Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting are two of greatest batsmen of their time. These two cricketers find themselves in different kind of pressure during the 2011 World Cup. This pressure is likely to result in these two cricketers failing during the 2011 World Cup. I will discuss the reasons why these two cricketers are likely to fail during 2011 World Cup.
1. Sachin Tendulkar: Sachin Tendulkar has been the best performer from India in the World Cup tournament he has played so far except the first in 1992 when Azharuddin was leading scorer from India. Sachin Tendulkar has never been a part of World Cup winning team despite playing in five editions of the World Cup so far and being one of the leading cricketer all through these years. Sachin Tendulkar will desperately want to win this edition of the World Cup to have at least one big trophy under his belt to show to the World and strengthen his claim as one of the best batsmen of all time. This likely being the last World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar he will be under immense pressure to win the trophy for himself and for his die-hard fans. Sachin always loved being called the best batsman in the World. You need not be a great cricket expert to tell that. Some of the great batsmen of his time who might have been better than him or at least not lesser than him like Lara, Sehwag, Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, and Inzimam have called Sachin Tendulkar as the better batsman whenever they were asked to compare themselves with Sachin Tendulkar. Brian Lara has called Sachin Tendulkar as the better batsman than himself many times, including most recently when he said that Sachin Tendulkar is the Bradman of our generation. But Sachin has never during his entire career ever acknowledged Lara as being the greatest batsman of his time. He has not even called his own team mate and his junior Virender Sehwag as the best in the World at any time or for that matter any other great. What I want to point out is Sachin loves being himself called as the best of them all. Subconsciously in his mind, he will know that some of his great contemporaries have won the World Cup and some of them many times. In order to strengthen his claim to be best of his time, subconsciously he will feel the need for having at least one World Cup under his belt, and that is ultimately likely to add to already existing pressure of playing in front of home crowd. One more factor that could lead to Sachin Tendulkar's failure is that he is approaching 100 of 100s in International Cricketer. Whenever he is approaching a milestone or a record, he often gets stuck or fails. Moreover Sachin is coming back from injury. The one factor that could work in his favor and win the World Cup for him and India is that he has long and supremely talented batting to follow him.
Ricky Ponting: Ricky Ponting finds himself in unfamiliar territory in this edition of the World Cup. He has featured three times in World Cup winning combination and the strongest team taking part in the World Cup. This time the scenario is completely different. He is no longer part of the best side in the tournament. Ricky Ponting finds himself in a situation wherein he is not only looking to defend the World Cup, but defend his own career. His future is on line after the ashes debacle and more so because of his indifferent form with the bat. So it is not only the World Cup at stake this time for Ricky Ponting, but also his career. Hence Ponting will be under immense pressure this time, and is more likely to fail with the bat. Except for Shane Watson and Michael Hussey depending on his form, Ponting does not not have the luxury of playing around some of the greatest batsmen like Gilchrist and Mathew Hayden this time. Spin bowling is likely to play a huge role on the subcontinent pitches, and how Ponting will fare against spin under pressure remains to be seen. Personally I would like to see Ponting play longer and with freedom so that we see the original Ponting that we have been used to in the past.
India has produced World class cricketers throughout the history of the game and more so in the recent times. Let us have a peek at some of the finest Indian cricketers in order of their merit.
