Monday, May 21, 2012
Sachin Tendulkar continued performing well in Test cricket in 2001
and 2002, with some pivotal performances with both bat and ball.
Tendulkar took three wickets on the final day of the famous Kolkata Test against Australia in 2001. Tendulkar took the key wickets of Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, centurions in the previous test.
In the 2002 series in the West Indies, Tendulkar started well,
scoring 79 in the first test, and 117 in the first innings of the
second. Then, in a hitherto unprecedented sequence, he scored 0, 0, 8
and 0 in the next four innings, getting out to technical "defects" and
uncharacteristically poor strokes. He returned to form in the last test
scoring 41 and 86. However, India lost the series. This might have been
the beginning of the "decline" phase in his career which lasted till
2006.
Tendulkar made 673 runs in 11 matches in the 2003 Cricket World Cup,
helping India reach the final. While Australia retained the trophy that
they had won in 1999, Tendulkar was given the Man of the Tournament
award.
He continued to score heavily in ODI cricket that year, with two hundreds in a tri series involving New Zealand and Australia.
The drawn series as India toured Australia in 2003/04 saw Tendulkar
making his mark in the last Test of the series, with 241 not out in Sydney,
putting India in a virtually unbeatable position. He followed up the
innings with an unbeaten 60 in the second innings of the test. Prior to
this test match, he had had an unusually horrible run of form, failing
in all six innings in the preceding three tests. It was no aberration
that 2003 was his worst year in test cricket, with an average of 17.25
and just one fifty.
Tendulkar scored an unbeaten 194 against Pakistan at Multan
in the following series. India declared before Tendulkar reached 200;
had he done so it would have been the fourth time he passed the landmark
in Tests.[74]
In meeting with the press that evening, Tendulkar stated that he was
disappointed and that the declaration had taken him by surprise.[75] Many former cricketers commented that Dravid's declaration was in bad taste.[76][77] After India won the match, the captain Rahul Dravid stated that the matter was spoken internally and put to rest.[78]
Tennis elbow then took its toll on Tendulkar, leaving him out of the
side for most of the year, coming back only for the last two tests when Australia
toured India in 2004. He played a part in India's victory in Mumbai in
that series with a fast 55, though Australia took the series 2–1.
On 10 December 2005 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Tendulkar scored his record-breaking 35th Test century, against the Sri Lankans.
After this, Tendulkar endured the longest spell of his career without a
Test century: 17 innings elapsed before he scored 101 against
Bangladesh in May 2007.[79]
Tendulkar scored his 39th ODI hundred on 6 February 2006 in a match
against Pakistan. He followed with a run-a-ball 42 in the second one-day
international against Pakistan on 11 February 2006, and then a 95 in
hostile, seaming conditions on 13 February 2006 in Lahore, which set up
an Indian victory. On 19 March 2006, after scoring an unconvincing 1 off
21 balls against England in the first innings of the third Test in his home ground, Wankhede, Tendulkar was booed off the ground by a section of the crowd,[80]
the first time that he had ever faced such flak. Tendulkar was to end
the three-Test series without a single half-century to his credit, and
news of a shoulder operation raised more questions about his longevity.
In July 2006, the Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) announced that Tendulkar had overcome his injury problem
following an operation and rehabilitation programme and was available
for selection, and he was eventually selected for the next series.
Tendulkar's comeback came in the DLF cup in Malaysia
and he was the only Indian batsman to shine. In his comeback match,
against West Indies on 14 September 2006, Tendulkar responded to his
critics who believed that his career was inexorably sliding with his
40th ODI century. Though he scored 141 not out, West Indies won the
rain-affected match by the D/L method.
During the preparation for the 2007 World Cup, Tendulkar was criticised by Greg Chappell on his attitude.[81]
As per the report, Chappell felt that Tendulkar would be more useful
down the order, while the latter felt that he would be better off
opening the innings, the role he had played for most of his career.
Chappell also believed that Tendulkar's repeated failures were hurting
the team's chances. In a rare show of emotion, Tendulkar hit out at the
comments attributed to Chappell by pointing out that no coach has ever
suggested his attitude towards cricket is incorrect. On 7 April 2007,
the Board of Control for Cricket in India issued a notice to Tendulkar
asking for an explanation for his comments made to the media.[82]
At the World Cup in the West Indies, Tendulkar and the Indian cricket
team, led by Rahul Dravid had a dismal campaign. Tendulkar, who was
pushed to bat lower down the order had scores of 7 (Bangladesh), 57 not out (Bermuda) and 0 (Sri Lanka). As a result, former Australian captain Ian Chappell, brother of the then Indian coach Greg, called for Tendulkar to retire in his column for Mumbai's Mid Day newspaper.[83]
During this period from about 2002 to 2006–7, Tendulkar's batting
often seemed to be a shadow of its former self. He was inconsistent, and
his big knocks mostly came in sedate, accumulative, uncharacteristic
fashion. He seemed to have either cut out or lost the ability to play
many shots, including the hook and pull and many other aerial strokes.
He also developed a tendency to go without scoring much for long periods
and become overtly defensive. While players such as Ricky Ponting and Jacques Kallis
were at the peak of their careers, Sachin's seemed to be in terminal
decline. There were several calls from him to retire. However, after the
2007 World Cup, his career had a second wind and his consistency and
form returned.
