On Ian Chappell and Sachin Tendulkar

Ian Chappell thinks Sachin Tendulkar should retire. Sigh. Such comments will fly back and forth in the next few days. I hope Sunil Gavaskar will be in the thick of it, just for fun.

In my view, there are only two questions that need to be asked as far as Tendulkar’s retirement is concerned:

1. Is he still good enough to be in the Indian side?

2. Does he have the desire to play international cricket?

As long as the answers to both these questions are “yes”—and I believe they are at the moment—I don’t see why Tendulkar should retire. Comparing him to Brian Lara, as Chappell does, is pointless. Comparing him to his own past self, as Chappell also does, is equally pointless. If he’s good enough to be in the current side and wants to play, he should carry on.

Comments

This is a very hard one. Its clear that tendulkar is not the same batsman he once was - but that is only to be expected. His reflexes have slowed and he has lost that extra split-second that he used to enjoy. That makes him look more ordinary and vulnerable. But I still think he has a very compact technique. And given the lack of talent around, he can certainly hold a place in the Indian team for now. Would he make the Australian team right now - the answer is no. But there arent too many knocking on the doors of the Indian cricket team right now.

Where the team management can help him is by giving him a clear role. I think he enjoys opening the batting in one day cricket. It puts him in a positive mindset, and it allows him to enter the field when India is 0/0 - so his mind is fresh and clear. I dont think he has the adaptability to adjust his game to different scenarios when he plays in the middle overs. He ends up thinking about it too much, and not playing his natural game. So, I think Sachin should open the batting in one day cricket.

In test cricket - I think he should retire. We need to nurture a new look middle order. Sachin - in my view - is not a great test match batsman. He is good, but there have been many better than him. His only hundred in the last 2 years has been a scratchy one at kotla - and he is simply blocking the number 4 test slot. That is a slot that yuvraj should now occupy. In our test match line-up, I think we need to look at building the nucleus of a new team (batsmen between the ages of 23 and 27).

The argument for sachin to retire from both forms of the game is just that it would protect his own legacy. Ponting is going to break all the records anyway - so why should sachin protract a flailing career.

That’s a powerful argument.