Last Saturday, India lost a World cup match against the Proteas (so called chokers). Moment the match was over, I am sure many of your facebook pages were full of frustrated Indian fans, including you and I. The popular comments were centered around Dhoni's decision to bowl Nehra in the final over, Nehra's final over, Munaf Patel and his sub-standard bowling. There was one more comment that was slowing gathering momentum. And it was the "fact" that India lost again when Sachin scored a century..
Slowly, but surely, it's getting registered in our sub-conscious mind and even the die-hard Sachin fans have started doubting (an iota of doubt, nevertheless) the living legend.
I decided to check if this is a fact, or a belief that we like to follow whenever Sachin scores a century and India loses..
I got Sachin's century listing from Wikipedia, which in turn, came from Cricinfo. Here is the summary of what I found..
India has lost (only) 13 matches when Sachin has scored a century. Thats just 27%. We have won more than 68% of the matches!! Even in Test matches, we have lost less than 22% of all the matches when Sachin scored a century. Realistically, you don't expect India to win everytime when Sachin scores a century, do you? Emotionally, yes...Realistically, nopes.
I am sure critics will still not be convinced by this statistic. And sure enough, they have a valid point. Since 2005, Sachin has scored 11 centuries in ODI of which we won 5 and lost 5, one was a tied game against England in the 2011 World Cup. But, guess what, thats still 45% of the times we lost, when the little master added one more to his unbeatable record.
I am not debating whether Sachin is a match winner, simply because cricket is a team sport. All 11 players will have to contribute. And, in a way, if Sachin was a match winner, then the remaining 10 Indian players are just fillers, thereby degrading the others.
Sachin has been India's warrior (sometimes, a lone one at that) for over 2 decades now. He has been India's favorite son, someone we will look up to when India plays their next match. He, along with India's expectation in the world cup, has been creatively described by my buddy, Aditya Ambekar, in his blog.
Here's one request.. The next time when Sachin scores a century and India loses, let's not dig deep as to why Sachin can't win matches for India.
Hope this belief / myth dies on its own.
Update: On 16th March 2012, after the Asia cup match against Bangladesh when Sachin scored his 100th century. Sadly, India lost the match.
You cannot keep a good man down forever.....similarly the critics of Sachin will keep cribbing.....kudos for your statistical proof
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more.. Let the critics crib about it. After all, its their job.. :)
ReplyDeleteWell written dude, there was one more article i read, written by Harsha Bhogale, posted by Steve on FB. Cant blame the master for india losing.. I hope he scores century in WC Final and shut the bloody mouth of cricketing world...
ReplyDelete@Nishant: Even I read the article. I dont think Sachin needs to prove himself by winning the World Cup. He has done everything he can, yet we lost the match. The remaining 10 will have to prove themselves..
ReplyDeleteNice one buddy!
ReplyDeleteI guess you must have read Harsha Bhogle's write up on "I don't want to be Sachin"...It clearly details out the dilemma that Sachin goes through every time India loses
And BTW thanks for linking my blog ;)
@Aditya, it wasn't Harsha's write-up.. He himself admitted it on Twitter.. I guess, it was a cheap publicity stunt..
ReplyDeleteIts unfortunate Sachin has to go through such a dilemma.. But as they say, 'uneasy lies the head that wears the crown'..
Its self explanatory, the other thing which i want to point out here is India always has their weaker foot in bowling. Even if sachin scores or whoever scores, if the bowlers cant do the job then we cannot expect miracles. The advantage for others who are so called finishers or match winners has got potential bowlers in their team to finish off the job initiated by them. Classic example is the 1996 worldcup match Aus vs WI. when Aus where struggling at 10/4, bevan rescued the team and helped them to reach around 210 or something, then the aussie bowlers came to the party. They finished off the job which was initiated by Bevan. These kind of team efforts are missing in Team India. Dont blame Sachin for the inefficieny of few bowlers
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Karthik. Cricket is a team game. The game's won and lost by the team. Individuals can only contribute..
DeleteTrue fact
ReplyDeleteIndia lost today's match because sachin played more balls to make a 100.
ReplyDeleteHe always played for self , not for india.
But sehwag doesn't play for self.
I don't agree with you. If India bowlers cannot defend 280+ against a spirited Bangladesh, there's nothing a batsman can do. Sachin and other batsmen did their part in having a competitive score and our bowlers (especially in the end) made a mess of it.
DeleteThat is ridiculous saying india has lost match because of sachin playing many balls to make his century as a opening batsman he has to play defending his team as almost the entire pressure lies on opening pair
DeleteNow, this is something I agree with :)
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