Verbal bouncers easy for Tendulkar

Faisal Shariff

VVS Laxman is discovering new relatives in Madras, Sachin Tendulkar has stumbled upon a sense of humour and Rahul Dravid is translating Shane Warne again. That, in a nutshell, is the yarn going around in Madras.

Sachin Tendulkar was at a press conference on Tuesday evening, and all hell broke loose. The room was packed with scribes trying to get a quote from the little master. Attired in a red and white Adidas T-shirt, Tendulkar answered queries about his 25th hundred and how special it was, because all Test hundreds are.

He said: "It is unfair to compare any two innings. I can just say that it was important for me to stay there today, and I did."

On being asked if he felt he had been out of touch before Tuesday's innings in the third Test against Australia, he shot back: "I think you are out of touch with facts," while reminding all that he had scored three hundreds in his last five Tests.

This 25th century, he said, was dedicated to his brother Ajit, who flew down from Bombay to watch the game.

"He was more tensed than I was," he joked.

Tendulkar also informed that he had spoken with Sunil Gavaskar before the game and "that helped".

Asked about his not-so-pleasant tête-à-tête with 'Pigeon' Glenn McGrath during the innings, he mischievously smiled and replied: "I don't know. I was staring straight at the sight screen. It was a healthy exchange. I wasn't expecting the bouncer at that time and he knew that."

Saying he has "no excuses to offer for his dismissal", he added: "The wicket has bounce and it will get difficult to bat on as time progresses. The best way for us to win this game is if we don't have to bat a second time.

"I think I got out at the wrong time. I had a concentration loss, and one is all it takes to get out. You have to go with your instincts."

Asked if the burden on him had eased a bit, with the likes of Rahul Dravid and Laxman standing up and sharing the burden of scoring runs, Sachin, in his usual nonchalant style, remarked, "I don't think what others do. If I can live up to the expectations of my captain and my team then I deem my job done. I have faith in my fellow players and it was a matter of time; after all, they have got immense talent."

'Warne and Miller disappoint'

Curator Parthasarthy was pretty disappointed with the way the Aussies bowled against the Indians on day three.

"Colin Miller is just pushing the ball through the air. He is no good. Warne is not looping the ball enough. Even his arm is not coming straight; it's tilting at the time of release. To get loop you have to bowl with a straight arm. He is just trying to pitch it in the rough. But the pitch has been rolled heavily. If you push the ball through, it will not turn or jump. To turn the ball one must loop it, give it air. Look, how Harbhajan tossed it up and had the Aussies in all sorts of trouble," he opined.

He said the visitors tampered and damaged the wicket by creating a lot of rough areas.

"The Aussies fail to realise that they have to bat on it too and have to face Harbhajan on this wicket.

"Harbhajan should have had another good spinner at the other end. [Sairaj] Bahutule and [Nilesh] Kulkarni are too ordinary. Even our fifth division bowlers would have extracted more turn from this wicket. [Venkatapathy] Raju would have enjoyed this surface," commented the bespectacled man.

Greg Matthews, the former Australian offie and hero of the famous 1986 tied Test took a long, good look at the wicket and pompously declared: "On this wicket I can bundle out the Indians myself, even today."

He was later seen giving advice to Harbhajan. It is learnt that he explained to the lad the importance of looping it up to extract bounce and turn from the wicket.

It is a hundred that counts

Oriya youngster Shiv Sundar Das, after his reasonably good showing in the current Test series, is being hailed as a long-term prospect for India.

Former India opener Arun Lal says the precocious, puny lad has a lot of promise but "he needed a hundred against the Aussies" to announce his arrival in the big league.

"In India, you have got to get a hundred early on to be counted in," he says. "I don't understand the wisdom behind it, but, at least, that's the way it has been. Take a look at Azhar, Ganguly and Dravid they have scored hundreds early on to prove themselves.

"True, talent in this country is only counted in your hundreds. To nurture talent, encourage it, is a practice we are unaware of.

"Have we ever bothered about our talented players here? Have we ever sent out a message that we care for the young talent of India? Why was Rahul Sanghvi dropped after the first Test? Why was [Narendra] Hirwani dropped without being given a chance? Was picking them a mistake or dropping them a mistake?

"We know that we have a problem in playing some batters overseas, but, answer me, besides Sachin, which batsman really gets going overseas all the time? We must nurture our talent well to succeed."

Is it that Arun Lal has lost all faith in the country's cricket establishment?

More on Mongia

My efforts to find out why everyone hates Mongia continues...

In a conversation with a senior cricketer, I asked, 'Hasn't he [Mongia] changed now after his comeback? Do the players still dislike him?'

"We thought he would, but the guy has a problem. He just doesn't give enough. Why did he have to walk before the umpire gave his decision in Bombay?" questioned the player.

'Mongia had told me that it was a thick nick and he thought that it was only fair for him to walk,' I explained to the senior, stressing about the need to play fair.

To which he countered: "In an earlier instance when he had nicked and it was apparent, he didn’t walk; explain that! He doesn't have the stomach for a fight.

"Ask Gilchrist what he thought of the decision? Ask Harbhajan, who was at the other end? Ask Venkatraghavan if he would have ever given that decision?

"The truth is that he didn't want to face Gillespie with the new ball. Can you imagine a batsman walking off and exposing his team's main batsman to face the last five deliveries of the day?

"Even in Calcutta, after he was hit on the face while keeping, he was reluctant to go back and keep wickets. He was content watching the proceedings from the dressing room. The coach and physio had to convince him to go out again."

What more could one say? I rest my case, only just.

More on Day 3 of the Third Test
Match report - It's even, Steven!

Adam Gilchrist in Real Audio -- Day 3

Mail your comments