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Unfair umpiring Sir, A lot of hulla-balloo is going on now with the entire Indian media and public up in arms against some umpiring decision in Australia. As if the earth would have turned the other way if Sachin had not been given out so unfairly. All that would have happened is that the end would have come half an hour late. May be an hour at the most. I have reasons to say that. Let us take a look at some fine matches of the past involving Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath and compare them with those with some of recent times, those that involved Sachin and another over rated cricketer. Azharuddin. That should throw light on some misconceived notion and set to rest all disturbance. India v West Indies, 1974-75, 3rd Test, Eden Gardens, Calcutta December 1974, 1 January 1975, Result: West Indies set a target of 309 and were all out for 224. India won by 85 runs. Gundappa Vishwanath scored 52 and 139 in this test match to keep India alive in the Test series. India vs West Indies, 1974-75, 4th Test, Chepauk, Madras January 1975 Result: India won by 100 runs bundling out West Indies to 154 all out chasing a target of 254. Gundappa Vishwanath played a remarkable innings of 97 n.o. in the first innings and pulled up India out of woods from a precarious 117/8 to 190 all out with the help of Bedi (14) and Chandrasekhar (0). West Indies v India, 1975/76, 3rd Test, Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad April 1976 Result: India won by 6 wickets chasing a phenomenal 403 to win, the Indian superstars Gavaskar (102) and Vishwanath (112) set Port of Spain ablaze, India stormed home to 406/4. A score of 400 plus in the fourth innings was achieved only by Bradman and company before this. Australia v India, 1977/78, 5th Test. Adelaide Oval February 1978 (6-day match) Result : Australia won by 47 runs. Match of epic proportions. Set a target of 492, the Indian carved a niche for themselves in history with their effort which left the whole world speechless and sad. For they could getas close as 445 all out. Another great performance from Gundappa Vishwanath with a 89 in the first essay and 73 in the second. Finally what beat the Indians was the heat and the 6th day of the match. Yes it was a six day match. England v India, 1979, 4th Test, Kennington Oval, London September 1979 Result: Match drawn, but not before Sunil Gavaskar played one of the most fantastic innings of his career, 221. India fell short of the target by 9 runs when certain came down on the Test, forcing a draw. The target was 438. Man of the Match: S M Gavaskar and who else. Australia v India, 1980/81, 3rd Test, Melbourne Cricket Ground February 1981 Result : India won by 59 runs Man of the Match : G R Vishwanath. Set a targt of 140, the Australians were skittled out for 81 all out by a fiery Kapil Dev (on pain killers for an torn thigh muscle). But it was Vishwanath who mattered when the chips were down, with a 114 in the first innings and a stubborn 30 which helped India to reach a modest second innings total on a breaking pitch. Compare those performances with the performance of the heroes of Pepsi and Coca-Cola of current times. Players who are claimed as greatest in India. Players who are sometimes even compared with the Don himself. Players who have made their millions through TV ads and by plundering tons and tons of runs in the desert called Sharjah and dead pitches of the sub-continent. Players who score of medicore bowling and assume a mammoth size disproportionate to their skills. Players who don't have a clue when confronted with hotpace on pitches far away from home. Let the statistics speak. India v West Indies, 1994/95, 3rd Test, Mohali, Chandigarh December 1994 Result : West Indies won by 243 runs. India were set 348 to win with plenty of time at their disposal. Everyone thought that Walsh was a mad man when he declared, because we had Sachin, Manjrekar, Sidhu and the redoubtable Azhar. Scoreline was India all out 114. Sachin 10. Sidhu 11 and Azhar 5. All that happened was that the ball started to bounce a bit. But there were no Holdings and Roberts. No Marshalls and Garners. But just a Benjamin and a Walsh. South Africa v India, 1996/97, Ist Test, Kingsmead, Durban December 1996 Result: South Africa won by 328 runs. Set a score of 395, how much did India score, 66 all out. Azhar 8 and Sachin 4. How much did India score in the first innings. 100 all out Sachin 15 and Azhar 15. West Indies v India, 1996/97, 3rd Test, Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados Match 1997 Result : West Indies won by 38 runs. We had to score just 120 runs. And how much did we get to 81 all out. Sachin 4, Azhar 9. Pakistan in India, 1998/99, 1st Test India vs Pakistan, M A Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai January 1999 Result : Pakistan won by 12 runs. This is the only test match in my opinion where Sachin lived up to his reputation of the best batsman in the world. Chasing a score of 271 to win India were all out for 258 and Sachin scored a magnificient 136. Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 1999/00, 1st Test Australia v India. Adelaide Oval, December 1999 Result: Australia won by 285 runs. This is recent memory. India all out 110. Everybody is talking about Sachin's dismissal, as if he would have made all the difference. For those who do not know of his achievements in similar situations please see his record I have given above. You will know for sure that it would not have made any difference if Sachin were not given out under the circumstances. Compare this with the effort of the 1978 team at the same Adelaide Oval, you will know the difference. Remember, there are no Lillees and Thomsons and Pascoes now. What is striking though in all of these matches involving the current lot of Pepsi and Coca-Cola stars is that they get close to either side of 100. That is why I consider Vishwanath and Gavaskar miles and miles ahead of even Sachin. I give Sachin no chance against Lillee. Thomsons, Holding, Roberts, Garner, Croft, Marshall, Botham, Wills, Hadlee and Imran. Not a chance. Besides, where are such bowlers today. Akram, would be last in that list. Donald, would be next to Akram. Vishy and Sunil played those great fast bowlers in their peak of their careers, when they cold run down any team twice in a day on occasions; and played them in great style. Let the younger generation know that posing for Pepsi and Coke is not cricket. The game is played in the middle when the heat is on. And some men come out as heroes and some as zeroes. Yours etc... |
