Last Sunday I watched Sachin Tendulkar play a masterful innings to lead India to victory over Australia in the first final of the CB tri-series at the SCG. It was a precisely crafted innings, bringing into play all his experience and shot making skills. While his first few years in the one day format were defined by the thundering lofted drives over the straight field, the last few years have been characterized by his innovations in boundary hitting in the reverse "V". The paddle "swat" to fine leg has been on view for some time now, but in this game the deft lobs over the slips were the most exhilirating shots. When a man was placed at fine third man, he swatted the ball over square third man with a lofted swat. The innings was the work of a master craftsman.
In spite of the wonderful innings, and the fantastic result it produced for India, I walked away from the post game show with an uncomfortable feeling. Sachin is one of the all time greats of the game, and he is without doubt a wonderful person who cares deeply about his team and country. However he is not perfect, and his comments about his critics after the game left me with a hollow feeling.
Sanjay Manjarekar is probably the most cerebral Indian cricket commentator on TV. The channels currently covering Indian cricket games do not seem to favour him, so we have not seen much of him lately on TV. Sanjay's commentary is insightful, direct, and very interesting for the purists among the cricket fans. He does not have the polish of a Shastri, or the aura of a Gavaskar, or even the incredibly stupid wit of a Sidhu. He seldom practices the "art of the obvious" as most Indian commentators do. However, he makes up for it with insights into the game that no other Indian commentator can match.
Sanjay is also a good thinker of the game who is not afraid to speak his mind even about the icons of the game - which brings us to Tendulkar. A couple of days before the CB tri-series finals, Manjarekar wrote a newspaper column describing Sachin's record in run chases in ODI's and it did indeed look very ordinary. He also questioned Sachin's contribution in the current series in Australia, which was a fair criticism, given Sachin's performances before the finals.
Sachin's post-match comments were along the lines of "they criticize because they have not been able to do certain things themselves...". Hello??? Does he discount all the good things Harsha Bhogle says about him just because Harsha has not done all the great things himself? This is a ludicrous argument. Sanjay Manjarekar's comments are fully justified as a journalist - unlike some others, he frequently uses statistics to make his case.
Loosen up Sachin! Don't take it so personal! The journalists - even the ex-cricketers among them - are doing their jobs. You need to focus on yours. This type of outburst tends to diminish rather than enhance your reputation.
In spite of the wonderful innings, and the fantastic result it produced for India, I walked away from the post game show with an uncomfortable feeling. Sachin is one of the all time greats of the game, and he is without doubt a wonderful person who cares deeply about his team and country. However he is not perfect, and his comments about his critics after the game left me with a hollow feeling.
Sanjay Manjarekar is probably the most cerebral Indian cricket commentator on TV. The channels currently covering Indian cricket games do not seem to favour him, so we have not seen much of him lately on TV. Sanjay's commentary is insightful, direct, and very interesting for the purists among the cricket fans. He does not have the polish of a Shastri, or the aura of a Gavaskar, or even the incredibly stupid wit of a Sidhu. He seldom practices the "art of the obvious" as most Indian commentators do. However, he makes up for it with insights into the game that no other Indian commentator can match.
Sanjay is also a good thinker of the game who is not afraid to speak his mind even about the icons of the game - which brings us to Tendulkar. A couple of days before the CB tri-series finals, Manjarekar wrote a newspaper column describing Sachin's record in run chases in ODI's and it did indeed look very ordinary. He also questioned Sachin's contribution in the current series in Australia, which was a fair criticism, given Sachin's performances before the finals.
Sachin's post-match comments were along the lines of "they criticize because they have not been able to do certain things themselves...". Hello??? Does he discount all the good things Harsha Bhogle says about him just because Harsha has not done all the great things himself? This is a ludicrous argument. Sanjay Manjarekar's comments are fully justified as a journalist - unlike some others, he frequently uses statistics to make his case.
Loosen up Sachin! Don't take it so personal! The journalists - even the ex-cricketers among them - are doing their jobs. You need to focus on yours. This type of outburst tends to diminish rather than enhance your reputation.
3 comments:
Agree with you here, but that's not why I'm writing in. My wife showed me your piece on the babysitter-grandparents, which also I agree with, but that's also not why I'm writing ! I noticed your interest in Sports - just wondering if that's just for watching, playing, or do you plan to do something else in this area as well ? I'm in IT too - I manage Technology for a financial services company based in Mumbai, but in 2-3 years time (yes, when my bank balance is safe enough !) I intend to start up some sports schools - the idea is pretty vague right now, but it basically involves identifying and training kids with raw talent. Will be nice to chat up sometime on stuff like this, even if only to have someone to bounce off ideas with
Oh and btw, my email is pramodkrish@hotmail.com in case you want to be in touch
Nitin, Pramod is my husband!
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