Sachin Tendulkar: Did he overstay his welcome?

Sachin Tendulkar vents his frustration after getting bowled against New Zealand

‘Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar’, the name is rhetoric saga of unbelievable journey that every aspiring cricketer would wish to listen over and over again. The name is more than enough for many to explain why cricket is not just another game but a religion for them. The legendary cricketer has been given the status of ‘a living God’ by the emotional Indian fans for what he has done and achieved in his 24-year long career. He has had his hands on each and every single thing that a cricketer can merely dream of.

In 24 years, Tendulkar won the maximum number of Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards in ODIs, has the maximum number of centuries to his name, has played more Tests and ODIs than any other cricketer, has the maximum number of runs to his name, both in Tests and ODIs and many more unshakable records.

He has another record to his name, which is not talked about much and that is the highest number of dismissals in the 90s (28 in total). Though no one has ever questioned Sachin’s passion for the game, yet there are many who have firmly believed that in the later phase of his career he was more focused on achieving personal milestones, even at the cost of the team sometimes and also that his decision to hang up his boots came too late and the Master should have chosen India’s World Cup victory in 2011 as the right time to say goodbye. But how could he?

He was just one century away from scoring the unprecedented century of international centuries. His 99th ton came against South Africa on 12th March, 2011 during the World Cup and then he took 34 innings (both Tests and ODIs) and 369 days to reach one of the most discussed landmarks in cricket history, but the manner in which he did this was not so pleasing.

After being eluded by the 100th hundred for over a year, Sachin ensured that it came against a less daunting ODI team, Bangladesh in conditions which completely suited the batsmen. This was his first ever ODI hundred against Bangladesh, but his sluggish innings gave the opponents an opportunity to make it difficult for India to book a place in the final of Asia Cup as India lost the match. Here was a perfect example of a player playing for his milestone.

In a one-day match, a set batsman usually looks to increase the scoring rate as the innings progresses and especially when his team has wickets in hand. But Tendulkar was not in a mood to take any risks and postpone his much-awaited century. He faced 63 balls to reach his fifty and another 75 balls to get to the ton.

India had 8 wickets in hand with not many overs left when Sachin took 13 balls to move from 94 to 100. He scored 114 runs from 147 balls but the bowlers were blamed alone as Bangladesh achieved the target of 290 runs set by India with 5 wickets remaining. After the 2011 World Cup, Sachin decided to follow the ‘pick and choose’ formula and pulled out of every ODI series but finally returned to the limited overs format after not being able to hit a century in three Test series against England, West Indies and Australia.

Some people have had the audacity to compare Sachin with the greatest batsman of all time, Sir Donald George Bradman. Yes, the Australian batsman was really the greatest cricketer ever to have played the game with a Test average of 99.94, which would have turned even 100 had he scored just four more runs in his last innings but fell for a duck. Who knows, if he had decided to stick around to get to an average of 100, he might have got some bad scores and ended up with a lower average.

After England defeated India 2-1 in the four Test Series in 2012, a lot of fans and even some former players wanted it to be the last series for Sachin, who averaged just 18.66. Former England captain Michael Vaughan rightly said: "There is no one strong enough in Indian cricket to go and knock on his door and say time is up. But for the good of the team senior players have to retire so the rest can move forward and build a new era." And this wasn’t the first time post World Cup that he did not perform as per the requirements of the team.

He struggled against England in England with an average of 34.12 and then against Australia in Australia, averaging 35.87. India lost 8 straight Test matches (4 each against England and Australia) away from home. New Zealand came to India in August 2012 for two Test matches and while India won both the matches comfortably, Sachin’s form and performance came under scrutiny once again. The Mumbai batsman’s average was 21 with scores of 19, 17 and 27 and he was comprehensively bowled by the Kiwi pacers on all three occasions. This led the great Sunil Gavaskar to express concerns over Sachin’s reflexes and said that they may have slowed down.

Winning a Test match in the second innings outside Asia would be the most satisfying feat for an Indian batsman and the biggest contribution he can make for his team because it is something that is not easy and does not happen often. If we look for match-winning second innings knocks of 50 or more outside Asia, we find that VVS Laxman has done it four times, Rahul Dravid has done it three times but Sachin could not do it even once.

The last great Mumbai batsman (before Sachin), Sunil Gavaskar, in his final innings, smashed 96 runs on a bowler friendly wicket. He left when he was 37 years old and in a tremendous form. Gavaskar scored four centuries and six half-centuries at an average of over 58 in his last 25 innings. On the other hand, Sachin in his last 25 innings scored four fifties and no hundred at a terrible average of 28. And if Sachin is not to be compared with Gavaskar because of different eras, then let us compare him with his contemporaries.

Steve Waugh’s last 25 innings saw five centuries and six half-centuries at an average close to 65. Even Ricky Ponting, who retired at the age of 38, was criticized for his poor form towards the end of his career. In his last 25 innings, he averaged 38 with a century and a double-century to his name. And finally, we take a look at Brian Lara’s last 25 innings in which his average was just under 45.

The effect of Sachin’s madness on people can be determined by the fact that the government changed the rules of India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna only to accommodate the so-called God. Also, to ensure that Sachin comfortably gets to his 200th Test and a chance to bid adieu at his home ground in Mumbai, the BCCI organized 2 Test matches against a fragile Test side in West Indies at the cost of a proper 3 Test series against the strongest Test team in South Africa. India was scheduled to play 3 Tests, 7 ODIs and 2 T20s in South Africa which was reduced to 2 Tests and 3 ODIs.

"If I was in his shoes, I would have gone a year earlier. Only because he is Sachin Tendulkar, he could get a run for three years. Nobody else in the world or Indian cricket would have got that much of time."

The above are the words of the former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, a few days before Sachin Tendulkar actually retired.

Cricket is a team sport and not a game of personal achievements. It is said that no individual is bigger than the game. However, the cricket world saw an exception to this statement the way Sachin was treated by his nation. Whenever he faced criticism, some fans argued that Sachin has carried India for over 20 years; can’t India carry him for two? The answer is no. Still it did but it shouldn’t have.

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Edited by Staff Editor