Thank You Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar for..

[akshayxyz]

Our bowling sucked for last 20 years. It was not the first time. We were about lose to even at 414 a few years ago. Look 147 ball 114 inning is not on in these conditions. If a batsmen is, he must make sure that he scored a fine clip. I blamed even Kohli and Gambhir in the first match. They both played for their 100s against SL, but still Kohli had an SR of 100. IN both matches, it was Raina and Dhoni whose late assaulted powered the team to some total. We scored 303 against SL and we must have scored more than that against BD. Thing is BD may be a weak team, but their batsmen are talented. They can play shots and they had nothing to lose and it did for them like it did for us at Hobart chasing 321 in less 40 overs. There would not have been any complain had we given our best in that game, but it was not the case. Even Kohli was slow. We batted below par that was the main issue and how could we forgot same BD scored 283 against us in WC without being all out.

Guess what. you (and all ICF experts) are going by the scorecard and what you watched on TV - one year back. Can you trust VK,Sachin and Team's judgement that the pitch initially was not suitable to go bang bang. (Sachin already mentioned in the post-match interview that they discussed about it in the middle - unless you suggest he is lying). And their calculation was based on the recent matches (the last match Kohli etal played against Lanka) and not one year old memory - which can be faulty, and things can change significantly over a period of one year. Now tell me, why should I trust your hindsight assessment over their real-time assessment?

[akshayxyz]

I'm not sure if this was the case. His stroll coincided with the batting PP. http://www.espncricinfo.com/asia-cup-2012/engine/match/535797.html

:facepalm: I thought we are discussing the potential reasons of Kohli's stroll towards the 100 - in yesterday's match - against Pak.

[Crookbond]

:facepalm: I thought we are discussing the potential reasons of Kohli's stroll towards the 100 - in yesterday's match - against Pak.

I thought we are still sticking to the topic of SRT's stroll. I deleted my other post too.

[akshayxyz]

I thought we are still sticking to the topic of SRT's stroll. I deleted my other post too.

We are just having highly intellectual discussion over which stroll is more disgraceful, and why :D.

[Vijy]

Everyone in the team slows down somewhat when they near their landmark - Tendu, Kohli, Rohit, etc. With the exception of perhaps Sehwag and Dhoni (although I don't remember his centuries very well since they seem so long ago) Update: Yeah, the Indian team.

[Crookbond]

Everyone in the team slows down when they near their landmark - Tendu, Kohli, Rohit, etc. With the exception of perhaps Sehwag and Dhoni (although I don't remember his centuries very well since they seem so long ago)

Indian team?

[rkt.india]

Are you sure :hmmm: Check out the run rate from over 24th to 29th. (coinciding his stroll from 89 to 100) Come back to me, if it was more than 4.5 ( when RRR was ~6.7). scoring 2 points below asking RR - when you are well set and in form...just to achieve personal 100 - must be unforgivable. Besides Powerplay was still ~10 overs away.

Bhai they were going around 6 RPO so what was the need to take risk. 2 rpo does not meant they were to chase 200 runs in 25 overs at that time. 80 runs in last 10 overs are easily chasable if you have wickets in hand and they did the same. We were only 2 down after 40 overs and total was 248. While this was not the case in that match. Overall, RR was already below 5 and once one got settled, had scored around 70-80, it was all expected from every batsman, not just him, to up the ante to achieve a big total but rather he slowed down even more and at the end he had consumed too many to score big.

[akshayxyz]

@vijy Warner says :hi:

[SachDan]

Tendulkar had already played 147. There was not many overs left when he got out.

There were three overs remaining when he got out, he had enough time to end up with a s/r of around 85.

[vvvslaxman]

The final result - he did slow down for his 100. I don't see any other "cricketing" reason. For that' date=' Sachin cops up part of the (not all) blame mind you. I'm not convinced 275-280 was a good , total on this track. Bangladesh racked up 283/9 in 50 Overs against India on this very same ground, around the same time last year. I think that should've been a good indicator of the score needed. Our bowling attack may not have helped defend a 300 sort of score but in any case, you should give yourself the best chance.[/quote'] Yup that attack had Zaheer khan too.

[akshayxyz]

Yup that attack had Zaheer khan too.

What are views on this?

Guess what. you (and all ICF experts) are going by the scorecard and what you watched on TV - one year back. Can you trust VK,Sachin and Team's judgement that the pitch initially was not suitable to go bang bang. (Sachin already mentioned in the post-match interview that they discussed about it in the middle - unless you suggest he is lying). And their calculation was based on the recent matches (the last match Kohli etal played against Lanka) and not one year old memory - which can be faulty, and things can change significantly over a period of one year. Now tell me, why should I trust your hindsight assessment over their real-time assessment?

[Crookbond]

What are views on this?

Well if the highlighted was true, I don't see any reason why ICF should exist, no? It's our different opinions which make this forum enjoyable to read. Personally, I just referred to prior knowledge India had about a sufficient score. All great cricketers have had made their share of mistakes, Sachin isn't the first and won't be the last either. Moreover, if he doesn't "ever make a mistake" he wouldn't be out in any games.

