Why have different yardsticks for our cricketing heroes?

[Tiger80]

http://www.rediff.com/cricket/slide-show/slide-show-1-england-tour-india-why-have-different-yardsticks-for-our-cricketing-heroes-laxman/20121212.htm Did V V S Laxman pay the price for being an easy target, asks Faisal Shariff. We have different yardsticks to judge our cricketing heroes. It is not just today, but from times past. Take the classic case of Gundappa Viswanath. Till he last played for India in 1982-1983, he was, along with his brother-in-law Sunil Gavaskar, first amongst equals. Vishy played 91 Tests and fell short of achieving the dream 100 Tests. A stylish batsman par excellence, Vishy paid the price for Imran Khan taking 42 wickets in a six Test series against India. Vishy struggled, but so did the others -- except Mohinder Amarnath and, to some extent, Gavaskar. Vishy alone paid the price for the loss to Pakistan. For the next four seasons Vishy ploughed away for Karnataka and South Zone without ever being spoken about in terms of a comeback. He kept plundering runs alongside Brijesh Patel, without even being mentioned for a place in the Indian side. Cut to 2012 and remind yourself of V V S Laxman. Another supreme stylist; another one from the south. Even he has disappeared from the scene. Of course, in VVS's case, the exit was a little more civil than with Vishy. But the fate of the two stylists is just the same. VVS continues to play for Hyderabad and make runs. VVS's contemporary is Sachin Tendulkar, like Vishy's was his brother-in-law, Gavaskar. Do we have different yardsticks for lesser gods than gods themselves? That's a question that we need to ask ourselves as we keep pounding messages on all available platforms for Tendulkar and his form. While it is all very well to keep pointing out Tendulkar's dry spell with the bat, where was the same fever pitch for VVS? Critics went after VVS as if he alone was the culprit for India's 8-0 away defeat. Please check the records and it will show that, barring Rahul Dravid in England, Virat Kohli and, to some extent, Wriddhiman Saha, no one weighed in with the runs. Just look at the records of both Tendulkar and VVS from January 2011 to February 2012. There is nothing much to choose between the two great batsmen. VVS paid the price for being an easy target from all and sundry. Why just VVS? Look at who were dropped from the Test squad that toured Australia: Saha, Rohit Sharma, Vinay Kumar and Abhimanyu Mithun. Why? Of course, they were the ones responsible for India losing 4-0 in Australia by playing either one Test or not playing at all. Of the other reserves, Ajinkya Rahane continues to be on a Bharat Darshan, and, the other, Pragyan Ojha, is picking wickets. What mistake did the Test reserves on the Australia tour do? Do we have different yardsticks for them as well? While we are on the point about yardsticks, do we apply the same for the return of a certain Harbhajan Singh as well? Of course, it is our point to raise questions, but we will never get any reply? We are, of course, in a nation where the former chairman of the selectors, Krishnamachari Srikkanth, asked a senior journalist on television last week: Why should we tell you what discussions we had and the thinking behind a selection?

[Sean Bradley]

Is'nt Laxman the one who retired voluntarily rather than being sacked?? Neverthless, i feel Laxman's was the right decision.

[Lurker]

Yes. SRT has been given the longest rope in Indian cricketing history. No other great, past of present, was given such a free reign often with a follow-up line "He is the greatest, look what he has done for India". The saddest part is that this is acknowledged, and understood, by Indian team and its players. Greats like Ganguly & Dravid had mentioned in their period of struggles how they could be dropped as they were mere mortals while Sachin wont be dropped, often with a wry smile. So yeah there are seperate rules for Sachin vs rest of them. That said, Vishy was done by 1982 and hence did not make it back to Indian team. There were no conspiracy theory in his outster.

[Yoda-esque]

They took this long to figure it out?

[Lurker]

They took this long to figure it out?

They still have not figured it out Yoda saab. It is down to Faisal Sharif's of this world to highlight this. This has been one of the telling stories about the Indian team fiasco in past few years/series. It is not only the Selectors/Administrators who are corrupt but so are the media pundits. The latter have been tooting SRT's horn for kingdom come and trying to mask his failures big time. Whether this was to remain in his good books, or BCCI good books, or if they sincerely beleived that who knows? What remains true is how these "pundits" stood behind likes of Sachin and never highlighted the fact that he should be dropped. There are a few exceptions of course. Mukul Kesavan comes to mind, Faisal Sharif is another.

