Second coming for Tendulkar

I am tempted to believe that Sachin Tendulkar is getting a second wind. Tendulkar himself will ask whether he had ever lost the first, as it were.

What is indisputable is that he has been in majestic form this year — and getting better with every game.

The big debate this season — and undoubtedly fuelled by the T-20 World Cup triumph — has been whether the Indian team needs to replace the seniors with juniors.

Tendulkar’s batting in successive series’ against England, Australia and Pakistan (Mts 22; Runs 1085; Avg 49.32; 100’s - nil; 50’s - 10; 90s - 6) shows how spurious and specious this debate actually is.

These stats show how consistent he has been, even though short of centuries. The latter issue keeps cropping up only because we have been spoilt by Tendulkar, and expect him to score a hundred each time he goes out to bat.

When he doesn’t; as happened with Bradman, it makes news.

Like Bradman, the measure to Tendulkar’s greatness is obviously the runs and centuries he scores. But that should not obscure the aesthetic delights of his batsmanship.

Technically, he would be unmatched by any player over the past two decades, which is perhaps why Shane Warne rated him as the best player he has bowled to.

The balance, footwork, judgment of length etc are exemplary, but there is also rare beauty in his shot-making.

In his innings at Gwalior on Thursday, I am divided on whether the back-foot cover drive was better than the straight drive he played, both off Umar Gul.

On second thoughts, I’ll settle for a tie. Why nitpick on work of genius?

Somebody asked me the other day whether Pakistan, who have struggled a bit in scoring runs at a fast clip, were missing a pinch-hitter. What’s that, the younger generation may ask, and with good reason, for there are none around.

But the inquiry, I must add, is outdated. Pinch-hitters have not vanished, they have become obsolete.

Not too long back, an Abdul Qadir or a Shane Warne would be promoted in the batting order to speed things up if the earlier batsmen had got choked by restrictive bowling or their own trepidations.

India experimented a few times with Javagal Srinath. Not any more.

In the modern era, every batsman is expected to play at a certain pace, with some risk-taking mandatory.

Tendulkar and Adam Gilchrist (recently voted as Australia’s best one-day player) are perhaps the best examples of what modern one-day batsmen have to be.

The arrival of T-20 also signals, in my estimation, a shift in emphasis from averages to strike rates — in the limited overs games for now, and subsequently even in Tests.

This would mean that batting technique and skills would have to be redefined. But I don’t believe that the great players would be affected adversely.

Bradman would have been what he was even today, and Tendulkar what he is now even decades earlier.

I am delighted that Shane Warne has offered a handshake to Muttiah Muralitharan on the eve of the second Test.

Symbolically, to me this means that he has withdrawn his (uncalled for) criticism of the Lankan off-spinner. Perhaps cricket is still a gentleman’s game.