The controversial former Australia coach does not doubt their greatness in the Test and ODI formats of the game, but he insists that Twenty20 is just not their cup of tea.
Sachin Tendulkar is not fit for Twenty20 cricket since he is neither inventive nor fearless, according to former Australia and Knight Riders coach John Buchanan.
Buchanan does not doubt Tendulkar's greatness in the Test and ODI formats of the game, but he insists Twenty20 is just not his cup of tea.
"Tendulkar has been lauded, and rightly so, as one of the very top batsmen in the history of cricket... But is he an effective T20 player at this stage of his career?" he asks in his latest book, The Future Of Cricket: The Rise Of Twenty20.
"In the position he plays — as an opener or No 3 — the T20 game requires not only the finesse and skills he has, but also the power and domination, an ability to take the bowlers on while being creative.
"You have to be inventive and fearless. And I don't see those qualities as part of Sachin's makeup at this stage of his career," Buchanan writes in the book published by Orient Paperbacks. "Sachin Tendulkar is still a great player but not in this arena of T20."
Buchanan believes the performance of Tendulkar and a few other senior players in this format has been rather "subdued".
"...homegrown heroes such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh, and VVS Laxman... were expected to influence, and on some occasions single-handedly win, IPL matches," he writes.
"Yet their subdued performances highlight that Test match temperament does not necessarily ensure prolonged success in the T20 game."
Buchanan, in fact, went on to say that the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Dravid, and Laxman are unfit for cricket's shortest format.
"I was constantly battling with the fact that I believed he [Ganguly] — along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman — was not suited to T20 cricket," he writes.
"The same could be said about Rahul Dravid. Dravid is a great representative of Indian cricket, a team man, humble, a well-spoken gentleman.
"But, unfortunately, he could not score a single run in the early rounds of the IPL, and in my opinion, is not suited to this form of the game.
"I am certain Dravid's performances were also affected by the off-field drama created by his franchise owner Vijay Mallya," he says.
About Laxman, Buchanan says "he is not up to pace".
Buchanan likens Ganguly to Australian great Ian Chappell and says, "Ganguly was the model for the new breed of confident and combative Indian cricketers. Ganguly showed that Indian cricket could stand up for itself. He is similar in that way to Ian Chappell who stood up for what he believed [in] and was not afraid to take on the administration."
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