Is Sachin Tendulkar one of the worst captains to have played for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750?
Sachin Tendulkar's captaincy has come in for a lot of criticism in the Champions League T20 this year with his team on the ropes already, having being upset twice consecutively. And it is not the first time
this has happened in Tendulkar's career.
That Tendulkar is a batsman par excellence is without doubt. There are not many who doubt his credentials as a cricketer on the whole for he almost always gives more than a 100 per cent while fielding
and occasionally bowling as well. Yet there is something missing from his credentials and that is a good, decent captaincy stint which would stay memorable in the demanding fans’ minds.
He became captain of India twice and on both occasions it was expected that he would turn around the fortunes of his team from the time of the dwindling nineties. But that didn’t happen and there are many
who would want to call his dual stints as nothing but failures.
It is a bit surprising for he has a very sharp cricketing brain; it is said he can judge the length of the ball reading from the fingers of the bowlers; he has two shots for most deliveries bowled at him,
never forgets any of his dismissals and practices to imaginary field placements. But when it comes to captaincy he has shown that even the best player in the world can come up short. He has highlighted that genius in one field doesn’t imply something good
in any other, batting and captaincy being the two talked about here.
The Indian team in the nineties was a bit of a mess. The team’s bowling attack began with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Anil-Kumble-c44737, and they didn’t really get much support as there weren’t many bowling
talents around.
Even the batting only started to blossom after the 1996 World Cup when Sourav Ganguly and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Rahul-c83321 Dravid came into the picture, but even they took long to settle down and become the batsmen they eventually
did. Till then, the batting revolved much around Sachin himself and occasionally players like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mohammad-Azharuddin-c76823 and Ajay Jadeja would rise and save the day for India should Tendulkar fail. The one key aspect was these batsmen seldom rose
together and it was much an individual effort for them on most occasions.
When Sachin became captain, his form suffered from the burden and as a direct consequence, India’s results also suffered. Under him, India lost double the number of matches than they won which makes for a
very poor win-loss ratio for any captain. His cumulative batting averages fall eight notches from when he is not leading the side and it just goes to show the pressure he took on himself in playing this dual role. But batting isn’t the only reason that has
been given for his poor showing as skipper.
Lack of proper coaches and training staff as also a collection of players not considered good enough for international level are also to blame. And there was also the match fixing saga which brought into
the scanner a lot of prominent players in the team, who were in turn crucial to India’s performance especially under his reign.
If there is an aberration to his credentials then it came during the 2010 IPL season when he lifted the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 Indians team to the final of the tournament. His own batting form was one of the key reasons
for that but also the faith he showed in youngsters of the team, backing them to the hilt and mixing it all up quite well with the seasoned professionals in their squad.
However, tactical thinking doesn’t depend on this mix or any decisions going right on the field. It is something that cannot be taught and it was visible in the all important final when he held back Keiron
Pollard while chasing a big total. Chennai Super Kings held their nerves but Mumbai and their captain didn’t, signifying once again that great players do not all make great captains.
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