Sachin - in their words

Some famous quotation about Sachin :

• I have seen God, he bats at no. 4 for India – Matthew Hayden
• I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I felt that this player is playing with a style similar to mine, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two…his compactness, technique, stroke production – it all seemed to gel! – Sir Donald Bradman
• We did not lose to a team called India. We lost to a man called Sachin – Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1997)
•  India me aap Prime Minister ko ek baar katghare me khada kar sakte hain. Par Sachin Tendulkar par ungli nahi utha Sakte.– Navjot Singh Sidhu
• Harder he works, the luckier he gets – Ian Chappell
• I’ll be going to bed having nightmares of Sachin just running down the wicket and belting me back over the head for six. He was unstoppable. I don’t think anyone, apart from Don Bradman, is in the same class as Sachin Tendulkar. He is just an amazing player – Shane Warne
• He can play in any era and at any level. I would say he’s 99.5% perfect – Viv Richards on Sachin Tendulkar
• Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don’t know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives – BBC Sports, on Sachin Tendulkar
• He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling – Richie Benaud
• India’s fortune will depend on how many runs the little champion scores. There is no doubt Tendulkar is the real thing – Sunil Gavaskar
• There are 2 kind of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar. Two all the others – Andy Flower
• Sachin Tendulkar has often reminded me of a veteran army colonel who has many medals on his chest to show how he has conquered bowlers all over the world – Allan Donald
• On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98.  The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century. This Genius can stop time in India! - Peter Roebuck
• Sachin is a genius. I’m a mere mortal – Brian Lara15. Sachin is the greatest role model I’ve ever met – Gary Kirsten

Source: http://www.sachinandcritics.com/quotes_on_sachin.php, 

https://rammipr.wordpress.com/category/sports/

Sachin - his road ahead

A week before I was watching the WC match between Aus & NZ. It was such a fantastic contest between the leather and willow! Despite Aussies losing it, Starc won my heart. The precision and the consistent pace were worth watching. As a cricket player myself, I understand the hard work that goes behind every performance at the highest level. And whenever we talk about hard work, I can't think of anybody else than the Master himself. There have been a lot of talks about his talent, of he being a child prodigy, of his passion about the game but for me what stands out is the "discipline". Incredible!

Let's take some examples:

1. Sachin practiced 12 hours a day at the age of 12-13 and used to doze off at the dinner table. 
2. Sachin doesn't smoke nor drinks.  
3. He ensures he gets good sleep before a cricket match. However before the match against Pakistan in the 2003 WC, he had a lot of sleepless nights. He was preparing how to handle each bowler to such an extent that he would have played an entire innings - in his head!
4. He would have a lot of discussions with the bowlers to understand their thought process when it comes to challenging a batsman. He would set imaginary fields and tries to see how he can work through them.
5. In English tours, there would be a lot of rainy day situations during matches. The rest of the players would be having a day out but Sachin would be the only person practicing with a tennis ball to face the bounce. 
6. Sachin and Kambli started at the same level. Both were equally talented and gifted in their own ways however when it comes to discipline, this is a solid case study of discipline in contrast. Kambli's performance took off in style and he bettered Sachin in the international stage. Success got to Kambli's head and his focus shifted to off-the-field or non-cricketing activities while on the other hand, Sachin was meticulously working on his batting. We all know what happened in the end

I can keep on writing on this topic however my main intention was to pen on how Sachin can contribute to the future of Indian Cricket?

India is a country gifted with the passion for cricket. While one indulges in cricket at a very young age, we have decent academies to ‘teach’ them on the technicalities. The difference is taking it to the next level and this is where Sachin’s contribution would be invaluable.

For e.g. What if Sachin can be the ‘coach’ of the Under-16 or Under-19 National side? Sachin understands cricket like no other keeping aside his experience on the field. It’s obvious that he is a demi god and the youngsters emulating him are like “grass is green”. He can provide such strong perspectives on the technical aspects of the game and at the same time provide thoughts on how to approach a problem. He can teach the young players how to read the bowlers, how to adjust according to the conditions and so on. I feel he should be kept away from cricket administration and should mainly be given the job of laying a strong foundation to the future of Indian cricket by coaching the U-19/U-16 national teams. What say? :)

Hewlett-Packard lifts Blue-Sky Corporate League Trophy (2006-07)

Hello All,

On a sunny Sunday morning, with the whole nation celebrating the festival of colors "HOLI", we entered the ground with a sincere attempt to rewrite record books, bringing more color and glory to the team.

