Go, Sachin, go? But what did we do to deserve a Sachin?

[SachDan]

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/go-sachin-go-but-what-did-we-do-to-deserve-a-sachin-230195.html The poor performance of the Indian cricket team in England and Australia has made zeroes of heroes overnight. Sachin Tendulkar, once considered IndiaÃÔ answer to Don Bradman and a worthy claimant for the Bharat Ratna, is being relegated to pariah status. Before the Australia tour, the media was planning blowout coverage of his 100th ton. Now that he hasnÃÕ made that ton, they want to fling him out of the team unceremoniously. NobodyÃÔ worried about that landmark anymore. People are now asking why isnÃÕ he retiring? Why is he being left in the team when Sehwag has been shown the door? On Wednesday, all TV channels, including Arnab Goswami of the Spanish Inquisition, were asking the same questions. If success has many fathers, failure needs at least one mother the mother of all scapegoats. Sachin is a handy one. Of course, one wonÃÕ do. The anger of public opinion needs more sacrificial goats. So we can blame the selectors for being fickle minded, we can blame cronyism in the BCCI and the team for our losses, and we can also blame too much cricket or too little cricket or the fast pitch (or lack of fast pitches in India) for everything that has gone wrong. What this proves is that we are all keen to fix the blame, not the problem. We are also unwilling to acknowledge a serious flaw in the Indian character a willingness to celebrate success too soon, a willingness to settle for mediocrity when excellence should be the goal. Thus, we are over the moon merely because our hockey team qualified to enter the Olympics. Hello? Is this what the worldÃÔ best team upto the 1960s should be thrilled about today, when Australia makes mincemeat of us each time we clash in some tournament? And in the search for new cricket heroes, now that the older ones have fallen by the wayside, we have suddenly elevated a Virat Kohli as vice-captain of the Indian team on the basis of one good tour, and one stand-out One-Day innings. Virat may have the gumption and the bravado to show the finger to his opponents and even the public, but he is still an untested quantity in terms of sustained excellence. This is not to say Kohli should not be vice-captain, or that he may not become a great vice-captain and be a good understudy to Dhoni in One-Dayers. But making him heir-apparent on the shifting foundations of public opinion says nothing about the validity of our strategy. Assuming we have a strategy that goes beyond making money from the game. What is the Kohli elevation all about? Is it about grooming a new, young team for the future? Is it about punishing Sehwag for daring to differ with Dhoni, or is it about rewarding someone who did well on one tour? Or is it just a whimsical decision where the selectors can be seen as responding to public distress over the recent losses of the Indian team Down Under? Or is it that Indian cricketÃÔ money machine cannot survive the lack of heroes. Since the old ones are fading, itÃÔ time to elect new ones never mind the fact that their long-term performance may still be suspect? It is in this context that we need to look at our dishonourable approach to Sachin Tendulkar who, doubtless, has not impressed in the current tour. The problem with being a Sachin Tendulkar in India is simple: in an ocean of mediocrity, he is an island of excellence. In the Indian cricket pantheon, we can only put Gavaskar and Kapil Dev is his category of greatness, but even in this group he stands as first among equals. In the global arena, Sachin may or may not be comparable to the great Don that kind of comparison is idiotic anyway, for Bradman played in a different era and he may not be as murderous on bowling attacks as a Brian Lara or a Viv Richards, but he is clearly among the best in the world. Even today, when his powers of magic with the bat are past their peak. *When you stand head-and-shoulders above even the best in India, you are then in the category of God to the cricketing constituency. Unfortunately, in the real world, even God cannot answer all prayers. The disappointment with gods is always more severe than disappointment with mere mortals. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, who were only recently being extolled as Mr Dependables, are in the doghouse of public opinion. But nobodyÃÔ asking about them anymore. They were not gods. MS Dhoni, once toasted as Captain Cool, is now toast, now that his luck has run out. His captaining abilities are now looking suspect. But he seems to have been forgiven in the light of a couple of match-winning knocks in the early stages of the current Tri-series, where we are praying for a Sri Lanka defeat to make it to the finals. But Sachin Tendulkar? How can God fail us? What we think about God tells more about us than God. So, asking stupid questions about the greatness of a Sachin tells more about us than him. Sachin may or may not be the greatest, but we as a people are certainly not the greatest. India did not deserve a Sachin. http://www.firstpost.com/sports/go-sachin-go-but-what-did-we-do-to-deserve-a-sachin-230195.html