1. Kapil Dev: Kapil Dev is the greatest cricketer that India has ever produced. He is the first genuine fast bowler that India has produced after Independence given that Mohammad Nissar's test career almost ended by the time country regained it's independence. Kapil Dev is also the only genuine all-rounder that India has ever produced. Even though Kapil Dev labored to his record 434 wickets towards the end of his career, he was quite a good fast bowler who could run through batting line ups on his day. Beside being the strike bowler, Kapil Dev was also one of the better batsmen in the Indian batting line-up. He was also one of the better fielders in the Indian team. By this time, everyone who follows cricket must have seen on TV his catch to dismiss Vivian Richards in the World Cup final. Some people may wonder if Sachin should have been at No. 1 position. Purely on talent Sachin is no lesser than Kapil Dev. But Kapil Dev brought more value to the Indian team than Sachin did. Kapil Dev played better under pressure than Sachin Tendulkar ever did. Nothing else, but his innings of 175 against Zimbabwe when the team was five down for 17 runs demonstrate his batting skills, his ability to play under pressure and his value as a batsman to the Indian team. In one dayers he has a strike rate of more than 95, which is highest by any Indian batsman, including Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Sehwag, Sachin, and Azharuddin and averages a respectable 23.79 for a batsman who batted in the lower middle order. He has also hit four consecutive sixes in a test against England to save the follow-on when 24 runs were required to save the follow-on with one wicket remaining. To his credit he has eight test hundreds and more than 5000 runs in test cricket. If that was not enough he has also scored a couple of centuries against the might West Indian team of his era. He was rightly chosen as the Indian cricketer of the century by Wisden. Despite such as long and remarkable career, Sachin does not have such sensational feats like scoring 175 after the team was five wickets down or for that matter hitting four sixes to save follow-on when 24 runs were required to save the follow-on with just one wicket remaining. Moreover Kapil Dev was only fast bowler produced by India in around three to four decades. If there was another cricketer whom I would have rated as the greatest Indian cricketer ahead of Kapil Dev, it would have been Yuvraj Singh, but for strange reasons he could not even cement his place in the national test team.
2. Virender Sehwag: Virender Sehwag is the main reason why India currently stands at #1 in the ICC test ranking. Virender Sehwag is the most destructive batsman India has ever produced save Yuvraj Singh in one dayers and third most destructive batsman the World has ever seen after Vivian Richards and Adam Gilchrist with Jaysurya to match him. Virender Sehwag is only the third batsman in the history of the game to have scored a triple hundred twice after Don Bradman and Brian Lara, and that is some company to be with. He nearly became the first and only batsman in the history of the game of cricket to score three third triple hundred, but missed by a handful of runs. One more such innings that sets Sehwag apart from the rest of the India batsmen is his innings against Sri Lanka at Galle when he scored a double hundred and when the match for India when every other Indian batsmen had become a bunny to newest bowling sensation Ajantha Mendis. His blitzkreig 87 in fourth innings in the last hour on the fourth day of the chennai test against England at set up a famous run chase. His first triple hundred has also setup first test series victory in Pakistan. His breathtaking innings against McGrath and company at MCG when he nearly scored a double hundred in a single day of a test match. Given the modest background he hailed from, I do not think he attended special coaching clinics as some of the great batsmen did. On the hindsight he might not have been as successful on the seaming pitches and moving deliveries. Nonetheless, Virender Sehwag is certainly an outstanding cricketer with two triple hundreds to his name, and more so because he is the only Indian batsman to have scored a triple century. I am not at all talking into consideration his bowling skills to rate him at #2 in all time list, although he is as good an off-spin bowler to prompt Bedi to say that Sehwag is the best off-spinner in the Indian team.
3. Sachin Tendulkar: Sachin Tendulkar was a child prodigy who dominated the greatest bowlers of his time. Sachin Tendulkar is one of those batsmen who were equally good at playing against fast bowlers, medium pace bowlers, and spin bowlers. He was equally good at defending as well as attacking. He is one of the greatest one day opening batsman of all time. His elevation to the opening slot in one day games totally transformed his career and he started churning hundreds after hundreds. He was the most consistent batsmen of his time.At the age of 16 he faced bowlers like Wasim, Waqar, Abdul Qadir, and an ageing Imran Khan. A couple of years later he went on to score a 100 against Australia at Perth. Indian cricket fans got a hero to match the likes of Wasim Akram and Imran Khan from their arch-rivals Pakistan. He played some of the most scintillating innings in 1998 in Sharjah and in 2003 World Cup game against Pakistan. He has got many batting records in one day and test cricket that is an attribute to his talent and even more to his longevity in the game. He is one of the best of all time as a batting talent, but as a savior or a fighter he is not among the best. He totally lacked leadership skills, and after a disappointing stint of less than two years as a captain, the captaincy had to be given back to Mohammad Azharuddin. He is definitely not among the best players under pressure. For all his talent and all the hundreds he has scored so far, often take ages to move from 90s to 100s. He has failed the entire series against Sri Lanka when he required just 100 odd runs to go past Lara. Despite all those batting records, he is nowhere near the top of the list of players with highest average in winning matches. These are some of the reasons why he is at #3 and #1 in the list.