Our last column had analyzed the performance of team during the most frenetic stage of a one-day match - the run chase. This time the focus shifts to the start of the innings as well our lethal bowling attack, an aspect which is likely to be vital in key tournaments on tracks which are unlikely to provide much cheer to the bowlers. The days of openers playing themselves in and exercising early caution have long been replaced by a whole assembly line of dashing, throw-caution-to-the-wind style of openers, making the new-ball bowlers' task a pretty tough one as well.

This was really the intention of our opening batsmen yesterday, but unfortunately after we were put into bat by Irevna Research, it was a pretty jolter of a start as we lost all the key players, Hemanth (a mistimed pull), Ramesh (dubious caught behind decision) and Karthik Sridhar (failing to read the line of the ball) very soon. Lakshmi Narasimhan and Rajesh Muralidharan then started to consolidate the innings, essaying few delicate cuts and square drives, which did not last long as they too lost their wickets to over ambitious shots after scoring 20 each. Manchi Rajanikanth too fell for a poor umpiring decision. This left us stranded at 60/6 after 11 overs.

Yesterday, to our advantage, Hewlett Packard had the batting experience and depth plus the resilience of K Karthik and K G Sriram to play sensibly under pressure. It looked like they continued from where they left off in the semi-finals. Their shot making and running between the wickets were incredible which enabled us surpass the early storm. After settling in, KG Sriram threw caution to the winds with two exquisitely timed boundaries and an amazing six which kissed the hoardings on the terrace. KG Sriram was finally out for a brilliantly made 30 off 30 balls. If KG Sriram was only very good,  K Karthik was simply outstanding. His unbeaten knock of 52 (39 balls) was studded with 3 fours and two sixes - a straight six being the pick of them. This knock won him the "Man of the  Finals" award. He displayed silky elegance as his innings was a signature of beautiful brutality. KG Sriram and K Karthik shared a partnership of 68 runs off 52 balls. Lakshmi Narayanan was finally unbeaten on 6. After a bad start, we took the total to really competitive levels, ending at 166/7 after 25 overs, giving some encouragement for our bowlers.

With batting coming good after an initial jolt, the big question mark was the ability of the bowlers to hold it together when they are attacked in the field restriction period of an innings. To everyone's delight, we did raise the bar and the bowling was truly outstanding. We picked up wickets at regular intervals and kept applying the pressure with innovative field placing.

As usual, Vikash, Ramesh and Rajesh were the pick of the bowlers. Ravindran and K Karthik supported them beautifully with their excellent line and length.

Vikash has taken his bowling to ultimate levels which enables him pick up wickets at ease. He looks like getting a wicket of every delivery he bowls. He was totally dominant yesterday picking 3 wickets with in-swinging deliveries. Ramesh and Rajesh (The Spin Doctors) really treated us with an outstanding and economical bowling picking 3 wickets each. Hemanth showed his agility behind the wickets accounting for two crucial stumping. Vishal substituting for Karthik, took an outstanding catch at long on.

Finally, it boiled down to 25 runs off 2 overs with only a wicket remaining in the opposition ranks. Karthik Sridhar accounted for the final wicket effecting a run out from where the celebrations started to begin.........as Hewlett-Packard won the finals of the Corporate White- ball Blue Sky League Trophy by 19 runs.

"During the presentation ceremony late in the evening, everyone started saying, the team to watch out for in the future, is clearly Hewlett Packard. They have the firepower in their bowling  attack, they have the depth and firepower with the bat, and they have the momentum. All they need to guard against now is complacency. We thanked all our well wishers and vowed to carry this momentum forward..."

Allow me to sign off as the statisticians are busy updating the player profiles. Keep watching this column as some amazing player profiles are going to treat your eyes today.