Sourav Ganguly has written in a book by Cricinfo as a tribute to Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar for all his contribution to Indian Cricket.
Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly thinks that Sachin Tendulkar was a better captain than he had showed as the circumstances were not so much in favor of him. Ganguly writes in an article featured in ESPNcricinfo’s new anthology, Sachin Tendulkar: The Man Cricket Loved Back.
“He led on some very tough tours – South Africa, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Australia – and it must be said he didn’t lose eight in a row. This when he didn’t have a very good team around him. The older players were fading and the newcomers were too raw” He wrote.
Ganguly led Tendulkar in 143 out of the 341 international matches where they played together. “When it came to being Sachin’s captain, it was about giving him due respect: treating him like a team-mate but also as the special player he was. He was central to the side doing well. He had to feel relaxed and comfortable.”
Ganguly remembered in ODIs 2002-03 Tendulkar had to bat at no 4 which made him unhappy. “You say, please, do it for a short while; of course you’ll be back up, let’s see how long it goes. Once he settled down to the idea and saw it work, it was fine. When things went a bit wobbly at the 2003 World Cup, he was back up straight away.”
The book holds back mark of honor from Tendulkar’s teammates, co players, coaches, along with Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, John Wright and Greg Chappell.
Dravid was recalling how they both had an unfavorable start, when they first time bat in an international, in Singapore in 1996, where Dravid got run out. “It wasn’t a sign of things to come, though,” he says. “Only three of our 143 partnerships in Test cricket would end as run-outs.” This two sensational batsmen played together 391 international matches and able to form a visceral and strong acquaintance between them. “One sure indicator that [Tendulkar] was in good touch was when he played the flick to the leg side,” Dravid writes. “Cricket is a game where you naturally have more fielders on the off side, and especially in limited-overs cricket, bowlers like to bowl tight lines… [Tendulkar] would be on his toes, on top of the bounce, and would often beat midwicket to the fielder’s right. Sometimes he even beat square leg to his right with that flick, not to the full ball but the ones pitched short of a length. That made you marvel from the other end.”
John Wright coached team India from 2000-05, has coached Tendulkar in Mumbai Indians also. He wrote,”A net practice to Sachin was a learning, part of his development as a batsman, which extended to what happened at the game that followed. He was his own coach and his own trainer.” “The time he spent with cricket, he spent with utter focus. [He was] never late – whether for the bus, meetings or nets. It was like going to church or to school; there’s no negotiating those timetables. So it was with Sachin’s training. The nets were his laboratory, his studio, and once there, he immersed himself.”
Greg Chapell, the coach of India after 2005, has showed his excitement when he was asked to write about Tendulkar. “What characterized a Tendulkar innings for me was balance and efficiency,” Chappell wrote “He was rarely rushed, and even the best bowlers found it difficult to keep him quiet for long.” “The cut was my favorite [Tendulkar] shot because he always took the ball at the top of the bounce and struck it with a slightly downward blow, with his weight coming back into the ball. He rarely mistimed the stroke, which says that his reading of length was impeccable.”
This book also consists other players’ observation on Tendulkar techniques like Aakash Chopra, VVS Laxman, Sanjay Manjrekar, Allan Donald, Mukul Keasavan etc.
This book from ESPNcricinfo is going to be published by Penguin Books India and is available as ebook also.