4. Sunil Gavaskar: Sunil Gavaskar is the Dilip Kumar of Indian Cricket. Although there have been quite a few talented cricketers in Indian cricket before Sunil Gavaskar, the impact that Sunil Gavaskar had on the Indian cricket was greater than any other cricketer that preceded him. He is considered as the first Indian batsman who was at ease against the genuine fast bowlers. He made runs in plenty on his debut series against the hostile bowlers of West Indies and on the dreaded pitches of West Indies, which were not favorable for batting. It should be also mentioned that none of his innings has come against all those mighty four bowlers operating at the same time. He has scored as many as 13 hundreds against the West Indies, which always had some of the best fast bowlers in their line up during 70s and 80s. Sunil Gavaskar was probably also the first Indian batsman to have a test average in excess of 50. The reason for Sunil Gavaskar being at #4 in this list and not up is that he was a sedate batsman and could not play an attacking game. Despite his reputation of being a slow scorer, he boasts of a hundred scored at a strike rate of more than 100 against West Indies with Malcom Marshall and Michael Holding operating together.
5. Mahender Singh Dhoni: The second greatest wicket-keeper batsman the World has ever seen after Adam Gilchrist, the second genuine Indian all rounder after Kapil Dev as he can find a place in the Indian team just for his batting, and the greatest Indian captain along with Mohammad Azharuddin and may be Pataudi, Mahender Singh Dhoni is certainly one of the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket in the last decade. Dhoni's rise in Indian cricket has been unbelievable. He can anchor an innings like a Javed Miandad or a Michael Bevan and change gears and bat like a Shahid Afridi. To have a Bevanesque average and Afridisque strike rate in one day cricket speaks volumes about the ability of Dhoni. Dhoni with Yuvraj Singh makes the backbone of the Indian one day batting line up. He adds a lot of value to an already strong test line-up. He is leading an Indian side, which boasts of senior and hugely talented cricketers like Sachin, Rahul, Laxman, Sehwag, and Zaheer Khan, and has managed his team-mates quite admirably, although he looks to favor certain players. Dhoni is the classic example of the rags-to-riches story.
6. Mohammad Azharuddin: Mohammad Azharuddin is the greatest Indian fielder and the greatest Indian batsman against spin bowling. Though he was susceptible against sheer pace, he handled the fast bowlers reasonably well throughout his career, and was at times destructive with the bat. He held the record for the fastest hundred in one day Internationals for a long time before it was broken by none less than Sanath Jaysurya himself, and subsequently by Shahid Afridi. His record for fastest hundred in one day International by an Indian batsman remained for a longer time before it was eventually bettered by Virender Sehwag with a margin of two deliveries. The fastest one day International by Mohammad Azharuddin was scored while chasing. Mohammad Azharuddin was the backbone of the Indian batting line up especially in one dayers thoughout the late 80s and 90s, but in the later part of 1990 Sachin stole the show after being promoted as an opener in one day International. Mohammad Azharuddin also has some of the fastest hundreds by an Indian batsmen in test cricket. He also has an entry in the list of most productive batsmen in a single over in one day Internationals. Mohammad Azharuddin was equally good in all formats of the game. Mohammad Azharuddin is probably also the greatest captain that India has ever produced along with Pataudi and Dhoni. It was his decision to promote Sachin as an opener that saw Sachin contribute a lot more than he was doing in the middle over. Azharuddin also used Sachin Tendulkar more productively as a bowler. Cricketers like Sachin, Kumble, Rahul Dravid, and Laxman flourished under Azhar's leadership. Mohammad Azharuddin was an exceptional fielder, and he was exceptional at all fielding positions. Mohammad Azharuddin also played best under pressure. He carried India through many times after the team lost early wickets, especially during the 80s and early 90s. People remember Javed Miandad, Steve Waugh, Inzimam, Bevan, and Dhoni in recent times for playing great innings under pressure. Azharuddin also played many such innings during his career.