[Raghav_12]

Bhai they were going around 6 RPO so what was the need to take risk. 2 rpo does not meant they were to chase 200 runs in 25 overs at that time. 80 runs in last 10 overs are easily chasable if you have wickets in hand and they did the same. We were only 2 down after 40 overs and total was 248. While this was not the case in that match. Overall' date=' RR was already below 5 and once one got settled, had scored around 70-80, it was all expected from every batsman, not just him, to up the ante to achieve a big total but rather he slowed down even more and at the end he had consumed too many to score big.[/quote'] Rkt, why it should be so difficult to understand these simple numbers? Kohli - Strike Rate Between 0-90 (110) 100-183 (166) but between 90-100 (62.5) Can't you see the difference? When Sachin took 13 balls to reach from 90 to 100, it was most disgraceful moment ever happened in history of humanity, but why very same people don't see any problem when a batsman takes 16 balls to cover same gap in a match where was played at much faster clip. Personally I don't have a problem with Kohli's approach. Each batsman assesses situation as per his understanding of the game and at times they may get it wrong. But that doesn't mean you'll crucify them for that mistake and declare that this is the only thing for which this batsman will be remembered always. For yesterdays match, in hindsight, you can say that Pakistani openers were selfish and could have afforded to play a bit faster than the rate of 100 SR. India has scored runs in excess of 350 in last few years so they should have ensured that Pakistan atleast scores 380. Openers should have taken bit more risk, so that target would have been put beyond India's reach.

[akshayxyz]

Well if the highlighted was true, I don't see any reason why ICF should exist, no? It's our different opinions which make this forum enjoyable to read. Personally, I just referred to prior knowledge India had about a sufficient score. All great cricketers have had made their share of mistakes, Sachin isn't the first and won't be the last either. Moreover, if he doesn't "ever make a mistake" he wouldn't be out in any games.

As I said - I am fine with you having an opinion and am not claiming they can't make mistakes - but there is scope of discussion on reasoning and verdict ( on integrity and commitment of players in the middle). [for arguments sake] What would you prefer - expert batsmen & team trying to figure out a target based on recent performances. And as they claimed, they were happy with the target they eventually achieved. vs Internet keyboard-cricket experts (with the benefit of hindsight) - using one year old cricket match as a sample to suggest the "should have been score". And then claim that the batsmen in the middle compromised team's chances by intentionally under-performing. e.g. Lets say we play SA on the same ground where 434 happened. Should, the batsmen in the middle, look back few years and aim for 400+ score, or try to read the then pitch/conditions (and recent matches/results) and adjust the target accordingly. No one is saying that additional 20 runs would not have been handy, but I am questioning the 'verdict' of internet warriors - 'intentional under-performance for selfish reasons'. [yes I do realize I am just another internet warrior, just interested in exchanging viewpoints]

[mishra]

haterz gonna hate... Another poal :hehe: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/india/9148535/Poll-is-Sachin-Tendulkar-the-greatest-batsman-ever.html

[Vijy]

The whole discussion about who slowed down for what 100 is getting old. The 100th 100 is over and done with. And so is Kohli's magnificent knock.

[vvvslaxman]

Being nervous = out of form, or selfish? About the maiden over - did you watch the match or just going by the cricinfo commentary? Were all the 6 balls dead-bat defense - no credit to fielders / bowlers /chance? Back to the main point - Kohli's slowing down from 90-100, to achieve personal landmark of 11th 100 - was an act of selfishness or not? Or was he able to foresee the future that he will surely be able to compensate for the slowing down.

First of all how many consecutive dot balls he faced during that period.. tell me.. 2 at most? Besides the point Kohli got to his 100 well before acceleration period. Infact India's run rate was over 6. But when Tendulkar was around 30th over India's run rate was 5.13. You know how low it went. Around 38th over our run rate dropped down to 4.94. Honestly tell me if that was done because pitch was slow. India had 8 wickets at this stage. Please spare us with your theories. He gave away more than one signal that he was singleminded about his 100 even at the cost of India losing few valuable runs.

[Raghav_12]

First of all how many consecutive dot balls he faced during that period.. tell me.. 2 at most? Besides the point Kohli got to his 100 well before acceleration period. Infact India's run rate was over 6. But when Tendulkar was around 30th over India's run rate was 5.13. You know how low it went. Around 38th over our run rate dropped down to 4.94. Honestly tell me if that was done because pitch was slow. India had 8 wickets at this stage. Please spare us with your theories. He gave away more than one signal that he was singleminded about his 100 even at the cost of India losing few valuable runs.

Do you agree with the fact that Kohli also slowed down just before his 100 or not? Whether he is entitled to use that discretion in terms of run-rate, is different thing? Also, it is absolutely fololish to compare the strike rates of two matches. You can not compare like that. If you wanna do that, first answer that why Kohli score 91 runs in 82 balls against Pakistan while only 66 against much weaker Bangla attack?

[vvvslaxman]

Do you agree with the fact that Kohli also slowed down just before his 100 or not? Whether he is entitled to use that discretion in terms of run-rate, is different thing? Also, it is absolutely fololish to compare the strike rates of two matches. You can not compare like that. If you wanna do that, first answer that why Kohli score 91 runs in 82 balls against Pakistan while only 66 against much weaker Bangla attack?

As long as a batsman doesn't play against team's interest i am fine. Even when Sachin got 200 he scored last 13 runs in his last 10 balls by taking singles. Dhoni was going ballistic. Sachin didn't waste balls (like dot balls) even though he didn't hit fours. There are several instances players have got a little bogged down. This is not one of those occasions. He slowed down for a substantial amount of period. Almost 15 overs. If anything Kohli paced the innings beautifully by not having so many dots in a row.

[vvvslaxman]

Do you agree with the fact that Kohli also slowed down just before his 100 or not? Whether he is entitled to use that discretion in terms of run-rate, is different thing? Also, it is absolutely fololish to compare the strike rates of two matches. You can not compare like that. If you wanna do that, first answer that why Kohli score 91 runs in 82 balls against Pakistan while only 66 against much weaker Bangla attack?

So it is absolutely wise to compare how they move from 90 to 100 but not strike rate? At the end of the day Kohli did not cause any run rate drop. But Tendulkar was the center piece of why India dropped from a run rate above 5 to below 5.