plodder.

Also good posts.

 

[Singh Is King]

Wow..some people need specsavers.

For those who say he scored all his runs on flat pitches..for your kind information (on top of having a Billion cricket loving People on his back lol)

In Australia,
Matches - 20
Runs - 1809
Bat Average - 53.2

In England,
Matches - 17
Runs - 1575
Bat Average - 54.31

In SA,
Matches - 15
Runs - 1161
Bat Average - 46.44

In New Zealand,
Matches - 11
Runs - 842
Bat Average - 49.52

Its not even humanly possible to match his individual records of staying at the top for that long !

 

[harsh.ag]

Would love it if he came out post-retirement and just tore shreds off everyone. Dude's been so mild mannered for 20-odd years, he must have a whole bunch of anger stored up somewhere.

If he did have anger stored up, who would it be for, I wonder? Probably more towards his 90s teammates than anything else, who refused to give a f**k about improving themselves. The recent Indian players have all been the kind who have looked up to Sachin and Dravid and wanted to become good players outside of Asia as well. I really think he is very fond of Dhoni (and of course Dravid), because Dhoni, I think, really personifies the kind of winner mentality that a young Sachin would have taken for granted, but never saw in his 90s teammates.

 

[Adders]

Wow..some people need specsavers.

For those who say he scored all his runs on flat pitches..

Who exactly is saying that?? Maybe it is you that needs the specsavers eh

 

[Maximas]

Yeah, cos you can't have flat pitches in SA, Aus, England and NZ...

I'm not suggesting anything there, Sachin scored his runs prolifically in all conditions, but outside the SC doesn't necessarily mean lively pitches.

 

[Daemon]

Can we not have stats in this thread please.