Tag Archives: Sachin Tendulkar

Shoaib says Sachin ‘can’t finish a game’

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An innings-by-innings breakdown of Tendulkar's...

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Pakistan cricket’s enfant terrible Shoaib Akhtar has stirred yet another controversy, this time questioning the class and temperament of India’s batting stalwarts Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid.

In his just-published autobiography ‘Controversially Yours’, the temperamental Pakistan speedster has accused Tendulkar of being scared to face his scorching pace on a slow Faisalabad track.

He also claimed that Tendulkar and Dravid were not match-winners nor did they know the art of finishing games.

“….Vivian Richards, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara and the likes of them are great batsmen who dominated with the bat and were truly match-winners. Initially, when I bowled against Sachin, I found these qualities missing. He might have had more runs and records, he lacked the ability to finish the game,” he said in the book, to be formally launched on Friday.

Akhtar, who announced his retirement during the World Cup this year, also cited an example where he felt that Sachin was mighty scared to face him.

“We would have faced a humbling defeat in the series but for the fact that we reined in Sachin Tendulkar.

“What went in our favour was that Sachin was suffering from tennis elbow! This severely handicapped the great batsman. We managed to psychologically browbeat him.

“We bounced the ball at him and were able to unnerve him. I returned to the dressing room that first day with the knowledge that Sachin was not comfortable facing fast and rising ball. He was distinctly uncomfortable against me. That was enough to build on”, he said.

“I bowled (Sachin) a particularly fast ball which he, to my amazement didn’t even touch. He walked away! That was the first time, I saw him walk away from me — that, too, on the slow track at Faisalabad. It got my hunting instincts up and in the next match I hit him on the head and he couldn’t score after that”, Akhtar wrote.

The 36-year-old Akhtar, who had scalped 178 wickets in 46 Test and 247 I wickets in 163 ODIs, said that Tendulkar and Dravid who have together conjured over 56,000 international runs (over 33,000 by Tendulkar and over 23,000 by Dravid) are not “match winners”.

“I think players like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid weren’t exactly match winners to start with, nor did they know the art of finishing the game,” Shoaib said.

Sachin though, said that ‘it was below his dignity’ to reply to Akhtar’s remark against him. “It is below my dignity to comment on what Shoaib has said,” he said.

Akhtar on the other hand, who played for Shah Rukh Khan co-owned Kolkata Knight Riders during IPL has also accused the Bollywood superstar and former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi of “cheating.”

“Shah Rukh and I talked about my not being happy with the money settled on me. Shah Rukh and Modi got me to agree. I should have never listened to Modi and Shah Rukh,” he said in the book.

Akhtar also spoke at length about politics in Pakistan Cricket Board. He didn’t shy away from taking a dig at two former captains Wasim Akram and Shoaib Malik.

He didn’t stop short of calling Malik a “stoodge of PCB chairman Naseem Ashraf” and that’s why he was made the captain.

Akhtar has also alleged that he was cheated by Shah Rukh Khan and former IPL Chairman Lalit Modi. He states, “Shahrukh and I talked about my not being happy with the money settled on me. Shahrukh and Modi got me to agree. I should have never listened to Modi and Shahrukh.” Akhtar, who retired from cricket following the 2011 World Cup, has also shockingly revealed that he tampered with the ball claiming, “everyone tampers with the ball. I did so too. Tampering should be legalised.”

Source – REUTERS

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Most Controversial Cricket Autobiographies

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Cricket, popularly known as “Gentlemen’s Game” is not devoid of its justifiable share of controversies. Autobiographies of some legendary cricketers arouse untold controversies which staggered and dazed people across the globe. Listed below are a few autobiographies of famous cricketers that stormed the world with controversies.

Herschelle Gibbs

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South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs penned his book “To The Point”. His book talks about drink, drugs sexual orgies and match fixing during his years with the South African team. After reading his book some people still love him and are happy that he has uncovered the dark side of cricket while others have lost total respect and are absolute disgusted. The book not only details his personal experiences and achievements, along with his failures, but it also places a limelight on the demeanor and behaviour of a number of his teammates who he has played with over the years

Adam Gilchrist

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Australian batsman and wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist authored “True Colours” in 2008. The book flew off the shelves for his take at Sachin Tendulkar, who during the Monkeygate racism scandal gave some questionable data against what was supposedly said to India’s Harbhajan Singh. Eliciting events of the Monkeygate controversy, where Harbhajan Singh was accused of racism, Adam lashed out at the off-spinner, Tendulkar and cricket boards of both India and Australia.He also banged officials from both countries, condemning the BCCI of “playing politics” and Cricket Australia and the ICC of “caving in” when the spinner’s original deferment was annihilated.

