Sachin Tendulkar: Does the picture need a caption at all?

The Indian cricket team starts a long season now with a game against New Zealand in the Compaq Cup in Colombo on Friday. And while it will begin without either of the familiar pair of the left-handed Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag walking out to start its innings, there is no real reason to panic.

Sehwag’s recovering from a shoulder surgery while Gambhir aggravated a groin injury at nets and is winging his way back home. A certain Sachin Tendulkar returns to one-day internationals after missing the tour of the West Indies in June-July and will open the innings with Dinesh Karthik, who did duty in the four-game series in the Caribbean.

Tendulkar’s overall career has been too glittering to recount here and it will suffice to say that he has opened the innings in each of the last 41 ODI games he has played and has scored 1837 runs at 47.10 runs an innings – higher than his career average. And, because we tend to forget, the New Zealand attack was savaged for 163 runs in his last knock.

Of course, thanks to the return of pace duo Daryl Tuffey and Shane Bond from the ICL fold, the New Zealand attack can be more competitive than when it hosted India in March. With the quick bowlers hitting the right areas on the sluggish Premadasa Stadium track in the opening game, scoring freely was not an option for the batsmen either.

Mention of the Premadasa Stadium in the Khettarama suburb of Colombo brings back memories of the little big man’s maiden century in ODI cricket in September 1994. He had played 78 games without reaching the milestone. A top-score of 84 featured 17 half-centuries, including four that came at the top of the order in New Zealand and Sharjah.

Another picture that does not need any words to support it

Everyone who knew Tendulkar kept waiting for the big day. When he made 11 not out and 6 in two starts against Sri Lanka in the Singer World Series, it looked as if the slow tracks would prolong the wait. But come September 9, he played a gem to get to the landmark for the first time in ODIs.

It appeared to help that the opposition was Australia. And with men like Craig McDermott, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne in the attack, Tendulkar willed himself to play a superb century that set up a comfortable win for India. It was a night to remember as he hit the ball over the top and through the line in a manner born.

Getting to 50 off just 43 balls, he slowed down a bit as he got closer to the three-figure mark and eventually reached his maiden 100 in ODIs off 110 deliveries when he was hugged by his best buddy, Vinod Kambli. Later, Tendulkar told us how relieved he was to overcome the mental pressure of never having scored an ODI century.

He has got to the milestone 42 times after that memorable night but the first one stands out – even after all these years.

There are some points I would like to make.This is not the first time Sehwag has threatened to leave Delhi and each time he has had a conversation with DDCA President Arun Jaitley, he has taken a step back in compromise. This time he appears a bit more determined to make a point. I am hoping that he does not back off from the chance to cleanse DDCA of muck that drags it down.

Sehwag is not talking about the selection of the key players in the squad. He is clearly talking about the horse-trading that goes on for the 13th to 15th places in the squad. And in some cases for the 13th to the 20th places in a touring party.

DDCA Sports Secretary Sunil Dev admits that this is true, having seen a number of boys wearing the Delhi team uniform slink away when he entered a ground in Visakhapatnam where an age-group tournament.

The incident has also thrown up how a number of former cricketers have joined the chorus. Not a few of them have all held positions in various committees, including any of the selection panels, and in the team management. And nearly all of them have had their sons play age-group cricket in and for Delhi. It reinforces my belief that there are few, if any, saints in the world of cricket.

I was quite amused to see the Government-nominated Directors also join the me-too race and hold a press conference. One of these, Vibhakar Shastri even threatened to have DDCA taken over if it did not set the house in order. To my mind, he does not even understand what Sehwag’s been talking about.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India needs to encourage its affiliates to adopt a model constitution. Only cricket clubs and not individuals must be members of these units. Even then there is no guarantee that persons of mettle will man critical posts that ensure the development of cricket in the right lines everywhere.

He breezed to the fastest ODI hundred by an Indian – he needed just 60 deliveries at the Seddon Park – with a display of clean hitting that is unlikely to be forgotten in a hurry. His opening partner in the 201 run stand, Gautam Gambhir made 63 runs at nearly a run a ball but that seemed so slow against Sehwag’s 125 off 74 balls.

There was one mistimed drive for six off left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and one edge to the ‘keeper Peter McGlashan but all other strokes were played off the meat of his 1200gm bat. It was a savage innings and, even if it is an oxymoron, there was an aesthetic appeal to his innings. He has entertained before but this one will have to be top of the drawer stuff.

For someone who kept the hook and pull wrapped in cotton wool for ages – to the point that bowlers believed he was weak against the short ball – he has played the two shots at will on the tour. We did get to see a sample in the home series against England but it is almost as if he has undertaken the trip with the sole intent of showing the world how well he can play these strokes.