7. Yuvraj Singh: It is a pity that a cricketer as hugely talented as Yuvraj Singh did not play test cricket regularly for the Indian team. I wonder how he did not merit a place in an Indian team, which had a Sourav Ganguly playing at the same time when he was on fringes. Yuvraj Singh is one of the finest batsmen and most effective batsmen the World has ever seen. I would have picked Yuvraj Singh ahead of Sourav Ganguly even if Yuvraj Singh had failed for five consecutive innings. May be Sourav was persisted ahead of Yuvraj because no one else was prepared to take up the captaincy of the Indian team at that time. I think a Yuvraj singh would have been worth two players in the Indian team, Sourav Ganguly plus Harbhajan Singh. If Yuvraj Singh was persisted continuously in the test batting line up, he would have definitely succeeded as much as he did in one dayers. Moreover he could have doubled as a more useful than regular Indian spinners who are effective mostly on the fourth and fifth day of the test matches. Leave Yuvraj Singh alone, I would have played Mohammad Kaif ahead of Sourav Ganguly. Had Yuvraj Singh been properly handled in test cricket and was persisted regularly in test cricket he would have established himself as the greatest Indian cricketer of all time. He is the most naturally talented Indian cricketer to have ever played the game of cricket ahead of everybody above him in the list. Yuvraj Singh has the ability to change the game in the matter of the moments like Virender Sehwag. Yuvraj Singh was responsible for guiding an Indian chase together with Mohammad Kaif when India was chasing 325 in final against England in Natwest trophy to win the cup. I have never seen Sachin play such an innings like Yuvraj and Kaif did in the final of the Natwest trophy chasing 325 after India was 5 down with 100 odd runs. This is also one of the few one day finals that India actually won in the last decade. Yuvraj Singh is also one of the three greatest Indian fielders of all time along with Mohammad Azharuddin and Mohammad Kaif. His six sixes in T20 World Cup were breathtaking to say the least. Nonetheless, Yuvraj Singh is greatest one day batsman India has ever produced and one of the ten greatest one day batsman in the world of all time.
8. Vijay Hazare: Vijay Hazare was the first Indian batting sensation who has many first to his credit. He was the first Indian batsman to score a hundred in each innings of a test match. He was also the first to score 50 first class hundreds. He is the first Indian batsman to score a triple hundred in first class cricket as Duleepsinjhi was considered an English cricketer. He is also the first Indian batsman to score a century in three consecutive test matches. He also led Indian team to their first test victory. In a nutshell, first Indian batting superstar who put Indian batsmanship on the World map. If all that was not enough, he was a useful medium pace bowler.