John Wright

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In 2006, John Wright authored the book “John Wright’s Indian Summers” unfolding his experiences as coach of the Indian Cricket Team along with Indian journalist ShardaUgra and Paul Thomas. His book is rather ironic, as it caused offence among some Indians. The book has not been released in the sub-continent, yet has rapidly been dubbed as controversial. He has prudently abstained from cheap shots and score settling, which often depreciate the appeal of such books. Most disturbing was the answer to Ganguly’s evaporating captaincy. Those who proposed Dravid as captain were seen to despise Ganguly, and those sticking with Ganguly were thus anti-Dravid

Sunil Gavaskar

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“Sunny Days” by Sunil Gavaskar was labeled as pretty courageous for its day. The book was revealed in 1976. Erapalli Prasanna’s One More Over published a year later also had passages that were bound to raise a ruckus. The generally mild-mannered Dilip Doshi surprised one and all by making a no-holds barred attack on Sunil Gavaskar in his autobiography “Spin Punch” released in 1991. Many passages were vitriolic against Gavaskar the man and the captain.

Ian Botham

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Not unexpectedly Ian Botham’s autobiography was explosive. His book “Head On” is admittance to drug misuse and playing entirely different sort of cricket in the field. The great England all rounder had a standard of living in harmony with his larger than life image and feats on the field. It contained many anecdotes that belonged to the commercial grouping including the charge that Pakistan bowlers interfered with the ball. Of course his admittance that he smoked marijuana also ensured that the book would be a best seller.

Jim Laker

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One can easily dwell upon what uproar Jim Laker’s autobiography “Over To Me” released in 1960 beget. The great England off spinner really hit out at all. It manifolds and exposed personal episodes that should not in general have found their way in print. The book is stenched of resentment and anger. While reviewing it, John Arlott behold that it was a pity that the book had such a piercingly grave tone by a bowler with 193 wickets in 46 Tests, esteemed as possibly the best off spinner of all time and holder of the famous 19 for 90 record at Old Trafford during his Golden Summer of 1956, certainly had a better time in the game than the book suggested. The book got him into trouble with both MCC and Surrey, his county.

Ian Meckiff

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When Ian Meckiff came out with his autobiography “Thrown Out” it was anticipated to lift up a hornet’s nest and it did. Meckiff presented himself as a sacrificial victim and had unflattering things about many cricketers of his time, and the fact remained that he had a divisive mindset. In the end with he was called for throwing by an Australian umpire and retired from the game.

Kapil Dev

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He has written three autobiographical works. “By God’s Decree” in 1985, “Cricket my Style” in 1987 and his most recent autobiography, titled “Straight from the Heart” in 2004. Kapil said, “I have nothing to hide. I have no worries. In my book, I’ve said what I think of my life, my family, my friends, teammates, the cricket board and the media.”

The Last Match of the Great Wall

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As the whole world watches, amidst the thunderous applause from the crowd and the players, the man walks past the ground, ending a legendary era of class, passion, and rectitude in the game of cricket – a scene best wished for The Wall of Indian Cricket, Rahul Dravid as he plays his last ODI match. He is a man the world adores for his skills and techniques, but the real worth of the great cricketer has often been hidden in the shadow of his contemporary legends, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

Rahul - The Wall

What will his absence mean to the world cricket? We are going to miss the graceful flicks, the breathtaking timings, and the poetry in motion on the crease – those standards of cricketing fast vanishing from the game in this new era of unorthodoxy and pinch hitters. He epitomized the test cricket and played the role of India’s ‘go-to man’ in pressure situations. Nearing the end of an embarrassing two-month England series in which victory looked far ahead of Team India, Dravid’s exit from ODIs will definitely leave a void in the squad, the dependability factor which many wonder if any can fill.

The Wall of India

Great talents cannot be hidden and so was Dravid’s who was spotted by former cricketers seeing an amazingly skillful kid scoring a century on debut for his school team. Fondly called Jammy by his classmates, the Bangalore boy began his cricketing career in his early teens as he represented the state at the under-15, under-17 and under-19 level. He made his one-day debut in 1996 against Sri Lanka replacing the spoiled kid of Indian cricket Vinod Kambli. He mastered the art of this gentleman’s game and lived by it for over 15 years now, a great cricketing saga that can never be erased from the books of cricket. In 2007, he become the third Indian player and the sixth in the world to score 10,000 runs in ODI cricket and with one match to go, he has 10,820 runs from 343 matches to his credit. The 38-year-old right-hander has scored 12 hundreds and 82 fifties.

Records are many but to cite an unusual one, he is the highest scorer to be overlooked for the Man of the Match award. Despite his career best 153 against New Zealand, the MoM went to Sachin Tendulkar for his unbeaten 186. Though a fault of none, he has been overshadowed, not once but many a times, by some of the equally great performance from his contemporary stars. The delight of his debut ODI century in 1997 was sunk at the glory of Saeed Anwar’s then world record of 194.

Mr. Dependable

Against the popular notion, Rahul Dravid holds the record of scoring the second fastest fifty by an Indian in one-day cricket. His 82 fifties in ODI is the second highest by an Indian and the third highest by any in the history of cricket. He has been a part of two of the largest partnerships in world cricket – A 331-run stand with Sachin Tendulkar for the second wicket against New Zealand in 1999 and a 318-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly.

He has always been in the scene, cricket never left him neither he did. His embraced the spirit of the game so tight that he emerged victorious at each falls. And now, as he walks down the crease, one last time in the blue jersey, it bleeds not blue but tears down the eyes of his loyal spectators who loved the glorious game in its entirety.

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Author – Binu Paul,SI