Sunday, March 13, 2005

The Tendulkar Shell (My Contribution To Cricket Terminology)


I have decided to call the phenomenon in which a batsman slips into lower gear so astonishingly smoothly as Tendulkar as **The Tendulkar shell**. This is because he is the one batsman who I think can switch into his shell instantaneously as his innings will testify ... a superb 50 off 80 balls ... and then what happens ... we all know ... want to talk about it ?? Nah we're tired ... let's just say he went into Tendulkar's shell. There you have it !!! Adam's apple, Writer's Block, Parkinson's Disease and now Tendulkar's shell !!! However he hasn't shown the ability so far to come out of it so quickly. So let us say that the poor fellow finds himself in a situation similar to Abhimanyu in the Mahabharata War - where he could enter into the Chakravyuha but not out of it - the result can be pretty disastrous as we know.

As I write this article I am overwrought with several emotions. Or should I say several thoughts are on my mind because I believe emotions are not always the right way to go about matters.

Firstly I am frustrated, dejected, disappointed, angry at the result of the Mohali Test Match. Because we had an upper hand for a long time. Because we could have and should have won it. But most importantly because of the way we gave it up - and this is not hindsight - as my earlier posts will testify. I think I (and others) have already mentioned in sufficent detail about the how the Tendulkar shell suddenly took away all the momentum that Sehwag and Balaji had helped build. Hence rather than going into more detailed analysis of that I just have a simple suggestion - I suggest Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman kick each other in their ass in a round robin fashion or better still let each one kick the other two - let there be 6 ass-kicks !!!

Having said that I also feel that rationally we did not deserve to win this Test match the way we played and that Pakistan drawing it was not only a well-deserved result for them but also poetic justice. Because if India had bowled out Pakistan quickly on the final day and romped home to an 8 wicket win, the pathetic effort of Day 3 would have been easily forgotten. It should not be. It should be talked about to such an extent that the 3 players should be shamed into improvement. And if John Wright has endorsed this strategy, maybe it is a good thing that he is indeed leaving. Please John - you have been so great for this team for 5 years - leave on a high note, not on a sour one. Tell these guys to go out and play their natural game and destroy that villainous shell.

Not all blame however can be placed at the feet of these 3 souls - it is a fact that the bowling lacked peneteration on the final day - but that can always happen with India - the Mohali pitch is also a real irritant !! Tell me which other pitch in the World starts out as a sporting one gets better for batting as the game progresses and keeps getting better right till the end ??? It is completely unacceptable that a pitch play at its best on Day 5 - No surprise that 4 of the last 5 matches here have been drawn - but maybe I am reading too much in this.

Of course, last but not least, I really appreciate and applaud the Pakistan lower order - Kamal, Razzaq and Akmal - magnificent effort to save the Test - and of course Inzy with a superb knock under pressure - for me the best innings of the Test quality-wise (that's right ! better than Akmal or Sehwag)

I still think India will start slight favourites for Kolkata 60-40 maybe. But my friends who had predicted a comfortable series victory for India should hopefully now be convinced that that isn't going to happen.

There need to be some low-level and high-level changes for the Kolkata Test. At the lower level, either Zaheer and Pathan have got to sit out for Harbhajan - Harbhajan's record at Eden is superb, and I think he could have made a difference here this morning just like he helped us beat SA on Day 5 at Eden last year. Besides both Pathan and Zaheer were ordinary to say the least.

At a much higher-level the team needs a change of attitude. It needs to put away this Tendulkar-shell for good. And play positively from ball 1 to ball last.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do you think Sehwag has been worked out and that bowling short into his body will nullify him for the rest of the series.

Does India need a genuine pace bowler around the 90mph to blast out some wickets even at the cost of runs. Skill with seam and swing is important but sheer pace could do a trick sometime.

Gaurav said...

No I think it would be unfair to classify Sehwag as been "worked out" although it is true that he scores big in the first Test and then tapers off towards the end. However he has now scored a 100 in 8 of his last 10 series - except NZ and Bangladesh and an average of 52+ with a strike rate of 72+ should silence all critics. And if Sehwag has indeed been worked out then God help this Indian team because the other batsmen are playing pathetically right now. Also, although it is true that bowing short into his body can shut Sehwag up, the thing is that he has such a good eye and hand coordination that the ball has to be absolutely spot on otherwise it is thrashed for 4 putting the bowler under pressure so it is not easy to consistently bowl into his body.

It is of course nice to have a genuine pace bowler around - but I dont think it is an absolute necessitty at all - see how well Pakistan are doing without Shoaib and Australia are doing without Lee - I think this Indian attack is fair although not great - problem is inconsistency. I think we should play to our strengths which is 2 spinners at least at home - and hence Harbhajan should find a place in the side