Saturday, March 18, 2006

Dead rubber alert - part deux

A couple of months ago, I compared Sachin Tendulkar to Brian Lara, particularly with regard to Lara's tendency to hit big scores in the last Test of a series when the series was already decided.

In the current series against New Zealand, which the Windies are on their way to losing handily, Lara has failed in both innings of both Tests (with egg on his face after his remarks on Chanderpaul). The stage is now set for Lara to post a humongous score in the 3rd Test and end his tour on a high, making people partially forget the failures that came before that.

And when that happens, remember this - you first heard it here.

1 comment:

BF said...

I am looking forward to two changes

Move 1: Sachin Tendulkar to No 5

1. Sachin Tendulkar batting at no 5 so that some of the early pressure is off him and he can afford to play grave-digger for a while if the pressure is still on.

This should be communicated to him as his final test and opportunity to come good, else make way for another. Given that he is only 32, I am reluctant to give up on this outstanding a contributor. However, there is a need for some ruthlessness here and also for accountability, given that two of the players sitting out this test match each had scores of 90+ in the just-ended Pakistan series.

Also, has Virendar Sehwag been "figured out"?

Move 2: Chanderpaul backs himself and starts batting at no 3

Important move this - in a situation where Gayle and Ganga are consistently giving the Windies moderately good starts, it is imperative that the skipper move up the order to provide stability when the first of the openers falls and ensure that his team builds on the start, not fritter it away.

Best wishes.