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InDepth headlines national business sports cricket regional entertainment technology world travel autos health | in-depth coverage > Sachin Tendulkar > Will Sachin hit back? 22.39 IST 30th May 2005 By Manish Kumar 
Batting Genius Sachin Tendulkar is known to hit back through his wielding willow whenever someone has said that he is no longer a threat or that he is past his prime.Ask Henry Olonga, or Andrew Caddick or Shoaib Akhtar. All these bowlers have been taken out by Sachin for special treatment after they have uttered words regarding his declining prowess with the bat. In the last match before the final of the Champions Trophy at Sharjah on November 11, 1998, Olonga ripped through the Indian top order taking 4/46 and that included the prized wicket of Sachin (11) and India lost the match by 13 runs. But just two days later, Sachin made a mincemeat of the Zimbabwean bowling attack by smashing an unbeaten 124 off just 92 balls studded with 12 fours and 6 sixes. Olonga after a horrendous first spell, in which he was tore to shreds, was marking his run-up with ‘baby steps’. The Zimbabwean fast bowler gave away 50 runs off his 6 overs. Just prior to the Indian-England World Cup clash on February 26, 2003 in Durban, Caddick had said that Sachin is no longer a big threat with the bat. He got his answer in the first over of the match when Sachin flicked him to the square leg region for four and later pulled him over mid-wicket for a huge six, racing to 50 off 52 balls with eight fours and one six. And who can forget the spanking that Sachin gave to the Pakistanis on March 1, 2003 in their World Cup clash in Centurion. Shoaib was hit out of the attack after his first over cost 18 runs. His last three deliveries of that over went for 14 runs with Sachin hitting a six over third man, flicking to backward square leg for four and then driving to long on for another four. The shell-shocked Pakistanis could not stop the rampaging Sachin who scored 98 runs off just 75 balls and won the match for India. Sachin brought his attacking instincts to the fore again when he scored an aggressive 55 runs in the fourth Test again Australia in Mumbai in November last year. But apart from that, in recent times, Sachin has been guilty of going into his shell especially in the third Test against Pakistan in Bangalore in March this year where he was blocking even half-volleys with a dead bat. It may be an idea of taking out the Maestro from that shell that the newly appointed coach of the Indian team Greg Chappell said that Sachin would never be able to scale the heights that he was used to less than a couple of years ago. In other words, Chappell may have thrown a challenge to Sachin asking, ‘come, show me if you have still got it.’ History, Olonga, Caddick and Shoaib have it that whenever a challenge is thrown to Sachin he will rise up to it and deliver the goods. If Chappell succeeds in bringing the attacking Sachin of old to the fore, he will be at the receiving end of a million ‘thank you’ notes. Sachin has been ruled out of cricket for four months due to surgery on his tennis elbow. That means he will miss out on the Tri-Series in Sri Lanka, which also involves the West Indies in July-August. India will then tour Zimbabwe in September-October and it will be here that we will come to know that whether Sachin will rise to the challenge Chappell has thrown to him or not. in-depth coverage > Sachin Tendulkar > |
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