The Jury Is Out (yet again)

The Jury is out ladies n gentlemen.. Sachin has yet again "failed" much to the merriment of all the naysayers who must be shouting from rooftops.. "Told U So" (Indirectly implying, hey look at "Me" I am so smart..)

But exactly who is this "Me". Herez a small sketch of this "Me",

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An average middleclass armchair cricket buff, who's only noteworthy
achievement in life wud be to cram few Textbooks.. tread on2 the "safe" educational streams of Science,Commerce, Arts..4 yrs in the "safe" confines of Classrooms.. Armed with a "safe" Paper degree this Desi John Doe is then known to embark on2 a "safe" career path.. Follwed by a Safe (as in Arranged Marriage mostly) Matrimony.. End of Safe Life Story.
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I am harping on the "Safe" part coz when this Desi John sits in front of a TV to watch his favourite game of cricket,this safety first approach is thrown out of window.He has this sudden rush of blood & bravery,He brands Sachin, who scored a 94 at an average of 46.53, as coward & selfish.

Sachin,a guy who plays only for record..Someone said yesterday..from ball 1 , he had century nbr 35 on his mind. Well if U go by cold statistics alone,then this may appear as true..Zero to 50 in 80 Balls.. 50 to 94 in 122 Balls... But is Cricket so Elementary ??

Okay I must admit I didn't watch the match..but some reports on Cricinfo hinted that Pakistan team resorted to negative tacticts once they realized that they can't stem the flow of runs..For better part of Day-3 Paki Seam bowlers resorted to generous doses of bouncers & widish deliveries..The leg spinner was asked to bowl negative line by making him bowl round the wicket. The 7/2 field was changed to 5/4 with just a lone slip. But then who cares for such seemingly irrelevant details ??

Paki game plan apparantly succeded to some extent.It doesn't help to have guys like Saurav,VVS who just don't know how to tap the ball round the corner & run for a cheeky single..thereby keeping the strike rotating & forcing the bowler to think or try a different line..

Sachin who apparently had not held a bat in his hand for over two months(tennis elbow)..comes back in2 a Test Match & scores at a decent clip..While these so called Match Winners just scrach around aimlessly.(Saurav strike rate 28.38 ... VVS strike rate 38.37).

But who gets the flak at the end of day ?? Sachin..This guy has become victim of his own success. If U take out the name of Sachin against the runs he scored yest & put those runs against some other players name,it wud be considered as a decent performance.. But when U see Sachin's name against that score.. it somehow comes across as an below par selfish safe performance..

Damn if he did.. Damn if he didn't.Well I am not going to deny the wicked pleasure that some of U Sachin bashers might get in putting a great man down.Well perhaps thats Ur only chance in life in coming close with True Greatness.