Articles on Tendulkar in the British media

[goose]

^ thanks - do you have a link?

[Cricket Tragic]

[Cricket Tragic]

^ thanks - do you have a link?

ESPN STAR website.

[Cricket Tragic]

http://www.thecricketer.com/default.aspx?pageid=1579

[SachDan]

Warning! Tendulkar and the Indians are here... the summer is about to get really HOT By Paul Newman The summer is about to hot up with the visit of India, the best Test team in the world and the 50-over World Cup winners, to provide the toughest test yet of England's desire to be No 1. Here, the World of Cricket looks at the key characters and clashes in prospect. The wonder of Sachin What a prospect is in store for the first Test at Lord's next week. Sachin Tendulkar is poised on 99 international centuries and has never made his way on to the famous honours board at Headquarters. Now England have to try to stop arguably the best batsman of all time - yes Australia, even better than Bradman - from reaching 100 centuries in the 2,000th Test. If England can keep Tendulkar waiting beyond Lord's then it might just have an adverse effect on India. Captain fantastic All eyes will be on Tendulkar when India begin their tour at Taunton on Friday but there is an even more significant figure in their team. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become the first cricketer genuinely to be considered world class as a batsman, wicketkeeper and captain. He led India to the first World Twenty20 title in his first captaincy assignment in 2007 to transform cricket, has never lost a Test series as captain and was man of the match for his unbeaten 91 in the World Cup final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai, finishing the match with a six. What's more, he features in even more Indian TV commercials than Tendulkar, usually perched on one of his 12 motorbikes. Dhoni is truly a superstar. Left on the shelf? Dhoni's opposite number Andrew Strauss enters the series needing to reassert his captaincy after handing over to Stuart Broad and Alastair Cook for limited-overs cricket and desperately in need of a big score after his worst run of form for three years. What's more, he will come face to face with Zaheer Khan, the left-arm seamer who dismissed him four times when India were last here for a Test series in 2007. That would not be such a big stat if it were not for the fact that Strauss has made a habit of getting out to left-armers this year, usually ones inferior to Zaheer. This could be a last hurrah for Zaheer, now 32, who was rested for India's tour of the West Indies but he remains a warrior of a bowler who learned how to master the Duke ball during a prolific season with Worcestershire. Thanks for that, county cricket. Zaheer will come face to face with Strauss when the England captain guests for Somerset against India, unless that wily old fox Duncan Fletcher, now India's coach, holds him back to confront Strauss at Lord's. Opening gambit Ok, we are talking India up here, and rightly so, but England have every reason to feel optimistic after their outstanding form in Test cricket. If we are looking for Indian weaknesses, how about the absence of Virender Sehwag through injury for possibly the first two Tests. India may have to gamble on 21-year-old Abhinav Mukund as Gautam Gambhir's opening partner at Lord's. And will they pick Praveen Kumar as their third seamer behind Zaheer and Ishant Sharma, who has just reached 100 Test wickets at the age of 22? England will fancy themselves against Kumar's little dibbly dobblies. Spin kings Not least among the appetising battles ahead is the clash of the best two spinners in the world. Graeme Swann's extraordinary rise began in India in 2008 and now he is considered superior to the great Harbhajan Singh, even though the India off-spinner has just reached 400 Test wickets. Harbhajan has an inferior record outside of India than on the turning wickets of home but it could be argued that he has been hindered by his country's refusal to accept the decision review system. Now both these key men will be affected by the absence of Hawk-Eye in the decision-making process at Lord's but don't bet against them playing leading roles throughout the four-Test series. The pie man It was Dhoni who first highlighted Kevin Pietersen's aversion to mediocre left-arm spin when he threw the ball to Yuvraj Singh in Chennai three years ago. The outcome? Pietersen lbw b Yuvraj 1 and the labelling of Yuvraj afterwards as 'a pie thrower' by KP. It is a handle Yuvraj relishes and one that he threw back at Pietersen last week when he said: 'I am looking forward to throwing a few more pies his way.' But will he get the chance? Yuvraj is a destructive one-day player - as Broad will painfully remember after he was struck for six sixes in an over during the first World Twenty20 in Durban - but he has not played a Test for more than a year. It is difficult to see how he can get in the side ahead of Suresh Raina. Sweet taste of success If England struggle, they might be advised to avoid a repeat of their prank during India's last tour here four years ago when Ian Bell sprinkled jelly beans by the feet of Zaheer when he batted at Trent Bridge. It seemed an innocuous enough joke but Zaheer was furious and India went on to win the Test and the series. It also inspired the memorable quote from then captain Michael Vaughan that 'we did not lose this match because of a jelly bean'. Lay off the sweets this time, boys... Scouting report Duncan Fletcher (India coach) A familiar face will be in charge of India at their first training session before their tour opener against Somerset at Taunton; a man who knows all about the key batsmen in the England side and what makes them tick. Who will be supplying India with all our secrets then? None other than Duncan Fletcher, the wily old fox himself, who coached England to the 2005 Ashes before his highly successful spell in charge came to an unfortunate end with a thrashing by Australia and a woeful World Cup in 2007. That's a worry. Isn't old Duncan one of the best batting coaches in the world? Won't he know the techniques of the likes of Strauss, Cook, Pietersen and Bell inside out? He sure will. When Fletcher was an adviser to South Africa during England's last tour there, he told their bowlers to launch early bouncers at Pietersen before drawing him forward with pitched-up deliveries to expose his gap between bat and pad. It worked pretty well. Oh dear. How come Duncan has turned up in India then? Well, coaching is a cosmopolitan old business and it is not unusual now to find the leading exponents swapping one tracksuit for another. India lost Fletcher's protege Gary Kirsten after winning the World Cup and turned instead to his teacher. It is perfect for Fletcher. He gets to earn big money towards the end of his career and is expected to stay in the background behind the superstar players, which will suit Duncan just fine. He never relished the spotlight. How do you mean? Well, Fletcher's outstanding achievements perhaps do not always get the credit they deserve because he had an uneasy relationship with the English press. Expect him to be a bit of an invisible man on this tour but there will be a rare spotting of Fletcher in public when he faces up to his old mates of the fourth estate at Taunton. Will there be lots of catching up, warm handshakes with the press and chuckles over old verbal sparring during his time in England? I wouldn't bet on it. Newman's talking point This has been an unsatisfactory, low-key, weather-affected summer so far but it is about to spring to life with the visit of India. It should be a classic Test series between two formidable batting line-ups. I know I have banged this drum before but would England's chances not be improved against India's world-class batsmen with a five-man, balanced attack? Instead they seem sure to go with four bowlers and Matt Prior, who has proved himself as a world-class batsman, at seven. I hope it doesn't cost them dear. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2014451/Warning-Tendulkar-Indians--summer-really-HOT.html#ixzz1S2oXnfuS

