Years ago I saw Michael Jordan’s last ever 40 point game. It was when he was with the Wizards. By halfway through the 3rd term it became obvious that no one in the stadium gave a shit about the result of the game.
They were all there for Jordan, and since he was putting on a vintage display, the game just faded away.
I have no idea what the result of the game was. I do remember some of Jordan’s reverse lay ups, some fade aways, and him pick pocketing Jason Kidd. After the game we got back to our Hostel and there were about 40 people with Jordan singlets on.
I can only image that is what people will feel like today. Some people might remember the game, but even with Australia winning this becomes Sachin’s game.
When Sachin caught White off the last ball of the innings, he threw the ball into the ground in a very pissed off manner. He knew India had played pretty ordinary to let Australia score 350.
Sachin wasn’t the only one, Dhoni ran off the ground without his team mates, Yuvraj and Praveen Kumar were still in conversation about a piece of lazy assed fielding. The senior players knew that they had been gifted a weak Australian side and they were in danger of losing.
Sehwag batted as he always does. Gautam City looked in an odd mood. Neither Dhoni or Yuvraj seemed quite on it. Raina had a lot of luck, but eventually went out to an ugly shot. Bhajji never got started. Jadeja kept pusihing the limits of sensible running. Praveen tried his hardest. Ashish and Patel were never going to get it done.
Those were the ten dudes. A collection of shit hot batsmen who were made to look like dribbling fools compared to Sachin.
He scored over half the runs, passed some unimportant milestone, seemed to be dragging Raina and Jadeja by the neck like kittens, and then eventually went out to a shot that wasn’t even thought of when he started playing.
India didn’t deserve to win, but Sachin did. I wanted him to make 200 and win the game, but he came up short and had pretty much no help at all.
I could go on about his innings, but he said it best.
“I was striking the ball pretty well”.
Yes, you were.
Its A Genius Playing A Genius inning…..I Think No on have the rite to blame him saying he did not finish the match…..come on man….think like humans…he has fielded for 50 overs( did u luk at the last ball of the aus innings..after 49.5 overs)..and came in to bat….batted for 47 overs…he is phenomenon… u know wat’s his age 36….o my god….the match will be remeberd for his outstanding effected..i will not be surprised…if any one says that its the halite of the entire series… did u listen to the roar after he reached 17000 runs…did u see the people tension when he was in 16999… i started watching cricket for the past 15 to 16 years and i have never listed to a roar like this…..i was there in the stadium watch it….boy….i was not able to listen to anything for 10 to 15 min…after the roar was completed…..
and about the tactics……
i thought his move of delaying the powerplay ’til the 45th over (or thereabouts) was brilliant. Not only did it allow a youngster like Jadeja the opportunity to play some big shots under favorable field restrictions, but it also ensured that India’s pitiful tailenders could win the game in the event of a collapse. That’s the kind of tactical thinking you can’t capture with stats….
he is amazing….
i left the ground after he was out….
look fact of the matter is we fucking lost and we fucking lack balls. It was as much sachin’s fault as it was the fault of the other 10 high priced douchebags. He had all the shots in the world and he got out to that fucking shot.
I dont give a fuck about his 175, what is he gonna do abt it, lick his bat ? we lost and the series is at 3-2 (well done aussies). I have a new found respect for you assholes. As a hardcore Indian fan, I loved any Indian team even the Md. Azhar team of the 90′s which was the most pathetic depressing team ever. The love was hardcore and the hate is gonna be even worse. great job Indian team for putting off a well-meaning, over the top supporter who was there for you even in the darkest hours.
I dont wanna hear any Indian cricketer or Indian supporter saying “oh but we tried”…seriously that is the most insipid, weak argument. our players looks like helpless strippers in front of this white motherfucking alpha males.
I like the aussies now, they are big, tough, and fight like pitbulls on crack. Am I gonna support them ? NO, since I made a life pact of only supporting my team. But after yesterday, I am losing interest in cricket altogether.
fuck you motherfuckers, I vow to never ever watch a live game, involving India anyways.
SACHIN, Dhoni, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvray, Bhajji, praveen, Ashish, I hope someone rapes your mothers to death. Raina is still my boy.
Nothing wrong with the pakistani supporter pointing out that Sachin never quite finishes…he has all the rights to say whatever the fuck he wants. He is actually right. Its like a great session in bed and finally no fucking orgasm…..what was the fucking point in the marathon foreplay session.
