Sachin, not the farmer

[fineleg]

And for your kind info - no one is 'tearing apart' SRT here. I was just perplexed at the approach on day-5, and dont tell me you understood the approach brilliantly.

[Ram]

I dont have to open a thread for any and all occasion. If you have opened a thread for valid criticism of Dravid, then I would not be idiotically defending him (if he was committing a mistake). On the other hand - be it Dhoni or Dravid - if they were playing conservative after the series was levelled or in the bag (NZ or Eng) - then I am supportive of that. No need to take risks once we have bagged the series.

Oh really? However, it does sound a bit odd that someone as committed as you’re to the Indian cause, had only stoic silence to offer during all those times between 2007 and 2008, when Dravid’s struggles at no.3 cost us many an advantageous position! I’ve told you many times before and I will repeat it again – You can put on your most cherubic face and try mask your ridiculous critique of Sachin in the most innocent of tones, but you aint fooling no one.

[Ram]

And for your kind info - no one is 'tearing apart' SRT here. I was just perplexed at the approach on day-5' date=' and dont tell me you understood the approach brilliantly.[/quote'] Yes of course. You’re just a committed fan who is simply perplexed at Sachin’s tactics, are you not?

[fineleg]

who is simply perplexed at Sachin’s tactics

That is correct. I dont give a rats ass whether you believe it or not. I was perplexed at the approach on day-5, and I'm unable to understand why there was no effort to score quick runs and either get them or get out in that pursuit. What was the approach in taking a quick single very early in the over, and letting Unadkat learn how to defend chin music against hostile Steyn and Morkel. As I said, perhaps it was investment for the future - makes sense then. Somehow, between Unadkat having to learn batting in the middle vs trying to go for the big shots to wipe the deficit, I'd have thought the latter was more worthwhile*, but then who knows there might have been some interesting strategy in going for the former. *relatively speaking between the two - since either one wont change the Test outcome

[The Outsider]

In related news, Tendulkar bought champagne and dinner for the entire team after he was able to get maintain his average at 56.91 instead of 56.70 by virtue of staying not out.

[Ram]

That is correct. I dont give a rats ass whether you believe it or not. I was perplexed at the approach on day-5, and I'm unable to understand why there was no effort to score quick runs and either get them or get out in that pursuit.

That is so sweet of you. If only you had been as innocently perplexed during the times Dravid was struggling to put bat to ball between 2007 and 2008, we could have so many more informative debates on batting tactics back then. ICF lost out big time! :winky:

[fineleg]

In related news' date=' Tendulkar bought champagne and dinner for the entire team after he was able to get maintain his average at 56.91 instead of 56.70 by virtue of staying not out.[/quote'] I think the reason for the celebration was for Unadkat having faced 10 balls before he got out. That is some achievement for the rookie - and it needs to be celebrated :winky:

[fineleg]

why is Sachin giving Unadkat the strike' date=' what is wrong with him?[/quote']

We have lost. Sachin should try and smash it everywere. Carnage time

WTF tendulkar doin ' date=' takin single on 1st ball .... lookin like he is nt tryin..... wat if there's a strom again[/quote']

Seriously WTF was Sachin doing :dontknow:

That was preety stupid from sachin :headshake:

Now dsr and pjilka are also anti-sachin i suppose for being perplexed :haha:

[Bumper]

I dont think in this game farming the strike would have mattered. But in general, batting with the tail is a special skill -- not every batsman is good at that. Also diff batsmen use diff approaches when it comes to batting with the tail. Sachin's & Laxman's approach have always been to trust the tail and give it more responsibility. I personally dont agree with that approach. There is already a thread debating this. Some days this approach comes off & in most days it does not. That said, in this specific test, had Dhoni survived day 4, may be we could have entertained the thought of salvaging something. With two no namers left to bat & given the clinical efficiency of Steyn & Morkel, it was just a matter of "when" and not "if". The "intent" was lost even before day 5 started. The only positive to come out of this test is SRT's 50th & Dhoni batting himself back to form.

[daryl1985]

It was no more hopeless than when Laxman joined Ishant at 124 for 8.

As bad a situation as we were in for the Mohali test, there was no way the outlook was as bleak as this situation. Ishant is a far more competent batsman than Sreesanth and for India to save this match SRT and the tailenders would have had to have played out 65-70 overs. That was never going to happen. Also, if i remember correctly VVS let Ishant have a lot of the strike until Ishant said that Mitchell Johnson was causing him some problems. However, i can understand and to an extent agree with the fact that you are disappointed with the fact that SRT did not try and protect Sreesanth and Unadkat.

[Shehezaada]

Some guys are being unfairly critical of Sachin here. You have to keep in mind the circumstances before start pointing the finger of accusation at him. Starting day 5, we were 40 runs behind with only Sreesanth and Unadkat the two remaining tail-enders. Even if Sachin had done what people want him to do and farmed the strike and scored some runs, the most optimistic outcome of that could have been probably 70-80 or the most, a 100 runs. Thats a 60 run target for South Africa to chase. Its easy for us to sit here and say he should have done that, he should have done this, but the circumstances of this game were so dire going into day 5, defeat was only inevitable. Of course, if we had been 150 runs ahead with 2 wickets in hand, I am pretty sure Sachin's tactics would have been diameterically opposite, or at least, it should be. But in this case, there's no justification whatsoever to say he didnt live up to his standards.

