I was startled when one of my friends claimed that Lara/Ponting have played more series altering innings' in the One day format (aka the dying 50-50 over format). Apparently it seems many people have the impression that Sachin has not played enough great knocks in the semi-finals/finals/series-deciding matches. That sounded ridiculous to me. I told him "I can quote atleast 10 knocks in such so-called series altering matches". And I could just quote 10 knocks from my mind without even consulting my favourite StatsGuru. I have arranged it chronologically below.
Criteria : The match must either be a final or a do-or-die game in a tournament that involves 3 or more teams. A do-or-die game would be like a knockout game which is of very high importance and you can go ahead in the tournament only by winning that match.
Sachin was the top scorer and also the bowler with the best economy rate (plus a wicket). I remember this match as Kambli's match because of some of the monstrous shots that he played. Nevertheless, the player of the match + the player of the series was this man !
To me this was the best innings of Sachin Tendulkar in an important match. Most people tend to disagree with me but here is the context. India lost to SA the last 7 times they played in an ODI (and they will lose the 4-5 matches after this one). SA had exceptional bowlers like Donald and De Villiers. Till date I think De Villiers has the best average/runs conceded stat against Sachin Tendulkar. In all the previous matches it really did not matter how much India scored, SA just knocked them down. Symcox coming in at No. 9 is testimony to how deep SA bat. (During the mid nineties all these allrounders like Gillie, Flintoff, Symonds, Dhoni had not proliferated in other teams). Kumble was the man of the match but Sachin's was an equally important contribution. The match was a delight to watch and Yours truly faked illness to miss a half-yearly physics examination just to watch this match :)
Most of you may remember the third final in this series, because of the last 3 runs off 2 balls knocked off by Mr. Hrishikesh Kanitkar who starred in atleast 20 ODI matches just because of these 10 runs that he scored. India chased their first target above 300 in the third final. But the first final is a little known match where Sachin dismantled the Aaqibs and the Mushtaqs to give us the lead. Just in case, it matters he was also the top wicket taker !!
I do not need to say anything about this match. This was the historical sand-storm match where Sachin had Australia on their knees, disposing off their bowling to wherever he fancied. Quite easily, this was considered his best.
Just to prove that his show in the Sharjah was not a fluke! Srilanka were the world champions in 1996 and with the likes of Jayasurya, Aravinda they still were very strong. But Sachin and Sourav had other ideas and they made the THEN longest opening partnership of 220+ runs.
For ardent Sachin fans, I just have to say "Olonga" and this match will immediately spring up to their mind. Zimbabwe were by no means minnows in 1998 and they had the habit of springing up all kinds of surprises. The last time these two sides met, Olonga just ran through the top order and India lost. It was time to show who was the "Badshah of Sharjah" and Sachin rightly put this man to where he belonged. I still remember the way he walked down the track for the first ball that Olonga bowled.
Many of us who followed the 1999 world cup knew how important it was to carry some points to the super-six format of the world cup. No points would mean that even winning all the games of super-six will not guarantee a place in semi-final. India had to beat Pakistan in 2003 world cup to carry some points to super six (Refer the points table to exact scenario/understand why). When Pakistan piled up 270 and had Wasim, Waqar and Akhtar in their ranks, most of my friends went for their dinner and started making plans for the night (assuming India were going to lose this). Thankfully me and some of my friends did not. And we were rewarded with the most audacious strokeplay against the best bowling side in a pitch which was lively !
This was a virtual semi-final where we had to beat New Zealand to meet Australia in the final. Australia were still the world champions and by far one of the most difficult sides to beat. Sachin and Sehwag decimated the attack. Yours truly regrets till date why he did not use the ticket he had for watching this match in the stadium.
This was an important match because Tendulkar was being written off for "losing his charm of early days" and he proved not so against the reigning world champions. Both finals were a delight to watch on very lively pitches :)It is not difficult even for the dimmest of the minds to see that these matches cover almost all grounds across India, Sharjah, South Africa and Australia. They also cover instances where India bat first or chase (which is considered more difficult). Even the bowling attack was not spineless in any of these matches. So Sachin has covered geography, batting vs chasing, grassy vs flat pitches, excellent - good - moderate bowling conditions, time (from 1994 - 2008) in his knocks. On most of these occasions Sachin was the player of the match + player of the series. This also excludes numerous tournaments played between two nations where Sachin single handedly won matches (there by winning us the series). This does not include many matches where Sachin made a second-best or third best contribution or even a very useful helping hand in winning some finals. (Remember the third final in 1998 against Pakistan where Sourav was Man of the Match and Kanitkar struck the winning runs? Well Sachin started it all with 41 off 26 balls at the top before Sourav and RobinSingh took over)
You may also remember that between 1998 and 2002, India did not win about 9 final matches on the trot (after making it to the final in these tournaments). Notably, Sachin did not play in about 4 of these matches.
So to me it is totally wrong and mis-informed to say that Sachin has not made enough contributions in "important" matches. I think he has more instances to show than Lara/Ponting although I do not like such comparisons....
So why did we not win a world cup when he was at his helm between 1992 and 2007? Simply because a world cup is not won by one man. You need to win atleast 10 out of 12 matches and you need good bowlers, good runners and an all round team :). Sachin was the top scorer in 1996 world cup (although Sanath got the Man of the series) and 2003 world cup. He averaged 47+ in 1992 world cup, 87+ in 1996 world cup, 74+ in 1999 world cup and 61+ in 2003 world cup.
Apparently my friend is now not convinced that Sachin has not played enough good knocks in important Test matches. So my next job is to point him to Sachin's "Series changing knocks in test matches in India/abroad"...
