Man of the Series India vs. Pakistan Test Series

[Zainub]

Milo, when was the last time you saw Sachin batting, live that is?

He's still brilliant to watch, has an aura about him, he can STILL play shots most people can only dream of, he can still create magic. Sorry, but I disagree. Sachin is far, far from ordinary. And even at his worse he looks (as in to the eyes) better then Sehwag (who when playing at full form has minimal foot movment) Technically Sachin is easily the most complete batsmen at present time or arguably even in the history of the game. I'd agree with Paoli, he's still on my "pay to watch" list.

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Zainub Razvi

He's still brilliant to watch, has an aura about him, he can STILL play shots most people can only dream of, he can still create magic.

I disagree ZR - I have been watching Sachin regularly since his debut in 1989, and the post 2002 SRT is a shadow of the batsman he once was. Yes, I enjoyed watching his epic at Sydney, and grudgingly admired his efforts at Multan, which are his two best knocks in this period. However, on both these occasions, he did not really dominate the bowling and the match for a whole session, let alone for longer than that, something he routinely did at his prime. Being sentimental is all well and good, but one cannot always hide from the facts.

[Milo]

I saw the entire Australia series in Australia and he looked awful. The 200 was the worst century I ever saw him play and saddened me greatly. He was easily outclassed by Laxman for much of the entire day's cricket. The rest of the series he was woeful.

I then saw the entire Pakistan test series last year. Apart from once again a large 190 odd in the first test (playing second fiddle to Sehwag's far superior innings), he failed to do anything - in fact I don't remember him getting into of double figures.

I saw his comeback against Australia at home last October where he frankly looked like a novice against McGrath and Gillespie (sometimes being dismised twice in eash innings). He did however play a good second innings knock at Mumbai against the spin.

Yes, you would pay to watch him in front of others, and you are not alone.....but this is purely on reputation and not on what he actually is prodcuing. If you had watched India in the last few years and did so purely to watch SRT, you would have gone home disappointed many more times that not. The more I watch him the more I forget the genius of Perth 1991, Edgbaston 1996, Madras 1999.

If Viv Richards played for the West Indies next week I'd be the first to buy my ticket. I would probably go home dismayed and disappointed as he failed to live up to my memories of him. You can claim Tendulkar is still at the top of the tree but he really is well and truly on the way down. Mere glimpses of what used to be are just not good enough anymore for me. We're talking about a guy that was being talked up there with Bradman not long ago. Nowadays, he looks not that much better than half his own team.

[Zainub]

Oh well this and that ... may be he has lost something but he's still good enough for me, I still enjoying watching him bat. I still feel that no one can hit as good a off drive as Sachin's.

And since we're into this subject, why not get to the very bottom of it. If the two M's, Milo and Marenallo that is, don't "enjoy" seeing Sachin bat now-a-days, would you also care to suggest what he should do alternatively? Pretend he's still 18 or 20 (when he's not)? Try and play like Sehwag (when his body clearly is not ready to)? Risk ending his career prematurely? What he's done is logical, and probably in the better interests of the Indian cricket team, we saw today how Ganguly and Laxman got out quickly, and Sehwag also went out to a big heave, when you've already got so many stroke makers in the side you don't need Sachin batting as blazingly as he was 10 or whatever years ago

I'm happy to agree that enjoyment is a personal factor, some people enjoy seeing Mark Richardson hit the slowest hundred ever, some enjoy see Sehwag bat at a strike rate of 80 pluss, that's all a matter of personal preference, but there is some amount of respect someone who has scored 23,000 international runs deserve and you've got to keep that in mind, owing to that, Sachin will probably always be counted in amongst the top 3/5/10 of in the world at a time as long as he plays

[Paoli]

Originally Posted by vvvrulz

Man of the series for me will be Virender Sehwag.

Nostradamus

[vvvrulz]

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