Letter of the Day

Comparing the Indian capitulation against a mediocre Windies pace attack to Sunny's and the team's heroics against the most potent and deadly pace attack of the seventies, only puts in perspective that Sachin is no Sunil Gavaskar. Nor is Rahul Dravid a Vishwanath or Saurav an Amarnath.

In fact even if Sachin scores more centuries than Sunny (against teams like Zimbabwe and on grounds like those in India) he is not the greatest batsman in the world. Forget being second to Don, he is no match for Sunil Gavaskar. I remember when Sunny scored his 29th century. And I remember his epic Madras knock when he had demoted himself lower down the order instead of opening but found himself at the crease within a few overs.

Compare that to Sachin. Sachin scores most of his centuries in the first inning. He fares badly in the second inning. Has someone compared Sachin's first innings average with his second innnings average against the following countries Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, West Indies and New Zealand ?

It is one thing to be consistent and keep a healthy average of 50+. It is another to rise to a challenge and perform when the chips are down. No wonder VVS is in the Wisden Top 5 but Sachin will never make it. No Indian cricketer except Sunny had the inner strength to believe that he was the best and no one could take his wicket away when he wanted to bat. Perfect technique and perfect concentration with a brave heart and an Indian ego.

Milind R Naphade