I have had too much of the Indian team affecting my libido, I suppose if I dont watch them, I can maintain my rod.
on the side note, any girls on this motherfucker ?
I am pretty sure “Saurav Ganguly” (the one in this blog, not the famous one) will be infront of the TV come tomo morning 9 AM ;-) He cares so much about watching the game and Ind that it makes him swear online and makes him come back to a cricket site and post his opinion after almost two days. BTW, you know what he was doing last 1.5 days? mourning India’s loss… This is a typical die hard Indian cricket fan unable to take the loss. Grow up my dear, after all this is a game of cricket…
@Bansi brahmin: As a fellow Indian, I take strong exception to your vitriolic response to Pakistani cricket buffs. There are idiots in every country who speak rubbish, but surely you don’t need to insult the entire nation for it. Especially when there are others like “karachikhatmal” who make some interesting points. And frankly, if in the 21st century we sportsfans can’t rise above jingoism, then how pathetic is the modern man???
@poopsie: No mate, all Indians are not hysterical SRT fans. Most of us are very much capable of appreciating quality, regardless of national origin (which is why the Don used to receive tons of fanmail from India, and why there are die-hard fans of Lara, Gilly, Steve Waugh too). And equally capable of criticizing SRT…though sometimes unfairly, which is perhaps why many Indians cite his failure in the 2003 WC final, rather than Ponting’s excellent knock while reminiscing. But mate, I stand by my point that THIS match will be remembered in the future for Sachin’s thrilling solo, and for what 1 great player almost achieved against the fighting Aussies! And it is not to wilfully undermine the fine efforts of Watson, Marsh, et al…it is just to acknowledge what riveted us to this match.
listen up motherfucking Satyajit, first of all dont call me “dear”, seriously that is GAY.
and I am a typical average Indian cricket fan with my mind and heart only in one direction – INDIA. I have no shame admitting that my life revolves around cricket. you know why you are so passive abt it ?
bcoz u cant play cricket, have never played cricket and are genrally apathetic and non passionate abt anything in general.
where are your balls DEAR ?
MR. WEBMASTER: Is it possible to get rid of this dipshit hiding behind “Sourav Ganguly’s” name? Hey dipshit…if you are so diehard about INDIA, stop humiliating your country with your psycho verbiage.
Another Observer, this blog comments are accepted on free speech on the basis that if you let an idiot talk he will make more of an ass of himself, and because i can’t be bothered deleting comments.
“Saurav Ganguly”, is that made up name or a real one? bcoz you unwittingly turnish the good name of a very dear cricketer (not you). I don’t get offended as you are immature and stupid (just like a 3 year old kid picking up a swear word from an elder person and telling you that doen’t matter much). And yes, you need to grow up, just like Ravindra Jadeja who got himself runout in the stupidest manner 2nd time in the series (out of 3 times he got batting maybe). The kid has talent, but he lacks temperament. Coming back to you, I know you don’t have any sort of talent, and your temperament is showing up…
@Satyajit: Many thanks mate, on behalf of sane fellow Indians!
not had your old balls fondled lately Satyajit ?
seriously passiveness brings u to the line, but u dont cross it. (good on ya aussies, I say)
I bet you also suffer from a massice case of “what ifs…” I bet your sex drive is less than the middle Jonas kid. stop being preachy and face the fact. dont sugarcoat and try to look for throwdowns, that is just annoying.
listen to “you dont know me like that” by Ludacris, I cant be bothered arguing with old hacks like you.
@Saurav (the one in this blog), ok I cann’t go down to your level. Neither would my upbringing would allow me to do so. But lets see if you are really man enough, just live up to your words: “I vow to never ever watch a live game, involving India anyways.” Deal?
who the fuck are you for me to even make a deal with you. I will not watch it for a lifetime or even watch it after a week.
I wrote a blog and notice how you are the only under-confident ass to reply. notice how the other folks took a glance and walked away dismissing it as a piece of crap blog that is it.
Mind your own business and you will actually get laid someday, there I have disclosed the secret of life.
now off you go.