[rkt.india]

What Rubbish..Greame Smith was made SA captain at age 23 when no one even knew who Smith is. Virat Kohli already is 4th fastest to 300 runs in the world, has scored runs in SA, England, and Aus in ODIs, has a test 100 too. The people who think Sachin is a God or was a God still think the same. Their mentality will not change whatever happens, people who think he is just a cricketer, an outstanding one though will think the same and compare and talk about him only as a cricketer not God or anything else.

[vvvslaxman]

Frustration from a fan boy. He wants media, fans still continue their "blow out coverage" about his 100th ton while India is getting pounded like never before in their history..

[rkt.india]

Frustration from a fan boy. He wants media' date=' fans still continue their "blow out coverage" about his 100th ton while India is getting pounded like never before in their history..[/quote'] He did mention about Indian's character of willingness to celebrate success too soon and willingness to settle for mediocrity when excellence should be the goal, but did not mention about Indian's obsession of records and 100s.

[express bowling]

The OP is ready to brand all his countrymen as unworthy in order to promote one sports icon. Shows the craziness that exists among some fans. Sachin has been an extraordinary cricketer but just that. Not God. His tremendous performances will never be forgotten but that has nothing to do with the selection of the current Indian team. The best team should be choosen keeping in mind the present and the need to build a good team for the future. No individual is more important than the team and country. Sadly, the fanatics won't understand that. Respect should always be shown to sporting greats but that has nothing to do with their inclusion in a team.

[vvvslaxman]

He did mention about Indian's character of willingness to celebrate success too soon and willingness to settle for mediocrity when excellence should be the goal' date=' but did not mention about Indian's obsession of records and 100s.[/quote'] Very reason he has written this piece is because everyone is asking for his retirement. He implies nobody has the right to ask but still continue rooting for his 100th ton. This is what i feared. No matter how great you are you can lose your legacy pretty quickly if you don't time your retirement correctly.

[The Realist]

Really struggle to understand the obsession with all this hero worship. If you are good enough you play, if not you are not picked. It’s obvious Tendulkar is close to retirement, it’s just a question of when. Its natural, time catches up with everyone and as one player departs another will come onto the scene. Yes Tendulkar has been a great player but he’s nowhere near a god, people need to get perspective and think of the future when he won’t be there. Cricket is a team game and no player is bigger than the team.

[Switchblade]

Really struggle to understand the obsession with all this hero worship. If you are good enough you play, if not you are not picked. ItÃÔ obvious Tendulkar is close to retirement, itÃÔ just a question of when. Its natural, time catches up with everyone and as one player departs another will come onto the scene. Yes Tendulkar has been a great player but heÃÔ nowhere near a god, people need to get perspective and think of the future when he wonÃÕ be there. Cricket is a team game and no player is bigger than the team.

:hatsoff:

[adi B]

to hell with the midget

[Spiderguy252]

India's mera bhagwaan mahan culture unfortunately doesn't permit any selector of any vintage to drop Sachin Tendulkar from the ODI side, if that's what this article is about? (just skimmed through it). Look what's happened to Punter. Out of form, not in vogue looking at 2015, dropped. No fuss. That's why Australia is Australia, and this country is full of Manmohan replica chachajis.

[Aaku]

Boring, repetitive threads

[Pagalpanti]

A sachin fanatic's rant. Every player has to go one day, Sachin is a legend but at end of the day team is still above him. If he doesn't perform questions will be asked about his place. Thnk some fanatics take his godly status to be real? And how lame to downplay Kohli's achievement. The guy was the only one to score century in both test and one days in Australia were others got raped literally. Averages 50+ in SA and did well in England ODI's. Scored 3000+ yet he is untested? :hysterical: Whats funny about Sachin fanatics though is that how they target players who sometimes over-shadow the master. Dhoni and now Kohli.

