The 'Little Master' Retires: Tendulkar Calls Time

                           Mohammed Ali, Pele, Michael Schumacher. All are legends of their respective sports, and all have retired. In each of their cases, their legacies to the sports they represented are secure. As will be the case for Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar. The opening batsman, dubbed the 'Little Master', on account of his diminutive size, will go down in history as one of the greatest cricketers ever to have played the game. The holder of numerous records since the batsman made his Test debut in 1989, many of which I suspect will never be beaten. Even as a youngster, Tendulkar was a prodigious talent, but few would have expected him to be as dominant in the game as he has become. His announcement of retirement has come at the right time, as he was beginning to lose his powers, and had recently been going through a period of drought, in terms of both runs and form. After such a distinguished career,it would have been a great shame to see the 'Little Master' peter off into insignificance. As it is, he can hold his head high, after a fantastic career spanning almost quarter of a century, and remains arguably the greatest batsman of all time.

                              Tendulkar's early Test appearances illustrated exactly what he stood for. In his first Test series, against India's fierce rivals Pakistan in 1989, he may not have starred with the bat, but he certainly left his impression on the series, as his gritty determination to take delivery after delivery to his body was evident. In particular, in the 4th Test, he was on the receiving end of a Imran Khan bouncer, causing him to bleed profusely from the nose. Despite this, he showed his class, continuing whilst blood poured down his face. It did not take long for his talent with the bat to show. In a display England fans will remember, the young Tendulkar took apart the England bowling line-up making an impressive 119 not out at Old Trafford, before making a pair of centuries on the tour of Australia before the 1992 World Cup. His maturity at the crease was being illustrated from a very early age, and would only progress as he aged.

                                 During the 1990's, the 'Little Master' grew in stature in the cricketing world, becoming the highest run scorer in the 1996 World Cup, sandwiched around excellent performances for the Test squad. Whilst not yet recognised as one of the best in the world, there were certainly people beginning to sit up and take notice of Sachin. His performances led him to become a folk hero in India, as he was seen as carrying the Indian batting lineup throughout most of the 90s. As cricket fans know, there are not many places more passionate about cricket than India, and when they worship someone, they really go for it. Tendulkar saw himself raised to hero status in the country, with people following his every movement, and his name on cricket shirts all over the country. This hero status would only escalate as Tendulkar was given the highest honour in Indian cricket: the captaincy.

                               Whilst his early career appeared to be a seamless and unstoppable rise, the middle part saw cracks begin to appear in the otherwise unimpeachable record of the 'Little Master'. Towards the end of the 90s, back problems began to plague the batsman, forcing him to miss several series. It would be a problem that haunted the opener for the rest of his career. Also, his time as captain of India was widely regarded as a failure. Despite all the hype after his appointment in 1996, he could not lead India to success, with the team instead producing abject performance after abject performance. Eventually, just one year later, he had to resign with the country on one of its worst runs in living memory. He was given a second opportunity in 1999, but injury, and poor performances, meant that his tenure was once again just one year. Overall, he has an extremely poor record if you look at the statistics. In 25 Tests, a Tendulkar led-India won only 4. losing 9 and drawing 12. His ODI record as captain is not much better. In 73 matches, he won 23, losing 43 and 7 no results. He accepted that leadership was not the role for him, leaving the position to Rahul Dravid and moved back to being simply the outstanding batsman that everyone knew he was.

                                  He reclaimed that exceptional form in the proceeding years, breaking the great Donald Bradman's record of the highest amount of Test centuries (30) in 2002. It would be some time before he would score his last. However, this period seemed to be one of inconsistency, with every century followed with two ducks or single figure scores. Despite this, by 2006 he had added another 10 to his total of Test centuries and had made it to a similar total in ODI centuries. He was by far and away the pace-setter in terms of international centuries, raising questions over whether he should be considered one of the greats of the game, and even if he should be considered the greatest batsman ever to have played the game. As his form declined towards the mid-2000's, there were fears that he was becoming a shadow of his former self, and that he would never reclaim his top form. There were even calls for the 'Little Master' to retire, as he could not keep up with the form of Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting. However, there were more tricks in the locker of Tendulkar.

                                    Despite the doubts, and the injuries that continued to plague the diminutive Indian, he continued to make runs, claiming another important record by 2008, when he surpassed the great Brian Lara's Test run record, beating 12,000 Test runs in the same year. More records fell, as Tendulkar became the first person to pass 17,000 ODI runs, and the first person in ODI history to make 200 in a single innings, in a 2010 match against South Africa. However, the record that he really craved was moving tantalisingly within reach. On 92 international centuries, there were many that believed that the century of centuries was there for the taking. Little did they know that the 8 centuries required from 2010 would present one of the largest challenges of Tendulkar's distinguished career.

