A quick look into ODI cricket which is fast loosing it foothold to 20-20. When you talk about Indian Cricket, especially ODI cricket you can't look much beyond the partnership of Sachin-Sourav(even the best of critics will take a bow infront of this).
Every team has members who face the brunt upfront; they are the ones who are expected to take the attack to the opposition from the start and build the foundation for triumphs. In Cricket, these warriors are called "Openers". "A good beginning is half the job done" --- it becomes imperative that the best in the business do it. And in ODI which is a batsmen's paradise you need your best batters to play the full 50 innings. Openers slot is also the most important batting slot in the game because you need to go bang bang in first 15 overs (fielding restrictions in place, now some rules have changed) and once settled you need to play through the innings for either setting up the targets or chasing them down.
The One-Day game, has seen many a great Opening pairs. The West Indian pair of Haynes and Greenidge in 1980's, Australian pair of Haydos/Waugh and Gilchrist in 2000's did make the bowlers look ordinary. Time after time the pair that gave sleepless nights to the bowlers was the Indian duo, sachin - sourav. The perfect combo pack that could take advantage of the fielding restrictions and shown the tenacity to finish off the games. Now, as i reflect on the 40 years of ODI cricket, I fell that the World of One-Day Cricket has possibly seen the greatest ever opening pair. The double S partnership that began its golden journey in late 1996 has gone a long way into rewritting history books time and again.
Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly are the two of the greatest batsmen to play this gentlemen's game. Their association, as an Opening pair, will remain a milestone that would need a lot of catching. Generations to come will be reminded by coaches to take a leaf out of this combinations and sats will keep remainding us on how great their achievements are. When you put the World's best batsman -- Sachin (god of cricket as he famously know as) alongside Saurav (Lord of offside) -- arguably the World's best left handed batsman in ODI's you get a pair that has an aura that surpasses any other and the things had to happen the way they unfolded.
In their 10 year long partnership at the top of Indian cricket, these two Icons scripted many a great Indian wins and gave the fans some of the most sensational batting displays ever seen. Their record as an opening pair has been phenomenal -- 21 century stands in 136 innings amassing over 6,100 runs at an average of 49 runs per match is evidence enough of their greatness. To crown these feats is their opening partnership of 258 in One-Day Cricket which was surpassed by Sanath and Taranga.
Although, Sachin and Saurav are miles apart as individuals yet they strike a chord when they enter the cricket field and complement each other perfectly. At one end you have the batting maestro - Sachin -- cool, composed, technical correct and unflustered while on the other end you get Saurav Ganguly- emotional, flamboaunt and fiery. But the things to note was each others hunger to hit the winning run and see the team through. The number of centuries they managed is a reflection of this fact. Their strength as an opening pair, apart from the fact that they are brilliant stroke makers, lies in the point that one is a right-hander and the other a left-hander. This meant that the bowlers had torrid time adjusting their lengths and lines constantly. Another one of their strengths lies in their ability to play for each other and that's for me was their best ally. If one went after the bowling, the other complemented him by giving rotating strike and on days when one of them was struggling for form, the other took on himself the responsibility to carry his partner along. This strength kept their major weakness under the carpet, they were not the best or the fastest of pairs when it came to running between the wickets.
Too add to these strenghts is the exceptional shot making ability to the good deliveries. Both Sachin and Saurav had the gift of timing and were elegance personified. But they had the brut game in them to go along with the elegance. Shots flew from their willows like a artist at worker or exploded like a dynamite which even the best bowlers admired. Each loving others company and never gave up the opportunity to be in the best of seat's (non strikers end) in stadium to see when the other was in sublime flow.
Some of India's greatest victories have been a result of a good foundation laid by these two pillars of Indian Cricket. India's memorable victory in the Independence Cup Final in 1998 against Pakistan, Sachin and Saurav superb 252 for the first wicket to beat the lankans in lanka, 10 wicket victory against zimbawe in sharjah, Pilling on a quick fire 180 run stand in 2000 against SA and the list continues in which they shared 21 century partnerships. As stats are not the objective i leave them here. Stats are good, but they don't give a quality prespective of the things that these gentle men did in between the 22 yard square.
At a time when there was a dearth of quality openers in world cricket, Sachin and Saurav come across as a fresh breath of air. Like dancing, in cricket - it takes two to tango. Tangos after tangos, I mean partnerships after partnerships - these men took their team to victory. If a cricket team's best tango pair is at the top - the opening batsmen, even better and that what this pair was. The best batting at the best positions and carving out best parterships time and again. In today's T-20 we can still see why they are successful in IPL. One thing that the youngsters have to look into and learn is the amazing skill of these legends in converting starts into comendable innings.
Saluting the pair !!!
PS: Stats picked from cricinfo, but the essence of the artical is to pay tribute to the wonderful pair who played the game and gave glorious cricketing moments to us.
No comments:
Post a Comment