9. Rahul Dravid: Rahul Dravid is India's all-time best batsman on foreign pitches especially during the first half of his career when the pitches were still hostile. During the last seven to eight years, even the pitches in countries like Australia and West Indies have flattened out. For the first 12 years of his career, Rahul Dravid was India's best test batsman providing great stability at #3. He was averaging more than any other Indian cricketer ever did before his form dipped in the last couple of years. Rahul Dravid is a batsman in the mould of Sunil Gavaskar and Hanif Mohammad to have achieved such dizzy heights in test cricket with his sound technique and serene batting, and for his sound defensive technique he was nicknamed 'Wall'. He was quite a wall with canons like Sehwag and others in the team. Even though his batting was not quite compatible with one day format of the game, he still had remarkable success in the format with more than 10, 000 runs to his credit. I think his job in one day cricket was made easy with such attacking batsmen around him like Yuvraj, Sehwag, Dhoni and Sachin, and for initial years Sachin, Azharuddin, Sidhu, and Ajay Jadeja. Even as one wondered if he was good enough to play one day format, he adapted himself to demands of T20 and was considered good enough to merit a place in IPL team. Rahul Dravid is a determined and committed cricketers. He achieved more than his talent. His success is test cricket is not surprising, but his success in one day cricket is a tribute to his determination and commitment. He held the most number of catches in the history of test cricket even though he is not even the best Indian fielder of all time.
10. Zaheer Khan/Mohammad Nissar: After Sehwag, Zaheer Khan is the main reason for India being #1 in the ICC test ranking. Mohammad Nissar, Zaheer Khan, and Kapil Dev are the three best fast bowlers India has ever produced. Mohammad Nissar was faster than both Kapil Dev and Zaheer Khan and was probably the best fast bowler India has produced, but he has not played long enough to make a concrete judgment. Still Mohammad Nissar was good enough to be regarded as one of the three best bowlers India has ever produced. In the recent times, Zaheer Khan is the only bowler who could make a contribution of the class of Kapil Dev to the Indian team. Zaheer Khan provides crucial breakthrough at the top of the order and puts pressure on the opposition. He has made job of the Indian spinners easier by snatching crucial breakthroughs at the top of the order. He has contributed significantly in many famous Indian wins in the recent times, especially the series win against England in England. Zaheer Khan gave balance to the Indian team, which is packed with star batsmen.
11. Anil Kumble: The greatest Indian bowler on the 4th and 5th day of the test match on the Indian pitches or for that matter the best Indian bowler in any format of the game on a broken or spin-friendly pitches. Even though Anil Kumble is considered as the greatest match winner India has produced by experts like Ajay Jadeja and similar-minded people, those match winning efforts came only on the 4th and 5th day of the test matches after the Indian batsmen have compiled huge scores and put the opposition in absolute pressure. He has not been as effective and many times ineffective on the first two or three days of a test match. Similarly he was not lethal on the foreign pitches even on the 4th and 5th days barring few instances when he helped India win matches. Yes, he has won matches for India, but only after Indian batsmen have piled up huge scores in the first innings. He has not run through the batting line ups in one day cricket except once against West Indies in the Final of the Hero Honda cup when the pitch was assisting the spin bowling. There have been only a dozen of instances throughout his one day career when he took 4 or more wickets. These are the reasons why is a great Indian bowler, but not greatest of all the Indian bowlers.
12. V. V. S. Laxman: One of the finest test batsmen India has ever produced. Laxman produced his best when the chips were down and against the best team of his time. V.V.S. Laxman's feats against the Australian team are legendary. He played one of the best innings after following on. That innings of 281 is one of the best rearguards actions after Hanif Mohammad's marathon effort of 337 against West Indies. Laxman played many gem of knocks that either saved the test for India or won from the situation of no hope. V.V.S. Laxman was another stylist like Mohammad Azharuddin and Gundappa Vishwanth. Although he is one of the greatest test batsmen that India has ever produced, he could not adjust to the demands of shorter formats of the game like one day cricket and could not survive in one day cricket long enough, and was probably not good enough a fielder.
13. Gundappa Vishwanth: Gundappa Vishwanath was one of India's best batsmen when the chips were down. Gundappa Vishwanth's career, though shorter to Sunil Gavaskar, ran parallel with that of Sunil Gavaskar and he was the best Indian batsman along with Sunil Gavaskar during 1970s and a couple of more years on either side of 1970s. Gundappa Vishwanth scored 14 test hundreds and none of his hundred came in a lost cause. Gundappa Vishwanath also played some gem of the innings, which were less than a hundred, but much more in significance than most of the 100s, like his 97 out of a total 190 scored by the entire Indian team against a bowling unit, which featured Andy Roberts. Gundappa Vishwanath was equally adept at playing both spin and pace bowling.