                                      A home World Cup win in India followed, with Sachin himself claiming it as one of his greatest moments. With this came another record, as Tendulkar became the first man to pass 15,000 Test runs, and moved to within 1 century of that elusive hundred. However, it seemingly took an age for that final one to come, with Tendulkar missing chances against England and South Africa to reach the milestone. After a year of trying, and just when it seemed that his best days were behind him, having retired from ODI cricket, he finally did it. Against Bangladesh in Mirpur, the 'Little Master' cemented his place in history, claiming his century of centuries, and ensuring that his name would be considered amongst the greatest ever to have played the game. After his feat, he retired from international cricket, to concentrate on captaining the IPL side, the Mumbai Indians. His powers eventually faded, and he was left to play a bit part of the side's inaugural success in 2013. Deciding to retire seemed like the right thing to do, as attempting to keep his place against far younger men seemed inadvisable, especially with his historical injury problems.

                                       So is he the greatest batsman ever to play the game? Certainly, if we look at the statistics of what he has achieved over his career, and the records he holds. However, many complain that the likes of Don Bradman and Viv Richards were better batsmen, giving statistics of their average scores, which Tendulkar cannot come close to matching. However, I think this comparison is highly unfair for two reasons. One, Tendulkar played many more matches than the aforementioned pair. This has an advantage for the Indian and a disadvantage when considering statistics. It allowed him to score the astonishing amount of international centuries, whilst neither Bradman nor Richards really had the opportunity to match that. This seems to undermine the claim of Tendulkar as best. However, it also undermines the averages that Bradman and Richards boast, as Tendulkar would have had to make continuous centuries and half centuries over a longer period and through more matches. Bradman could simply turn up a couple of times a year and whack the ball out of the park. Finally, the second argument which questions their comparability is the idea that the standard of cricket around the world, and the teams assembled, are of a much higher standard today than they ever were. That is not to say that Bradman is any worse a player than Tendulkar, merely that his opposition was not as strong on a regular basis, allowing him to maintain his average. For these reasons, I think that any attempt at comparison of the batsmen is futile, as there is too much that has changed to accurately suggest which is the better player.

                                         Nevertheless, one thing that is indisputable is that Tendulkar is one of the greatest batsmen ever, and his decision to retire has brought to an end one of the most decorated careers in sporting history. The holder of multiple records, adored the world over, he will never be forgotten in the sport. I suspect that he will remain close to the game, as I am certain that cricket runs through his veins and is ever close to his heart. His batting charisma and intelligence will be missed, but I think that now is the right time for the 'Little Master' to hang up his pads.

                                      
                                     

IPL 2013 Final: Who Chokes Best?

In a two part series on the IPL, I will be looking back at my highlights from this season, as well as providing my Team of the Year. In this post, I cover my personal highlights, and a brief review of the grand finale today in Kolkata.

 

                The Indian Premier League: a competition where it is considered fashionable to wear two baseball caps. Whilst this is only one of my many memories from the 6^th incarnation of the Sub-Saharan Twenty 20 Cricket tournament, it is one that sticks in my memory. The Indian Premier League is perfect for the cricket fan who watches the Test highlights on Channel 5, and doesn’t want to sit through dot ball after dot ball. It is arguably also the same place where you would see Sachin Tendulkar, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson all in the same team. Another intriguing few months of top quality cricket came to an end today at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, but before I go into the final itself, I will firstly go through a few more of my personal highlights.

 

                Firstly, this list could not be complete without a big West Indian having his say. Fortunately, in this list we have two. The first to make this list is Royal Challengers Bangalore opening batsman Chris Gayle. His innings against the Pune Warriors was nothing short of spectacular, leaving pundits and commentators to declare that ‘you will never see a better Twenty 20 innings’. Batting through the entire 20 overs, a feat in itself, the big West Indian smacked the ball to all corners, including the longest 6 of the tournament (119 metres), bringing up the fastest 100 in Twenty 20 (and I suspect all forms of) cricket history. Just 33 balls were taken to reach this milestone, putting his strike rate at 333.333, or 3.33 runs a ball to the layman. A simply phenomenal effort. And he didn’t stop there. In his next 33 deliveries, he continued knocking the ball about, reaching an incredible 175 off the 66 balls he faced. 175! Whole teams struggle to make that score from 120 balls, never mind half that! This innings was typical of the big man’s performance, and one that will go down in the annuls of history.

 

                The second West Indian to make my list happens to be another big man. Mumbai Indians’ Kieron Pollard’s performance in the crucial game against the Sunrisers Hydrabad deserves to be in here, as with every ball he faced I found myself getting more and more excited. In a spot of trouble mid-innings, and having lost a few wickets in their chase, Mumbai called on Pollard to get them out of their hole. And how the big man responded! A quick-fire 66 from 27 balls almost single-handedly turned the game on its head, taking the required run rate from 15 to 9.5 a over. Smashing Thisana Pereira for 29 in one over set the tone for the all-rounder, hitting 6 maximums in a sequence of 7 balls. Certainly you will see no better example of a single-handed turnaround in this IPL season. Pollard also has the benefit of being a tremendous fielder. Memorable catches against Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings also propelled Pollard into our attention this spring. A valuable player to have in your side, especially as you get into the later overs.

