This post is mainly for the people who are saying that Sachin's 100th century isn't that special because it came against Bangladesh. The others who don't think that way can read it and take pleasure in reminiscing all the great moments that this great man has provided over the past 23 years.
First of all, saying that it's not that special because it came against Bangladesh is entirely wrong because Bangladesh are progressing well and they have shown signs of this in the ongoing Asia Cup, coming close to Pakistan's total in the opening game and beating India in their second. In fact their bowling attack is what they rely on to win matches most of the times. Getting a hundred off that attack is not as easy as everyone thinks.
Secondly, there are opinions that when Sachin scores a century India lose which might have been true on so many occasions in the past. But, does that statement mean that Sachin is losing India games by scoring centuries? It doesn't really make sense. Cricket is supposed to be a game where the chances of winning should increase if you score more runs. So, how does scoring 100 runs make you lose the game? However, some might argue that this hundred came off 140 odd balls. But has that always the been the case with Sachin's centuries? He has been scoring at a brisk pace all these years. Saying that his centuries always lose the game for India is not only wrong, it is also equivalent to ridiculing the player's efforts.
Finally, this is for the people who don't believe in words and only in statistics. For me, people who understand only numbers in a game are the people who don't understand the difficulties that one goes through when playing sport. Sport is not about numbers. Sometimes a bowler bowls brilliantly at one end, beating the bat and putting all the pressure on the batsman. But, the bowler at the other end might get the wicket. So, does that mean that the bowler did not try hard enough? Its not true and that is why people who understand only numbers don't really know what exactly is happening on the field. But still, let me put some numbers in front so that Sachin's landmark doesn't get ridiculed just because it came against Bangladesh.
This shows that Sachin has 81% of his centuries against major nations. Even with these numbers, some could argue that West Indies is not that good a side. Subtracting those numbers would give us 74% of his centuries against well established sides, with 20 against Australia. Given that Australia were at the No. 1 spot for almost half the length of his career, one could say that he has achieved something that no cricketer would have aspired to do. 12 centuries against South Africa when they were hovering around No.2 to No.4 spots, 17 against a spirited Sri Lankan bowling attack with Muralitharan spinning the ball a mile and the accurate Chaminda Vaas and 7 against the Pakistan attack which had the reverse swing king pair in Wasim and Waqar are all things that he has done over the past. So let us not forget all those hurdles that were crossed in pain, but with determination just because the last hurdle was a smaller one.
PS: Statistics were obtained from ESPNCricinfo to make these Pie Charts.
A nice thought by ESPNCricinfo to make one such page for this memorable achivement. Do visit it.
Good job Mukund. Very well presented. Sachin without any doubt deserves the appreciation.
ReplyDeleteThanks man.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that centuries no matter what the opposition, its value can be belittled. Century is a century. But in my honest opinion, looking from the Bangladesh perspective, I expected India to score around the 320 mark as they were 154 by the end of the 30th over. Sachin did slow down when he reached the 80's and I was kind of satisfied with the amount of balls he had taken to get to his 100. It did bring down the RR, which is the case with most batsmen before reaching a milestone. But in this game however, there was a point when Sachin played out a maiden to Mashrafe and for 10 successive balls no runs were scored. But he did score a couple of boundaries when he got to his century, but got out soon. According to me, Sachin's SR was one of the factors for India's defeat that day. But the blame and the major factor should definitely go down to the bowlers.
ReplyDeleteIn this match it might have been a little. But generally people say that if he scores a century India lose. That was what I was targeting.
ReplyDelete@maysun : He played slowly ,i agree that point of yours. But this 100 th century mania which is nothing but a sheer pressure on sachin is the reason for that. I personally feel he tried to take advantage of bangladesh team , (which is a progressing team) to get this century.There is nothing wrong in this.No offence on the bangladesh team. Unfortunatley we dint win. I would say there is no harm in wasting 10 balls in relieving this huge pressure.why blame only on him??. what were bowlers doing??. cricket is not a single man game. This century had to be celebrated.
ReplyDeleteSadly it was not.
Read it again, I blamed the bowlers.
DeleteI agreed with ur point of view man. Read it again
DeleteGood article. Very well written.
ReplyDeleteSachin has achieved a great feat, regardless of the opposing team being Bangladesh. Their bowling has improved dramatically lately. I agree about cricket not being just a numbers game. But I have a reason why people think it is. Indians think of it as a numbers game as the "action per ball" is more in cricket than in, say, football. One ball you make in cricket, and you get 2 people running for 2 - 3 runs, at a few other people running helter-skelter to get the ball. All this happens the entire day. But in football, you barely get 5 goals in 90 minutes. It's just not a good bargain! No offense to football, this is just my interpretation why cricket is more popular than other sports.
Also, you are right that there is no relation between Tendulkar scoring a ton and India losing. I think it's just superstition!
About the numbers game, you could say that's why Indians think it is like that. But, I am just trying to say that those who think like that aren't really aware of what it takes to play any sport. They don't understand what exactly is good in sport.
DeleteYes. It takes the attitude which Sachin and a few others have to really excel in the sport.
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