14. Vinoo Mankad: The first genuine all rounder of India, Vinoo Mankad was a potent batsman and an equally potent bowler. He was the fastest to a double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets until it was bettered by Ian Botham. He has the unique record of being one of only three batsmen to have batted in every position from the top to bottom of the batting line-up. In a test career spanning 44 test matches, he has 11 scores of more than 50, five of them more than 100 with a highest score of 231 with an batting average of 31.47. He also claimed 162 wickets featuring 8 five-wicket hauls with his best being 8/52.
15. Bishen Singh Bedi: Bishen Singh Bedi was probably Sunil Gavaskar of Indian spin bowling. Bishen Singh Bedi is considered by many as the best left off spin bowler of all time and arguably the best India has produced. He is the only spinner from India to make to the ESPN legends of cricket series. He could bowl at different pace, vary the loop, alter the spin, and deceive in flight. He would entice the batsmen and bamboozle them. He was deceptive and innovative. He was a dependable wicket taker for India for a long time. To his credit he has 266 wickets from 67 test matches and 1560 first class wickets from 370 first class matches.
16. C.K. Nayudu: C.K. Nayudu was probably the Gary Sobers of Indian cricket. C.K. Nayudu was an attacking batsman and a useful bowler. In mood, he could bat like an Afridi and at the same had the ability to play long innings. He bowled medium pace and was good enough with the ball to make crucial breakthroughs. He was also a dependable fielder. He was a perfect blend for shorter format of the game and would have been a popular star if he was born in this TV and Internet generation. In fact, he was a crowd puller in his own right during his time, bringing the people from different spheres of life to the ground.
17. Vijay Merchant: A test batting average of 47.72, a first class batting average of 71.64 with 45 first class hundreds catapults Vijay Merchant as one of the all-time batting greats. Vijay Merchant had an exquisite collection of delightful strokes in his batting armoury. He was documented to have not beaten by a new ball and was a technician like a Sunil Gavaskar or a Rahul Dravid. He also had an appetite for big scores and has 11 scores of more than 200 to his credit. He was also a useful off-spin bowler.
18. Subhas Gupte: Subhash Gupte was one of the finest leg spinner to have played cricket and the best leg spinner India has ever produced on par with Anil Kumble. Among his strengths were two googlies, exemplary line and length, prodigious spin of the ball, flight of the ball in the air, and of course deception. He grabbed 149 test wickets from 36 test matches and 530 wickets from 115 first class encounters.
19. Gautam Gambhir: After Sehwag and Zaheer Khan, and on par with V.V.S. Laxman, Gautam Gambhir has played a major role in India becoming #1 in ICC test rankings and sustaining there for as long as they have done. Gautam Gambhir has one of the most consistent contributors over the last four to five years across all formats of the game. In fact, he forms the best opening pair currently in the world with Sehwag. It is the contribution of these players that has let Sachin Tendulkar play his own game. Gautam Gambhir is an accomplished batsman against both fast and spin bowling. He is capable of playing attacking and waiting game. He has scored five hundreds in five consecutive test matches. He has played match winning as well as match saving innings barely four to five years in his career.
20. Dilip Vengsarkar: Dilip Vengsarkar was a dependable Indian batsman during the late 1970 and 1980s. As a batsman during his career he was next only to Gavaskar, Vishwanath, and Azharuddin. Dilip Vengsarkar was a good driver, puller, and hooker of the ball. He was one of those Indian batsmen whose proficiency was at the same level in both formats of the game. At one point of his career around 1986 when he was at peak of his career, he was one of the most productive batsmen in the world. He has scored six hundreds against the mighty West Indies. He also has a unique feat of scoring a hundred in each of three consecutive test at Lords on three different occasions.
