General Cricket Discussion Thread - Page 81

What are you talking about, Sachin Tendulkar?

Sachin Tendulkar has lamented of not getting a long streak as the Indian captain. The outburst, well over a year after the great man's retirement, comes as a shock. Abhishek Mukherjeeelaborates on why The Little Master's disappointment does not hold much ground.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave, Sachin Tendulkar has expressed his disappointment over not having a sufficiently long tenure as Indian captain. He lamented: "To me, cricket is team work and not about individuals. There are stages where captain come into play and captain will guide, take important decisions on the field but eventually the batsmen would have to go out and score runs and the bowlers have to land the ball in those areas." READ: Sachin Tendulkar disappointed for not captaining Indian cricket team for long

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• Sachin Tendulkar disappointed for not captaining Indian cricket team for long

Indeed, there is so much a captain do for his side. He can strategise, he can motivate, but he cannot bat, bowl, or catch on behalf of his teammates.Ricky Ponting had a better win-loss ratio thanMark Taylor, but there is no way one can conclude that Ponting was the better captain: the numbers do not tell the full story.

Tendulkar added: "I was dropped from captaincy after only 12-13 months in my first stint. That was a disappointment because you select the captain thinking that he is going to take the team forward and then if that stint is not long enough, then the success rate becomes zero. If you play four matches, you lose two, then you are 50 per cent successful, so on and so forth." READ: Sachin Tendulkar writes to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis over toll tax

Nice logic " barring the fact that Tendulkar had led India in 17 Tests, no less " during his first tenure as Indian captain. He won three out of the first four Tests " before going winless for 13 consecutive Tests. Before Tendulkar was sacked following his 17-Test tenure, only Tiger Pataudi (40), Bishan Bedi (22), Sunil Gavaskar (47), Kapil Dev (34), and Mohammad Azharuddin had led India in more Tests.

Were they justified in replacing Tendulkar after his first stint?

Let us ignore the case of Pataudi. Indian cricket was in its doldrums, and were on the rise till the advent of Gavaskar; by the time Gavaskar had firmly arrived, Pataudi had been replaced by Ajit Wadekar. It must be mentioned here that Wadekar won series in West Indies and England, won a home series against England, and was replaced rather unceremoniously following the infamous "Summer of 42" in 1974.

Let us consider the others: Bedi had led India to Test wins in West Indies and Australia (albeit against a Kerry Packer-depleted side), suffered a series defeat against England at home. His form took a nosedive in the Pakistan tour of 1978-79, and he was sacked after an abysmal series.

Gavaskar, who led India during the Packer era at home, won a home series against England after that, and more importantly, became the first Indian captain to return from Australia without losing a series; he lost a series in England 0-1; then, following a 0-3 defeat in Pakistan, Gavaskar was fired. He had another series (which included winning the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup and the Rothmans Trophy, both in Sharjah), but he never led after a 1-3 defeat against England.

Kapil, too, had two tenures: he replaced Gavaskar following the Pakistan debacle; though he led India to a World Cup triumph in 1983, he was fired after a 0-3 defeat against West Indies; once recalled, Kapil led India to a draw in Australia and a 2-0 victory in England, and lost only one out of 11 home Tests. He also led India to the semi-final of World Cup 1987 before he was replaced byDilip Vengsarkar.

Azhar had a troubled start (one win, against Sri Lanka, from his first 17 Tests), but that had a lot to do with the fact that India played a solitary home Test between 1988-89 and 1992-93. Once home Tests started, Azhar won the first eight home Tests he led. Like Kapil, Azhar led India to a World Cup semi-final, but was replaced after a 0-1 defeat in a troubled tour of England.

Tendulkar's tenure was worse than the final phases for all these men (barring the case of Azhar, who was given a long run for lack of overseas Tests). To add to it, Krishnamachari Srikkanth was shown the gate after an unexpected draw in Pakistan against a stronger side, and Ravi Shastri never got another chance after leading against West Indies (at their pomp) in his only Test as captain, and " winning it.