Sriram.....only time can tell when the game will be over, not you or me. Did Laxman quit at the Garden against the aussies? or in mohali this year? Did Tendulkar himself quit in that desert storm innings? There is NO such thing as NO chance of not losing. Look at the greatest comebacks of all time and you'll notice that people made the absolute best of what they had and gave it their best shot. I personally think Tendulkar gave up a little too early, and I would love to hear what his approach was. There's an interesting story Harsha Bhogle tells about Tendulkar. So the Aussies whooped us for 359 in WC Final. Everyone in the dressing room is sitting around moping when all of a sudden Tendulkar says: "Can we score one boundary an over ? I think we can. That's 200 runs in 50 balls. Then we just need to score another 160 off 250 balls. Sounds good? Come let's go and try to win this match" That was the kind of thinking that's expected from Tendulkar.

[panesarv]

I felt it was the wrong strategy by Sachin

[Deleted_User_1]

SA making masisve mistake just like aussies have done over years. And that is making snide comments and verbaly slamming us in public. Indian teams in general is very easy going and frankly casual at times' date=' all they are doing is winding us up and effectivley giving dhoni and kirsten their team talk. Our boys will be fired up and pumped now, saffies gonna face the wrath of a pumped up indian team, which is rare. All we need is some jelly beans and smith and co might as well not turn up for durban![/quote'] Being fired up is one thing, and having the bowling talent to back it up is another. Zak alone can't do everything, and we all know the rest is worth shyte.

[King Tendulkar]

Being fired up is one thing' date=' and having the bowling talent to back it up is another. Zak alone can't do everything, and we all know the rest is worth shyte.[/quote'] Wrong our bowling line up is not gonna bowl a team out for 150 and just blow them away. Thus getting bowled out cheaply and then firing the saffies out was not going to happen. BUT if we pile the runs on the board and/or have a hepful track then we are a different beast. We gonna sort them out in next test. We have been winning loads of tests, so dont come out with rash statements that our bowling is shyte as how the hell have we been winning tests and been No 1

[DomainK]

Came ready to find this thread and fineleg in high spirits and full form. Smith was counting on this when he made that statement.

[fineleg]

Smith was counting on this when he made that statement.

Nice to know. Say hello to G.Smith, and btw - I hope you figured out all the strategy that took place on day-5 in not farming nor going for the shots. :hatsoff: If there is anything other than Unadkat being trained in batting against phaasht bowlers, pls. do let us know. We'd appreciate that.

[Sachinism]

Dude, I can perfectly understand why you feel the way you do feel. Its easy to look at the proceedings on day 5 and go ‘Oh, why did he play that way..’ But you need to understand that it was already a lost cause, everyone knows that. Graeme Smith deliberately bought that issue up only to ratchet up some phony controversy and we shouldn’t fall for his trick. Once again, if we were 150 runs ahead with 2 wickets in hand, I am sure Sachin’s approach would have been diametrically opposite. But this wasn’t the case. And please, over the years, you can accuse Sachin of a few missteps here and there (after all, he’s human as well..), but playing for stats and not outs isn’t one of them. Come to think of it, if stats were so important to him, would he not play a single ODI in nearly a year after the time he scored a double 100?

Yup people are being bought in by these BS comments from SA. They've been playing mind games since well before the tour started. On top of that they've done everything they could do get fast, bouncy pitches, just shows you how much they fear our team. But Sachin should have known if our top order didn't last long against Steyn & Morkel, then Sree and Jaidev have very little hope. I would just have loved to see some attacking shots and just make SA bat again

[CSK Fan]

good example why many consider tendulkar a good batsman but one who plays for records and cracks under pressure. allowing sreesanth and unadkat to face the SA bowling was unreal, unbelievable.

Some morons even consider Einstien as dumb and that Darwin lied about evolution. Lets not talk about those people Coming back to the point, since there was an overnight rest, how do you know a strategy was not discussed between the captain, coach and Sachin which Sachin stuck to?

[CSK Fan]

Yup people are being bought in by these BS comments from SA. They've been playing mind games since well before the tour started. On top of that they've done everything they could do get fast, bouncy pitches, just shows you how much they fear our team. But Sachin should have known if our top order didn't last long against Steyn & Morkel, then Sree and Jaidev have very little hope. I would just have loved to see some attacking shots and just make SA bat again

Smith seems to have struck home here. Our very own people have turned up against and are criticizing our best batsmen, putting pressure on him instead of encouraging him. Smith knows Sachin is the biggest threat and this is exactly what he wanted

[DomainK]

Shielding the tail vs exposing the tail has been an age long debate and is best left for the senior batsman to decide. If Tendulkar had denied a lot of singles trying to shield the no11, it would have taken ages to get past the lead. We would have criticized him pointing out how the singles could have been useful if Tendulkar had shown some balls on a flat pitch. If he had launched an all out attack and gotten out, we would have accused him of not adopting a subtler approach. He decided that there was bigger chance of getting some runs by letting the no11 face some balls and he did that. Whatever he would have done, was bound to fail at some point and some of us would have ended up criticizing him for not doing something different. Can we stop being hypocritical whiners please?