Sachin Tendulkar: What next for the maestro?

Before you even contemplate that this is another of those articles which goes on a Tendulkar-bashing spree, let me assure you that this is not. As a staunch Sachin supporter, this is an attempt to objectively understand the reason behind what and why he is currently doing.

Firstly, let’s be absolutely clear. He is a Legend. Some may say he is God, but actions over the last year or so, have left me with doubts. His aggregate in Tests is almost the combined aggregates of both Ganguly and Laxman, while in ODI cricket, the sum of Dravid and Yuvraj’s runs is comparable to Sachin’s tally.

Take a moment to rewind back to April 2011. India had won the World Cup, Sachin had scored two centuries, his team mates lifted him on their shoulders and carried him all around the ground, his home, Wankhede. We won it for him, they said. He refused to take a call on his future, fair enough, no one wants to make a rash decision in an euphoric frame of mind. Five days later, he went on to play the IPL, I have no problems with that either.

The first problem I had, this after he has played for more than 21 years, was that he skipped a tour of the West Indies which succeeded the IPL, citing the need to spend time with his family. The point here is that a) He had about five weeks after the IPL as the ODIs and T20s were played first b) For the first time in his career, he missed a Test not because of injury. Now, I am trying to understand, is it because he needed the time, or because he did not think the West Indies were a “worthy” opposition. Whatever the reason, it sent out a wrong message to budding cricketers, that you can choose to miss a game for the country.

Then came the wretched England tour, and Sachin had not played a first class game since the Cape Town Test in January that year. It clearly showed a lack of match practice as India were decimated by England, whitewashed and disgraced. He was ruled out of the subsequent ODI series due to an injury, no complaints here, it is part of the game.

Then West Indies came visiting and he did play the Tests this time, and made 94 in one innings, with the weight of a hundred hundreds still on his shoulders. He opted out of the subsequent limited overs series, and speculation was still rife on his ODI career.

The Test series against Australia came and went, and after looking impeccable in the first two Tests, he fell away. In the subsequent ODI series, he was part of a rotation policy, never settled in and had a below par series.

March 2011, a whole year after staying on 99 hundreds, he made himself “available” for the Asia Cup. The very fact that he had to play ODIs to get the hundredth hundred was a sore point. I asked myself, Did that mean that he couldn’t do it (the elusive hundred) in Test cricket anymore ? Make no mistake, 11 Tests had passed, 3 of them against lowly ranked West Indies, at home.

In the end, he got to the landmark against Bangladesh, although it would rank among one of his scratchiest hundreds. Still, a monumental achievement, and more importantly the monkey was off his back.

He played the IPL, and despite a six week layoff, wanted more “quality time” with his family and conveniently skipped the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He came into the Test series against New Zealand , with not much match practice and we all know what happened.

Now, not for one moment am I asking the retirement question. The Test team needs Sachin all the more since the retirements of Dravid and Laxman, there is no doubt about that. My concern is what does he wish to achieve more from the ODI game? The question is, not whether he can contribute, but is he committed to playing the 2015 World Cup. Whether it is a yes or no, we need to build a team for that tournament.

If it is no, then there has to be clear communication from Sachin, so that a team can be built sans the master. If it is a yes, it creates problems, as he continues to pick and choose series, which means every time he comes back in, either Sehwag or Gambhir has to drop down, which means Kohli, who has warmed to the No.3 slot is unsettled. The point is, due to his whims of choosing series’, the entire order has to be reshuffled.

Lastly, I have a problem with his statement that he will continue to play until he has passion for the game. I believe every past player still has passion for the game, Gavaskar or Kapil Dev or Dravid. It will never go away. My point is that there are other avenues to keep the passion alive like Gavaskar, who works with the media or Kumble, who works as an administrator.

You may ask, who am I to ask to question what Sachin is doing ? The answer my friends, is that I am a concerned fan, who believes both Dravid and Laxman, greats in their own right, were pushed out of the team, and I do not want the same fate to befall a champion.