Before emplaning for New Zealand, Sehwag said the tracks there did not suit his batting style at all. And he was clearly drawing on his 2002-03 experience when the home side laid out seaming pitches and though he managed two hundreds in seven one-day internationals, he also picked up four failures, including three single-digit scores. The two Tests were disastrous too.

The tracks on offer now have surprised not just him but also the team’s whole batting unit – and perhaps shocking the bowlers who would have expected some lively surfaces to bowl on. I can see two reasons for that. India’s pace bowling attack – especially the pair of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma – can be lethal while New Zealand’s own bowling appears thin.

More importantly, I think New Zealand Cricket realises that it is important to roll out tracks that facilitate entertainment (read batting onslaught). There is no doubt that cricket boards around the world want the Indian team to do well on their soil so that the crowds flock to the grounds and the TV audience in India stays glued to the action.

For unabashed Tendulkar fans, it was a day to celebrate the little big man’s maiden one-day international hundred in the land where he opened the innings for the first time in 1994, thanks to a crick in Navjot Singh Sidhu’s neck. The controlled manner in which he crafted his innings was a delightful lesson.

Some years ago, when Tendulkar played one of his trademark innings, you would find it hard to remember much else but Sunday was different. The little big champion paced his innings so well that it was another special knock. Yet, Yuvraj Singh’s clean strikes and Suresh Raina’s clinical demolition claim their own place in our mind space

Raina walked in when Tendulkar retired with five overs left with the score at 338. Raina lost no time in joining the run feast and made 38 runs off 18 deliveries as India added 64 runs in the span of the five overs. This was a perfect example of a batsman understanding his responsibilities and ensuring that the team derived the maximum benefit.

The manner in which he hit Tim Southee for four sixes in two successive overs also spoke about his confidence in his abilities to deliver the big blows almost at will. It is such skill that stops him from being dwarfed in the presence of Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Not too long ago, he was readily cast aside as coach Greg Chappell’s chosen one. But he was back when Dhoni assumed captaincy and he has not let the skipper down. He did not get to play any game in the Commonwealth Bank series in Australia as Rohit Sharma and Robin Uthappa got to play all 10 games that India featured in.

Since the time he has come back to the XI, Raina has played 27 games and he has produced a score of 50-plus once in three games. He has shown that he can adapt, batting fairly well at No. 3, better at No. 4 and as a wonderful finisher lower down the order, taking our minds back to talk of him as the Michael Bevan of the Indian team.

It is not important for us to see Raina as anyone else but as Raina himself, a special talent who has raised the bar and has succeeded thus far. He has known the pain of being out of the side and has worked hard to show that he deserves to be in the one-day squad on the strength of his merit and his consistency alone.

The 22-year-old’s next challenge will be to eliminate the string of early exits that have also punctuated his career in the past eight or nine months. Of course, no batsman can ensure that he succeeds every time but Raina can work to reduce the frequency with which he has got out early.

Two close contests in the T20 format and two successive defeats for Team India at the start of its tour of New Zealand. Yet, unlike many others, I don’t believe the team’s morale will have taken a body blow as it heads into the five match one-day international series against the Black Caps.

Of course, India’s strokeplayers – up against a steady and resilient bowling attack, led by the crafty Daniel Vettori – let the team down in both games. If they learnt any lessons from the seven-wicket loss in Christchurch, it was not in great evidence in Wellington on Friday.

Then again, there are positives that the team can take into the one-day series. The most important thing is that Team India has had a good look at the Black Caps – something that had not happened since September 2005 when the sides played the final of a trination event in Harare. The ICC World T20 in 2007 clash was the only meeting since then.

Virender Sehwag got off to flying starts in both games while Suresh Raina, in the first game, and Yuvraj Singh on Friday picked up half-centuries that will instill confidence in the ranks. Admittedly, the batsmen will have to do a great deal better in the five ODIs if they are to sustain the development of Team India as a competitive unit.

India’s experienced bowlers, paceman Zaheer Khan and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh how found a rhythm that augurs well for the side but yes, there is work to be done as far Zaheer’s bowling partners are concerned. Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan came up a bit short of expectations in the T20s and will have to adapt sooner than later.

There has been a marked reluctance to use Virender Sehwag as a support off-spinner to Harbhajan Singh. I believed that he would have bowled as well as Harbhajan Singh and the rookie left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja. I wonder why Dhoni has kept Sehwag’s bowling under the wraps.

Here’s how the team stacked up in the two T20 games.