 

                My third memory is a rather more nostalgic one. Adam Gilchrist, on his final performance for the Kings XI Punjab, was given the final over to bowl. With his team already having won the match against the Mumbai Indians, Gilly, normally a wicket-keeper, was able to bowl his very first over in Twenty 20 cricket. Using what can only be described as ‘weird spin’, I fully expected Harbhajan Singh to smash the Aussie out of the ground multiple times. The last thing I expected was for the off-spinner to mishit the ball out to long-on and lose his wicket! As the Mumbai Indians were something for 9 at the time, the game was obviously ended, and Gilchrist ended with figures of 0.1 overs bowled, 1 for 0 runs, and a 100% strike rate! His celebrations after the wicket was taken were superb, and illustrated the passion and flair that the sport will miss with his retirement.

 

                Despite the loss of Gilchrist, celebrations are not something this competition will be without next year. Four contenders for celebration of the season, with very different dancing styles. Firstly, Dwayne Bravo’s hip-swinging when taking either a wicket or catch caught the eye. Secondly, Darren Sammy’s wicket celebration, putting a dummy in his mouth and ‘rocking the cradle’, signifying the birth of his baby daughter. Unfortunately for Sammy, this came back to bite him, when Brad Hodge hit the winning runs off Sammy’s bowling in the Eliminator, he did the same cradle rocking moves we had become accustomed to from the West Indian. Next, seeing a big man do the Gangnam Style is always funny, and Chris Gayle is no exception. Even funnier, though, is seeing Harbhajan Singh’s take on it. Rebranded the ‘Pangnam Style’, Bhaji’s moves were certainly interesting, and I look forward to seeing more creations from the players next year.

 

                 As for the final, in a match between the top two teams in the regular season table, labelled as ‘Batting vs Bowling’, as Chennai’s batting and Mumbai’s bowling attacks are considered to be the best, round 1 went to the Super Kings. In the Qualifier, they comprehensively outplayed the Mumbai side, winning by a massive 48 runs. This seemed to imply that Batting is more important than bowling in Twenty 20 cricket. However, after overcoming the Rajasthan Royals in the 2^nd Qualifier, Mumbai had the chance to get their own back on the grandest stage of them all. Chennai, on the other hand, would want to avoid defeat in the final for the second year running, having been beaten by Kolkata in last year’s showpiece.

 

                With Mumbai in to bat first, Chennai had the early chance to test the theory of Mumbai as ‘chokers’. And choke they certainly seemed to, with an early batting collapse, leaving them at 16-3. With Karthik and Rayudu at the crease, the inning stabilised for a while. When Karthik went in the 10^th over, Mumbai looked in serious trouble. Kieron Pollard was the next man in, and he kept his head, and kept Mumbai on the path to posting a competitive score. Whilst wickets tumbled around him in the closing overs, he smashed two huge sixes off the last 2 balls to ensure that Mumbai had a reasonable 148 total, leaving Chennai chasing a eminently gettable 149. However, Chennai’s innings got off to the worst possible start, with both the Orange cap-holding, usually dependable, Mike Hussey and Suresh Raina out in the first Malinga over. 2-2. Badrinath fell in the next to Johnson. 3-3. At this point it looked more like Chennai were the chokers. And the wickets kept falling. After a short reposte, Bravo went to Dhawan. 35-4. Jadeja then fell off the bowling of Pollard, playing a ridiculous sweep stroke. 36-5. In came Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the talisman and the glue of this Chennai side, and it was he that started the recovery.

 

                But all too soon, he began to run out of partners. Vijay went next over to Johnson, at 39-6. Albie Morkel, after a brief cameo, was clean bowled by Ojha. All the Mumbai bowlers were getting in on the act. Morris was next to go, caught off Harbhajan. With Chennai languishing at 58-8, surely that was game over. But still there was Dhoni, smashing maximums as though his life depended on it. And try as they might, the Mumbai bowlers simply could not get him out. However, after all of Dhoni’s fighting, Ravi Ashwin was caught playing a foolish shot off Pollard at 99-9. After this, there was no going back. Dhoni again tried valiantly to score runs, but time and balls ran out, leaving Chennai needing 42 off the last over. They ended up losing the match by 23 runs, which given their predicament speaks volumes for Mahendra Singh Dhoni, but it handed Mumbai their first IPL victory in 6 attempts.

 

                  A brilliant season, culminating in a final that twisted and turned, producing pure drama, and a shock as the favourites were beaten. As we have seen in other sports, rarely does the favourites tag mean anything at all. Mumbai have shown this once again, and will return to defend their title next year, when hopefully, Sachin Tendulkar will be fit once more. Though viewing figures in the UK may have declined, I will most certainly be tuning in next campaign.