The criticism against Sachin Tendulkar might be mounting rapidly after a string of poor performances but his former India teammate Rahul Dravid feels the senior batsman is needed more than ever now.
“India needs him now more than ever. At 1-1 in a tight series, it’s going to be very important for senior players to stand up and who better than Sachin to do that,” Dravid was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo.
Tendulkar’s poor form has put question marks over his place in the side and former players such as Sunil Gavaskar have urged him to discuss his plans with selectors but Dravid feels the 39-year-old is still very much needed by the side.
“I thought he was a little scratchy and looked a little under-prepared against New Zealand. Here, I know it seems strange to say after he’s had three failures, but he’s actually looking quite good.
“He’s played a couple of straight drives, he’s played a couple of shots that when I was playing with him, you knew he was playing well if he was playing those shots,” he said.
“He’ll be disappointed with the shot he played to get out in Ahmedabad on a relatively flatter wicket, and then to see other people score runs,” Dravid said.
“Here, he was a bit unlucky: the first ball that really spun on the first morning was the one that got him. Until then there weren’t too many balls spinning. And then he played for the spin in the second innings and the ball straightened on a track on which every ball was spinning,” Dravid added.
Dravid said the crushing defeat in Mumbai could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for India as players would work harder.
“I think that’s a blessing in disguise from India’s point of view. They might have to work harder for the wins but it’ll also give their batsmen a chance to be able to put up big scores, and to be able to show they are good players of spin,” he said.
Dravid said skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will have to reconsider his bowling options ahead of the third Test starting on December 5 in Kolkata.
“He’s going to have to relook at his combination, simply because it’s going to be difficult to manage three spinners and especially having Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag in the side who can also bowl spin.
“The combination they had in Ahmedabad was the best one, where they had two seamers and two spinners. Hopefully we’ll see a normal Kolkata wicket,” he said.
“India has a great record in Kolkata, we’ve had a lot of success in Kolkata, because it is a typical sub-continental wicket. As it starts off, you can play your shots, there is something in it for the fast bowlers but it does spin.”
Keywords: Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid, India-England test series
Sachin is not a machine as is assumed by talkative Dravid.Machine can be oiled and repaired and put to work for output. Sachin is a human being and with advancement of age,a human being necessarily looses stamina,strength and vitality.Mind can say many things, but, physically, a human being is limited by age.
Why has Pointing retired ? It is because of age and loss of strength and stamina to continue to play with success. Sachin should retire and he is old now in context of cricket ............................
Dravid, bro. Please don't put more pressure on Sachin. Allow him to gracefully exit
One big knock, things will settle down for Sachin... The difference between 100 international centuries and 125 international centuries is going to be that one big knock.. All fans want to see that happens at the earliest... we can not tolerate some useless people who could not even achieve half of what the Lord of Cricket achieved, talking negatively about him.. Go Sachin Go.. Be Postive.. Rely on your basics.. Rely on your talent.. Let your bat do all the talking.. Be undisturbed of all these critics.. We are with you as ever and always..
Yes. Sachin is needed for the Indian Cricket right now. His big innings is just round the corner. Please let him play cricket and others stop playing mind games.
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