[J P K]

[ravishingravi]

Noooo wayy!! Sachin can't go. How can we play without him ? How can you have an Indian cricket team without Sachin. Have people forgotten the 90s, when he single handedly won matches for India. Surely we can do with 5-6 years of 20 - 30 ish average.

[ganeshran]

Way to miss the point. The article highlights the fickle nature of criticism in the media and among fans whose attention span is less than the last few matches. Jadeja was a brilliant find after the Eng-Ind ODI series, now he is only in the team because of the CSK connection. Kohli was a FTB and Rohit was a tailunt before the Perth test. Now Kohli is the top batsman, future captain and Rohit deserves to be dropped. Sehwag deserved to be dropped certainly after his performance in the last two tours. Now that he is dropped, its magically become a stupid decision and the media attributes it to ulterior motives. The article doesnt say that Sachin's place cannot be questioned. It asks why dont we apportion the blame proportionately among all the reasons that we lost the England and Australia. Surely SRT was not the only reason we lost. So blame him by all means, but dont ignore the underlying weaknesses with the team just by pinpointing one scapegoat to blame it on, as if all our troubles will disappear the day SRT decides to hang up his boots.

[rabinjackman]

What we need is Sachin to give us a press conference and make clear to us why he is still playing and what his goals are. But unfortunately the guy is shunning all limelight at the moment.

[Spiderguy252]

What we need is Sachin to give us a press conference and make clear to us why he is still playing and what his goals are. But unfortunately the guy is shunning all limelight at the moment.

The guy has never given such press conferences in his career (except after the Aussie game in the 2003 WC). Not gonna happen.

[asterix]

There has to be some start, somewhere..People are not asking SRT to retire from all forms of cricket. Many of us see him playing Test cricket for atleast 2 more years and are happy with that. The main bone of centention is his continuation in ODIs.. India's ODI team can withold the pressure if few experienced players make way for the younger players. Not many young players will get chance to play Test cricket directly. In a vast country like India, where so many players are trying to get into the team, their quest starts from LOIs and then slowly qualify for the test team. Hanging on to his ODI spot, SRT is damaging his own legacy. His reflexes are waning. The way he is getting out now is more to do with his slow reflexes and pre-mediated shots. He is resorting to premediated shots now, to keep himself in the competition and in the process getting starts and then getting out...

[Pagalpanti]

Way to miss the point. The article highlights the fickle nature of criticism in the media and among fans whose attention span is less than the last few matches. Jadeja was a brilliant find after the Eng-Ind ODI series, now he is only in the team because of the CSK connection. Kohli was a FTB and Rohit was a tailunt before the Perth test. Now Kohli is the top batsman, future captain and Rohit deserves to be dropped. Sehwag deserved to be dropped certainly after his performance in the last two tours. Now that he is dropped, its magically become a stupid decision and the media attributes it to ulterior motives. The article doesnt say that Sachin's place cannot be questioned. It asks why dont we apportion the blame proportionately among all the reasons that we lost the England and Australia. Surely SRT was not the only reason we lost. So blame him by all means, but dont ignore the underlying weaknesses with the team just by pinpointing one scapegoat to blame it on, as if all our troubles will disappear the day SRT decides to hang up his boots.

Well no denying that most Indian fans are fickle, they'd call for Kohli's axe if he failed in Asia cup but the point is the tone of the article. Why do these Sachin fanatics become defensive when Sachin's place is questioned, even calls for Raina and Sehwag's exclusion is being made but why is Sachin untouchable?

[rabinjackman]

I agree to a few above, SRT's coninuous ODI failures is chipping away at his own legacy. But we all know one century will elevate him back to that pedestal again. SRT is takin a risk in going for that 100th 100, If he doesnt get there his image might take a big beating by the time he retires. I have been a huge fan of the guy and I sincerely hope that 100 comes sooner than later cannot watch him getting out for low scores again n again n again