Gautam Gambhir: His twin failures should help him learn to wait to assess bounce and movement before playing his strokes. There is no doubt that he has it in him to succeed in the ODIs.

Virender Sehwag: Will need to stretch his good starts into long innings and not gift his wicket away. It is clear that the Black Caps are bowling to a plan, feeding off his strengths.

Suresh Raina: After playing a mature hand in the opening game when he made an unbeaten half-century, the left-hander made things difficult for his team by throwing his wicket in the second match. Will have to be consistent in his approach and performance.

Yuvraj Singh: Has appeared to win a battle with New Zealand captain and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori when he struck him for two sixes in Wellington after being dismissed second ball in the first match. Can be a big factor in the ODIs.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Has yet to find his timing with the bat, though he made an unbeaten 28 in Wellington. As someone who has shown a remarkable ability to adapt to the situation, he was unable to provide the thrust in the second game.

Rohit Sharma: Will have only himself to blame for losing his place in the XI for the second game after playing an ambitious stroke in Christchurch

Ravindra Jadeja: Did his bit with the bat in the second game when he replaced Rohit Sharma in the XI and was more than a handy left-arm spin bowler as he helped Harbhajan Singh bring India back into the game. Sadly for him, he will return home.

Yusuf Pathan: Despite being foxed by Daniel Vettori in the second T20 contest, he will remain an important finisher in the ODIs but he will have to find the balance between unbridled attack and defence

Irfan Pathan: His inability to generate noticeable swing with the new ball in the second T20 game will be a matter of concern, even if he claimed two wickets off successive balls to infuse life into India’s campaign and make the match exciting.

Harbhajan Singh: Few will believe that the off-spinner is coming off an injury that kept him out of the one-day series in Sri Lanka. He has shown mastery over his craft, tying the Black Caps’ batsmen down in both games. And can be a huge factor in the ODIs.

Zaheer Khan: Has shown that he is an eager and thinking leader of the bowling back and a willingness to give up the honour of bowling the first over to Irfan Pathan in a bit to ensure that the fellow left-arm swing bowler could find his rhthym.

Ishant Sharma: Had a memorable start, picking up Jesse Ryder’s wicket with his first delivery in New Zealand but has done little justice to his talent after his appeal for leg before wicket off the next ball – against Martin Guptill – was turned down in Christchurch. He will have to hit the right length to be effective in New Zealand.

There is no point in telling themselves: “We are like this only.” In the run up to the opening game of the tour, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni had talked about adopting an assess-and-adapt strategy but, barring Suresh Raina’s display, the tactic remained on paper and was not in evidence in Christchurch.

Brendon McCullum did offer them a good look at how the innings needed to be structured. The Black Caps’ wicket-keeper curbed his natural instinct for strokes and stayed through the successful chase. It was interesting to note that he termed his own knock ‘ugly’ since he did not get used to the pace of the track.

Gautam Gambhir attempted to swat on the leg-side but the ball was dropped short and kept low enough to hit the top of the middle-stump. In O’Brien’s next over, Virender Sehwag tried to find the short boundary on the leg-side, missed the line and ended up losing his leg-stump. India should have quickly redrawn its approach.

Rohit Sharma flicked Ian Butler for a six over long leg and in trying to repeat the shot – but to a delivery that was kept short and perhaps stopped on him a but – he ended up skying a catch off the leading edge to the gully area, allowing wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum ample time to get under it.

Yuvraj Singh, who had just come to the crease, sought to sweep a ball that was in line with the stumps and was done in by the extra pace of Daniel Vettori’s arm ball. India’s chances of putting up more than fighting total hinged on how well and how long Dhoni could embrace the nip and tuck approach but that was not to be.

It was at this stage that Yusuf Pathan committed hara kiri. Even though his mis-hits clear the ground, he should have been restraining himself after clouting three sixes off successive deliveries from off-spinner Nathan McCullum. It was important that he stayed at the wicket longer since India had lost half the side inside eight overs.

For the second time, New Zealand bowlers had been allowed to bounce back after being struck for three sixes off successive deliveries. It not only showed how the Indian batsmen were intent on unleashing their penchant for the extravagant strokes but also how New Zealand kept its nerve under pressure.

Yes, the ‘rockstars’ will have to learn their lessons quickly.

Dhoni has again reiterated the importance of the assess-and-adapt tactic. “One area we need to improve upon is analysing the situation. One thing for sure is we have learnt a lot from our mistakes. We are a good side that learns very quickly,” he said. “We have youngsters who are willing to learn from the mistakes fortunately, if we don’t commit these mistakes again we have a very good chance.”

India’s fans will hope that Dhoni’s team-mates will not prove him wrong again.