Sachin fails again

[Karthik]

Sachin Tendulkar has failed to perform well yet again in test matches.India requires him to perform well especially at critical phases.He has been an outstanding player but is losing his touch.Ever since the century he made in the second against Sri Lanka,his highest score has been 28*.

He has got to play long innings for India or else after a few more matches,he will meet the same fate as Sourav Ganguly met.

By playing the 3rd test against England,he will play his 132nd,becoming the Indian to play the most number of test matches for India.

[Colourful Chaddi]

If Sachin does not play well and doesn't score consistantly enough he could be dropped by Greg Chappel, who is doesn't look 'afraid' to drop players which have not been performing. Ganguly and Yuvraj singh has been dropped since Chappel took over and both players have came back and played much better, in Yuvraj's case he looks like another player, his batting has improved considerably since his comeback.

Sachin problem is that he is trying to play like 'Dravid'. He is playing more defensively rather than his attacking style which so successful to him in the 90s. But his defensive style has been his downfall in recent times, his last successful innings which he played defensivly was that incredible 244* against the Aussies 3 years ago.

An example of him failing due to his defensive style was in the home series against Pakistan. It was the 5th day in the last test, India had to draw the match to win the series 1-0. With Sehwag gone the run chase was over and the batsmen were playing far to defensiely. Sachin Tendulkar came out and played with a terribly, defending even the bad balls and he was playing in the shell, sooner rather than later he was dismissed and Indian lost that match.

Now if Sachin would have played his natural attacking game India could have won or saved the game. Can you people remember Sachin first Test hundred, which came against England in England when he played a fantastic attacking knock to save India from defeat in India's 2nd Innings. His strike rate was far better than it was in that series which i mentioned above. Now if he played like this more often India would be a different team and he woudl be back to his successful ways.

But the question is CAN he be dropped. This is the Sachin Tendulkar we are talking about, the country's hero and cricketing icon for the past 16 years. He can't just be dropped, if he was to be dropped it would be the biggest news in the country, never mind what happens in politics or crimes the main story on the news would be about Sachin being dropped.I wouldn't be suprised if there were road protest, there will far, far more protest then what we saw for Ganguly.

[Notts Exile]

Originally Posted by Waseem

But the question is CAN he be dropped.

Can you afford not to drop him if he fails to perform? Playing with five bowlers means one less batsman and therefore the five remaining batsmen need to perform. These days carrying passengers isn't an option, Sachin doesn't offer anything in the field either.

[flanflinger]

Originally Posted by Notts Exile

These days carrying passengers isn't an option, Sachin doesn't offer anything in the field either.

The same can be said for Shewag, he may have scored a good 50 in the last Test, but he was under no pressure and his last hundred came on a batters paradise in Lahore.

http://statserver.cricket.org/guru?s...lds=vie wtype

Shewag has scored only 2 hundreds in games that India have gone on to win.

Of his 6 hundreds in games that were drawn, none have been to save the game, 5 were scored in high scoring draws!!

http://statserver.cricket.org/guru?s...lds=v iewtype

He adds nothing to fielding, now India have gone with 5 bowlers, he is not required to bowl. Shewag is in more trouble than Tendulkar

[Vrock]

Don't forget that with a fifth bowler you do still have Pathan who can be recongnised as being able to bat IMO.

Sachin's place in the side is certianly not looking stable, I do agree that his superstar status do not help in the ease of being dropped. I think his injury has possibly ruined his career to some extent, he is clearly looking more defensive, even when this is not needed and this isn't a good thing for him game.

We can only wait and see if Chappell does drop him, is it possibly if he has the guts? We all saw what happened when Ganguly was dropped.

[Mongoose]

I think there are a few factors that are affecting his batting right now.

1. He spent a long time not playing cricket because of his elbow injury and his prolonged recovery.

2. Leading up to the injury, and on returning to the team, he has seemed to lack confidence and struggled for consistent form. This has led to him adopting a more defensive approach than previously.

3. He is 32. Not too old for a batsman, but different people age differently. Sachin's old mate Vinod Kambli has noted that Sachin seems a little slower at the crease, especially in his footwork.

The combination of these three factors makes Sachin at present seem a shadow of the player he was. How inter-related the factors are is open to speculation. He may be slower at the crease because he is not as confident and is playing less on instinct. He may be playing more defensively because of concerns over his slower reactions etc etc.

I'm not going to write him off just yet. He's certainly struggling at the moment, and he doesn't strike fear into fieldig sides the way he used to. But he has a natural ability to bat, and it may be that he just needs the right bit of advice, or a bit of luck, to return to the form he has shown in the past. He may play for another 5 years. Or he may be a 'former' test player this time next year. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Mr Hutt]

Great or not great... sachins time is over in my opinion not because of any lack of effort on his part unfortunately.. but first the elbow injury and now one to his shoulder.. plus the tremendous pressure of playing for 1 billion people everytime has made him lose his form his concentration and ultimately will make him lose out on his career as well.. its been glorius so far.. but sadly its fizzling out...

[Quagmire]

i love this every time a great batsman has bad form everyone says that they are gone the same thing happened with Lara in Australia then he scored a double ton since then he hasnt done much, but Tendulkar is to smart a batsman to struggle for a long time he will come back.

[Karthik]

Tendulkar looked good in the second innings of the third test against England and scored 34 but he didn't go on and the team just collapsed after the fall of his wicket.

He can't be kept in the team because of good batting 3 years ago and should be dropped if necessary.