West Indies legends Vivian Richards interacts with India’s batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar. Richards said that of all those he has seen, including compatriot Brian Lara, none has been better than iconic Indian Sachin Tendulkar. File photo: V.V. Krishnan (Courtesy: The Hindu, 3 June 2011)
Batting legend Viv. Richards has not seen Sir Donald Bradman but of all those he has seen, including compatriot Brian Lara, none has been better than iconic Indian Sachin Tendulkar. “I didn’t see Don but to me, in all my years associated with the game, I haven’t seen a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar,” said Richards in a eulogy to the “little man”, who openly professes to have idolised him while growing up. “If there is a better batsman than Sachin then he hasn’t arrived yet.”
In one stroke, Richards put Tendulkar in a pedestal above his contemporaries such as Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis and even to the legends such as Sunil Gavaskar and Javed Miandad of his era.
As for Bradman, his career lasted 20 years including a few years disrupted by Second World War. Tendulkar is already in his 22nd year of international cricket. Bradman scored 29 centuries in 52 Tests.
In all formats of the game, Tendulkar has 99 international centuries so far. “To me the most remarkable thing about Tendulkar is how he has completed the full cycle of his cricketing career, overcoming, pain, agony, failures, fatigue, injuries yet continuing relentlessly till the point the circle was complete. “He is the most complete package, the cricketer I respect more than anyone else.”
Batting legend Viv. Richards has not seen Sir Donald Bradman but of all those he has seen, including compatriot Brian Lara, none has been better than iconic Indian Sachin Tendulkar. “I didn’t see Don but to me, in all my years associated with the game, I haven’t seen a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar,” said Richards in a eulogy to the “little man”, who openly professes to have idolised him while growing up. “If there is a better batsman than Sachin then he hasn’t arrived yet.”
Tendulkar’s absence at Windies
Richards defended Tendulkar’s decision to skip the complete West Indies tour. “He is 37 and not getting any younger. You have got to respect him for his decision,” said Richards as he turned up for a Johnny Walker promotional event at Queen’s Park Oval on 3 June 2011.
“He has done enough to decide what is best for him. He knows his commitments and the approach he must take for the rest of his career.” It doesn’t though stop Richards from lamenting how much Tendulkar’s presence could have done to inspire the young cricketers of the Caribbean.
“It would have been fantastic for the young boys to just watch him in action; how he prepares his innings; the way he goes about building his knock, overcoming conditions and opponents. “It could have been an invaluable experience for our young batsmen.”
Richards said he feels humbled by the respect and love he still generates within the cricket community of India.
“The other day, I was on a flight to London and Gambhir was with me. I was really touched by his curiosity and the keenness he had to know about batting. It’s passion such as this which sets men like him apart. I was really impressed,” he said.
It is ironical though that West Indies Cricket Board isn’t quite inclined to take advantage of their own legend to improve the standard of cricket in the Caribbean. “It’s a fragile environment. Only strong leaders can accept independent men,” said Richards.
India-West Indies Series
Gibson expects tough series against depleted India
IANS in ndtv.com, 3 June 2011
http://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/news/item/174275-gibson-expects-tough-series-against-depleted-india
Port of Spain: West Indies Coach Ottis Gibson said India, despite being a depleted side on the current tour, will pose a tough challenge in the Twenty20 and One-day cricket series. The Indian squad for the five ODIs is being led by Suresh Raina and is without eight players from the victorious World Cup squad. The series will take off with a Twenty20 International at the Queen’s Park Oval on Saturday.
Three Indian players – captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and Zaheer Khan – have been rested while Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh are nursing injuries. Leg spinner Piyush Chawla and fast bowler S.Sreesath were overlooked.
“They (India) would not be coming here as any push-overs, we’ve got to take the fight to them and ensure we come out victorious,” Gibson said during the team’s training session at the National Cricket Centre, Couva. “We had mixed results against Pakistan (referring to the Test and ODI series) but we expect a tougher challenge from India, especially as they are the world (One-Day International) champions,” he said.
Gibson said Captain Darren Sammy is still overcoming a lower back injury and is doubtful for the Twenty20 match. The West Indies beat Pakistan in the one-off Twenty20, lost the ODI series 2-3 and drew the Test series 1-1. “We are trying to blend the younger players with the established ones and we hope to see the fruits of that labour in the coming months,” Gibson was quoted as saying in Trinidad and Tobago’s Newsday. Asked about the team’s inconsistencies with the bat against Pakistan, Gibson said, “I know some of the batsmen have been making good strides in the nets with (batting coach) Desmond Haynes, but it’s only when they go out in the middle that they have to produce the goods.”