[Yoda-esque]

^Do you see that even now, the media is behind MSD's blood while SRT is quietly under the radar? Wont be surprised if he retains his place while MSD gets the boot...

[kubrickian]

In Indian cricket or in general Indian psyche, the individual matters more than the team. That's why interest in personal records and fanboy attitude runs rampant in India than the larger interest.

[Sachinism]

Yes. SRT has been given the longest rope in Indian cricketing history. No other great' date=' past of present, was given such a free reign often with a follow-up line "[i']He is the greatest, look what he has done for India". The saddest part is that this is acknowledged, and understood, by Indian team and its players. Greats like Ganguly & Dravid had mentioned in their period of struggles how they could be dropped as they were mere mortals while Sachin wont be dropped, often with a wry smile. So yeah there are seperate rules for Sachin vs rest of them. That said, Vishy was done by 1982 and hence did not make it back to Indian team. There were no conspiracy theory in his outster.

Great skill you have there, you can perform Neuro-linguistic Programming through the newspapers you read.

[Lurker]

^Do you see that even now' date=' the media is behind MSD's blood while SRT is quietly under the radar? Wont be surprised if he retains his place while MSD gets the boot...[/quote'] Actually I do see it. The discourse has changed from "Sachin knows best when to retire" to "if I were him, I would retire" and in many cases "He should retire". You have a fair point that Dhoni is taking more criticism, but it is kind of expected since he is the skipper and often made the lousy decisions on and off the field that have us losing 11 times in past few months

[Lurker]

Great skill you have there' date=' you can perform Neuro-linguistic Programming through the newspapers you read.[/quote'] Okay :toilet:

[youngindia]

a pointless article.reeks jealousy about the exceptional. it desirable to seek equality in giving opportunities. its desirable to seek equality before law . merit on the otherhand is NOT equal. yes being in the top 1-2% does carry certain privileges.

[yoda]

^Do you see that even now, the media is behind MSD's blood while SRT is quietly under the radar? Wont be surprised if he retains his place while MSD gets the boot...

Exactly. I would like to know who in the selection committe had the guts to say let's drop SRT, if at all.

[Eternal Atma]

Haven't bothered to read it. Everything anyone needs to know is in the title. Different yardsticks? Well obviously different players have different yardsticks as they all are individuals with different success!

[Eternal Atma]

a pointless article.reeks jealousy about the exceptional. it desirable to seek equality in giving opportunities. its desirable to seek equality before law . merit on the otherhand is NOT equal. yes being in the top 1-2% does carry certain privileges.

Yeah :two_thumbs_up:

[maniac]

Haven't bothered to read it. Everything anyone needs to know is in the title. Different yardsticks? Well obviously different players have different yardsticks as they all are individuals with different success!

Probably one of your better posts...Agree

[Lord]

why the heck would SRT n VVS be treated equally?Sachin has achieved twice wat Laxman achieved,n is still fit while VVS wasnt. that said,VVS's exit was indeed hastened n sad

[NareshK]

why the heck would SRT n VVS be treated equally?Sachin has achieved twice wat Laxman achieved,n is still fit while VVS wasnt. that said,VVS's exit was indeed hastened n sad

You cant say Laxman was a lesser batsman because his average was less or he scored lesser runs and so he deserved to be treated lesser than Sachin. That just reeks of bias. Also for the record, batsmen playing at No.6 in India tend to have lesser averages because they have to bat when the ball gets old, pitch gets slower and also have to bat with the lower order and tail. Batting in the top order is almost always better in sub continent conditions. Laxman was a top order batsman who batted lower down to accommodate Dravid and Sachin. Dont forget this sacrifice.

[Lord]

You cant say Laxman was a lesser batsman because his average was less or he scored lesser runs and so he deserved to be treated lesser than Sachin. That just reeks of bias.

no that isnt bias,the better batsman,one with more achievements gets longer rope,common sense

Also for the record, batsmen playing at No.6 in India tend to have lesser averages because they have to bat when the ball gets old, pitch gets slower and also have to bat with the lower order and tail. Batting in the top order is almost always better in sub continent conditions. Laxman was a top order batsman who batted lower down to accommodate Dravid and Sachin. Dheont forget this sacrifice.

yes batsmen playing no.5 n 6 will have lesser averages,thats why I said his sacking was sad.but that doesnt mean they should be treated equally.infact different batting position means they be treated differently I wasnbt undermining VVS's efforts.would be last one to do that:icflove:

[indiefan]

Why should these ex-selectors not be taken to task for dropping bench players who never have the chance to play a single game in the series?