@Saurav, it’s nincompoops like you who make sane people like me preachy. It’s the typical non-commitment for anything from young indians like you that makes us weak. Look at the Aussies. The whole team is so committed regardless of their age/experience. They are covering up their ability with the commitment they have. While the other 10 dudes are far better than people like you but still they suffer from short bursts of commitment phobia.
P.S: you are nobody to tell me whether I post in this blog or not
SPOT ON!!
The ONLY reason Lara,Ponting etc are even in the same FRAME as Tendulkar is because of the period from 2003-07, when Tendulkar suffered from continous injuries, while ALL (repeat ALL ) batsmen were scoring OBSCENE runs in the easiest batting conditions in history.In fact, we have probably missed out on the BEST of Tendulkar (from age 30-34) incredible tho this may seem!!!
Till 2003, Tendulkar was miles above the pack. Even, now from 07/08 onwards,-aching body and all- he is still the KING!!
Who cares abt winning or losing ?I was crying for sachin only
he inspired me to do hard work
i salute him
i love u sachin
enjoyed reading.
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.-= Kartikey´s last blog ..Conversations on India—Staying Original =-.
fabulous responses by all and thanks to the blog for bringing it out.
as a sachin fan i have been over zealous at times in praise and vice versa but very objectively speaking, i think i have come to the distinction between someone who is a finisher and someone who sets up a match.
there was an interesting article the other day on players who have scored the max proportion of runs for their team and sachin had something like 19% and the next closest was ganguly with 16 odd the aussies had three people on that list – hayden gilly and ponting..
its no secret ODIs are batsmen dominated and the fact that the 3 ozzies are there tells a lot about their success over the past decade.
i think this debate would not have existed if he had made 80 odd and india had fizzled out for 240 odd.
the irony is that he made the mistake of giving us hope. if thats a crime, then thats just not being a sport or loving a particular sport with equanimity.
the fact is modern day cricket matches (even odis or tests) will be won by the team that has better fielders and better bowlers.
i think there is no doubt about which team of the two has those.
@karachikhatmal : I hear you. However, you have to to take into account, Sachin is an opener. Its awfully unfair to expect him to open the innings and finish the game on his own. If the others are “brain fucked” for their lives, it isnt his fault.
P.S : Which chennai test???? I am sorry that does not ring a bell……:)
Aussies will never understand why Indians feel this way for Tendulkar. You guys have never been in a position to cheer a side where only a couple of guys are actually trying to make a differance. The 1990s was not a great period for Indian fans considering the way the Indian players were humiliated and fucked overseas…except for one (not counting Dravid and Dada since they matured and started kicking ass in the early 2000s). When Tendulkar played, we dreamed of the Indian side competing with the best as equals. When he got out, it was back to being kicked on the nuts. Hence the extra pressure and love for him.
Him being called a bad finisher makes me laugh. A team game like cricket needs everyone to chip. Yesterday, apart from Raina and Sehwag, who chipped in? Great “finishers” like Bevan always had company at the other end (eg: Andy Bichel in WC 2003 against England). Tendulkar rarely had it. When he did have it, he did finish it (eg: with Yuvraj against England – Test match 1 in 2008).
What a game !!
Would have been great if we had won .. but yeah, as you said, such play makes results just a footnote.
The day Tendlya retires would be the end of the world.
jrod…point taken. And excellent piece man!
@RT: “the irony is that he made the mistake of giving us hope. if thats a crime, then thats just not being a sport or loving a particular sport with equanimity.”
Really well said!
The other thing that folks don’t seem to realize when they say “he got 175, but India lost by 3 runs…so what’s the big deal?” is the INSPIRATION VALUE of such magnificent efforts. The next time an Indian team is set 350, they will invoke this chase and believe it is possible. In fact, just the way Sunny Gavaskar’s feats are a source of inspiration and self-belief to Tendulkar’s generation of batsmen, SRT has already inspired a Sehwag, besides countless kids all over India…and we’ve now heard of a 12-yr old from Mumbai (Sarfaraz Khan) who just surpassed Sachin’s interschool batting effort and calls Sachin his ‘Guru.’
That is the BIG PICTURE IMPACT of giants like Sachin and Lara…far beyond winning or losing an individual game.