[vamos_rafa]

England may test Tendulkar with short balls: Vaughan

LONDON: Former England captain Michael Vaughan feels the best chance of getting maestro Sachin Tendulkar out cheaply in the upcoming series against India is to test him with short balls early on in his innings. India will play England in four-match Test series beginning at Lord's July 21. Vaughan says one can hardly find a weakness in Tendulkar's batting but the potent English attack shouldered by James Anderson and Chris Tremlett will go hard at the little master early on his innings. "Chris Tremlett bowled well against him (Tendulkar) in 2007 and he is a miles better bowler now. But Sachin doesn't have any weaknesses although every batsman is vulnerable on and around the off stump early on. England might go aggressive at him, test him with a few short balls -- I have seen people do that over the last two years and it hasn't affected him," Vaughan was quoted as saying in the 'Cricketer' magazine. Tendulkar has enjoyed a great run of form in the last two years. He became the first batsman to score a double hundred in one-day internationals in Feb 2010 and later in the same year went on to complete 50 centuries in Tests. And now he needs only one triple digit innings to get to his 100th hundred in international cricket. Vaughan says Tendulkar's recent success can be attributed to a change in his batting style. "Sachin is a different player now from 2007; the best players in the world change little things about themselves to keep themselves in the game. In the last two years he has become more aggressive, he has gone back to his old way of trying to score when for a period he tried to survive." England's current captain Andrew Strauss acknowledges that Tendulkar's wicket will be the most prized one in the upcoming series but they are not focussing on any individual player in the Indian team. The longer it goes on the better, said Strauss on Tendulkar reaching the landmark figure. "We know what a quality player Sachin is but we are not focusing on him. He will get just as much or as little attention as any one of their other players because they have quality from one to 11. They are not a one-trick pony," Strauss said.

[gaurav92]

Testing Sachin with short balls :hysterical: And then I have seen people do that over the last two years and it hasn't affected him So :WTF: is he blabbering ?

[vamos_rafa]

^ Chote, he's being paid to write something. So, he came up with a masterpiece.

[gaurav92]

^Alright , :nice:

[Sachinism]

If England can keep Tendulkar waiting beyond Lord's then it might just have an adverse effect on India.

Yeh because all India care about is making sure Sachin gets his 100th at Lords

[Holysmoke]

Yeh because all India care about is making sure Sachin gets his 100th at Lords

Should've made it at the Wankhede:((

[Cricket Tragic]

Testing Sachin with short balls :hysterical: And then I have seen people do that over the last two years and it hasn't affected him So :WTF: is he blabbering ?

Because he never said that. The Indian media has twisted the quote.

[darkknight]

It would be great to get century # 100 at England's most hallowed ground :two_thumbs_up:

He might or he might not. What difference does it make. Can we stop being obsessed with Tendulkar and start looking at MSD, RD and VVS now? Thanks.

[jukkha]

Lets start with VVS :) http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/jul/12/vvs-laxman-standard-bearer I feel that he is going to be the most consistent run machine this series.

[deepak_sach]

Praveen Kumars dibbly dobblies are better than stuart broad

[mishra]

He keeps touring and these mo'fers keep falling into the trap. Didn't we see something similar in 07-08 tour to OZ He got standing ovations and all that. And he's gonna be there again in december

I watched him on black and white tele. Then I watched him on coloured tele. Then on flat screen. Then on HD tele. And I am sure one day I will watch him on 3D tele.... He aint going anywhere.

[darkknight]

Praveen Kumars dibbly dobblies are better than stuart broad

I just wish S.Broad is punished severely in this series so that he can learn some manners.

[CSK Fan]

He might or he might not. What difference does it make. Can we stop being obsessed with Tendulkar and start looking at MSD' date=' RD and VVS now? Thanks.[/quote'] And how are we not looking at any of them? How is praising one criticizing the others? A 100 centuries is something never before achieved by anyone in history. It will be an Indian who ahcieves that record. Look at how every Australian is very proud of Bradman's record and average. Are they asked to look at Ponting and Waugh? Why are we (some) Indians so quick to criticize if any Indian is praised and considered one of the best? Have you seen a single istance of any Australian every thinking Bradman is praised too much at the expense of others? No, I am not saying Sachin is at Bradman's level, thats a different point. But Sachin is our own and if he is on the verge of history, something which will always be associated with India and bring pride to India, why do some Indians themselves have problems with it?

[deepak_sach]

I watched him on black and white tele. Then I watched him on coloured tele. Then on flat screen. Then on HD tele. And I am sure one day I will watch him on 3D tele.... He aint going anywhere.

What is your age?

[mishra]

For Lords, it will be 2000 test.I think ECB have tried their best to make it a special occasion. :hatsoff: