Tendulkar scored 50 hundreds. Its a great achievement and a testament to the man's longevity in the game!
This post isn't about that.
When he came to bat on the 5th day I want to ask him what was his objective. Did he even believe that he can save the match? Did he just want to make sure he remained not out?
What I don't understand is when you are trying to save a match (yes it is very hard, but if you are not trying whats the point of playing) how can you take a single of the first ball and expose the tail to Dteyn and Morkel. Isn't it stupid? Why can't batsman see this? If its a first innings, yes no sense in shielding the tail because you want to score runs, so be positive take all the runs you can get. What was Tendulkar trying to do by taking singles and exposing the tail. Graeme Smith mentioned this in the interview. I am peeved at how every Tom Dick and Haryy of the cricket world had time to comment on Tendulkar reaching his 50th hundred (a great achievement no doubt) but did not offer any meaningful insight on decisions that are utterly stupid!
This is not to demean his innings. His batting was wonderful and responsible for India to be batting on the 5th. But I feel what he did on the fifth reveals a lack of tactical acumen on his part. I mean we needed 30 runs to make SA bat again. Wont it have been better for him to get out trying to score those runs than taking the not so useful singles and hoping Sree and Jadhav will survive Steyn and Morkel.
Also, all those supporters who are ecstatic at his 50th ton, please do remember India lost the match.
Anyway!
No comments:
Post a Comment