@Gavs, spot on! Sports (and life in general) is not just about winning or losing. I don’t see how the value of the 175 goes down even if India lost. Similarly Chennai 136 (also Gavaskar’s 96 in a losing cause) are all innings of the highest quality and you are priviledged if you see such an innings live! If good news is only thing people care about, then some of the tragedies won’t be considered among greatest pieces of literature. Interestingly I had sort of premonition (or probably just a wish as all these premonitions don’t work all the time :-) ), and I thought Sachin will make 175 in 145 balls. And I also thought Ind will win due to this. He did slightly better (175 in 141) but Ind lost. Apart from that fabulous innings, what really made me feel proud being a fellow country man was what he said during the prize ceremony (he initially looked reluctant to come to the stage). He said “I have passion for the game and I care for my country. I feel priviledged to play for my country for 20 years”. This is what separates him from the rest…
@gavs,fantastic man!!!
Gavs, Vinod and the rest, thank you for illustrating my point so perfectly. Passion and romance is all well and good, but it does not seem to help with winning any silverware. Perhaps the rest of the squad will realise that soon
All that inspiration value doesn’t seem to have much effect on motivating his team – 7/79 at the 30th over.
I hope these weak mofo’s get beaten by 10 wickets, shame and disgrace, please end it soon , someone, anyone.
it will be interesting to see how dhoni will get out of this bitch at the conference ?
surely there is only so many polite diplomatic words u can use to distract attention from such an absurdity.
@ satyajit: I rest my case, these players dont have balls. oh I see, thats why you get along with them.
LOL.Joke of the century.Can you tell me how many matches Lara has finished? One? LOL.
get your head out of your ass…read this article on the net “Tendulkars final onslaught”
AND WHY DONT THE PAKIS GET THE F… OUT OF HERE.
JEALOUS ASSES!!
AND THEY ALL USE PSEUDO NAMES TOO!! THINK WE CANT SEE THROUGHT THEIR CHILDISH JEALOUS BULLSHIT
“Ron” must be Indian – who else could be so charming?
Awesome article… Its true that the match was like any match India played in 90′s… It was Sachin all the way… n Truly he is the best and will always remain my real hero… The day he retires Cricket becomes a distant sport to me..
Why do people have to be so blinking rude? Just because you can hide behind the anonymity of a web alias, it doesn’t make you sound any clever to start with the abuse. It’s just cowardly.
Anyway, what a shock that the Aussies have won the series. I never expected that.
I’m going to keep the chucking thread going just for the hell of it, but I’ll give some biomechanical background on throwing…
Pace bowlers generally start with their two fingers on top of the ball and thumb underneath.
At some point in your action, you actually have to rotate your wrist so that the thumb is on top and the fingers are below – otherwise your arm can’t rotate properly.
Bowlers who bowl with a straight arm do this wrist rotation on or before the arm swings past the hip. If you do it any later than that then you will tend to throw the ball.
Feel free to try this at home, kids – it’s a very simple exercise.
Now Kumar tends to rotate his wrist when he arm is way past the hip – just watch him whenever they show a side shot of him bowling. This means that his arm definitely moves some amount during delivery. This may be <15 degrees in which case, keep doing what you're doing Kumar. If not, then he needs to change it.
http://cricket.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/nov/10/slide-show-1-deepika-padukone-dhoni-sports-awards.htm
and you would think these motherfuckers would be on the ground training like crazy, to redeem themselves, to win it for the country, heck! to win it for themselves. naah, not a chance, lets just go to an award ceremony and have the balls to actually pick up an award.
your coolness, dettachment is misdirected Mr. Dhoni.
Its not that we dont even see that the scoreline is 4-2. Unlike in the past, when your aloofness assured us, it is just downright stupid and fake, irritating too.
Hyderabad was a watershed in Indian cricket history.
read this article: http://cricket.rediff.com/report/2009/nov/10/india-australia-rain-could-play-spoilsport-in-seventh-odi.htm
I am not the only passionate fan to think enough is enough.
To all the fans in Mumbai, spread awarness and boycott going for the live game. let those douches see empty stadium and realize what deep shit they are in.
Go on Aussies, win it for us. win it for cricket.
Steve & poopsie, congrats on the series win. Australia, on recent form, remain the best ODI team. And kudos too to the Aussie cricket system for incredible depth of competitive players.
And Steve, don’t worry mate…the title of the ‘most charming people in the world’ remains with you Aussies! Such a long and impressive track record can’t be surpassed so easily by a few Indian upstarts! :)