Re: India v West Indies, 2nd Test, Mumbai, 14-18 November, 2013

by The One Sat 16 Nov 2013, 07:22

thank you for everything. in the words of rohit brijnath

"Fifteen years from now, if a young boy or girl were to ask you about Tendulkar what would you tell them?

Even as a writer, I wouldn't be able to. Not sufficiently. No numbers suffice. No quotes from his peers will do. I have about seven-eight books on Muhammad Ali on my bookshelf. He fascinates me. I will read everything on him. But I wish I lived in his time, through Vietnam and his ban, I wish I had experienced him. And it's the same with Tendulkar. He was an experience. You were either there or you were not."

what a privilege it has been

by Batman Sat 16 Nov 2013, 07:28

I wish to rewind the clock back to 1995 - 2002 phases. Especially that epic 1998 year. I would do anything to see that Aus series against Warne and desert storm in Sharjah again. I would do anything to see Dravid and Ganguly make their fine debuts even as I doubt how the new lads walking in would fare. I want to see Azhar belt those 26 runs in 2 overs in closing overs against Pak in Sharjah again when we broke the 300 run barrier for the very first time. I think some of the best cricket and passionate games happened in this time. That epic 3-0 whitewash of Gatting led England side that whinged about prawn curry. Those are the memories cricket is made of.

Sad

by Batman Sat 16 Nov 2013, 07:30

And so ends one of the worst, most inane and one-sided commentaries of all time…

by Batman Sat 16 Nov 2013, 07:34

The One wrote:I have about seven-eight books on Muhammad Ali on my bookshelf. He fascinates me. I will read everything on him. But I wish I lived in his time, through Vietnam and his ban, I wish I had experienced him. And it's the same with Tendulkar. He was an experience. You were either there or you were not."

what a privilege it has been

+1. I agree. You can't describe Dravid, SRT or Laxman if you have not been there and seen it and felt it.

15 years later? We never got to see Bradman, Harvey etc. We saw some of WI highs under Loydd but were too young to understand or appreciate it as kids. Well the ones who did not get to see these SRT will have their own tale to tell when they see Dhoni, Kohli or even Pujara retire. Thats life mate.

by Batman Sat 16 Nov 2013, 07:47

TBH, every generation will find their idols and 15 years later you will be scoffing at the fact that there are no tests and the idols are all T20 players with a limited international career lifespan all playing private league cricket.

You will want to tell them about SRT and tests and they will scoff back at you say,"Spare us the history lessons Grandpa...."

by tricycle Sat 16 Nov 2013, 08:05

That was quite something. Exceptional reception at the end.

Also, snigger at the boos for Sharad Pawar and Prithviraj Chawan.

by furriner Sat 16 Nov 2013, 08:43

That was some vale.

by Basil Sat 16 Nov 2013, 09:02

Can we please have a minute's silence for the death of West Indian cricket?

by Guest Sat 16 Nov 2013, 09:07

I was 4 when SRT started so I've never known him not to be playing international cricket. Feels very weird that he's gone now.

Amazing what a great bloke he seems to be despite the insane pressure.

Farewell, TLM.

by Merlin Sat 16 Nov 2013, 09:10

The farce is over.
Cricket is all the poorer for it having taken place.
There must be no more excuses or harping back to those "good old days of WIndies cricket" . . .
WIndies must now be a strong candidate for dropping into the second tier. . . and the sooner the better.

It begs the question : What in fact did the Bannies beat?

Answer : Nothing.

PS : SRT chose his farewell match perfectly !

by tricycle Sat 16 Nov 2013, 09:50

Merlin wrote:The farce is over.
Cricket is all the poorer for it having taken place.
There must be no more excuses or harping back to those "good old days of WIndies cricket" . . .
WIndies must now be a strong candidate for dropping into the second tier. . . and the sooner the better.

It begs the question : What in fact did the Bannies beat?

Answer : Nothing.

PS : SRT chose his farewell match perfectly !

The same team/farce England beat pre 2009 Ashes series? Nah, it can't have been a farce back then, it took place in England, no?

Not saying this wasn't a farce, it most certainly was. But ****** hell if you weren't all over that series like a syphilis rash back then.....

by buckSH Sat 16 Nov 2013, 10:01

folks like this are an embarassment to cricket .. had mentioned before that such displays of narrow-mindedness and jaundiced views is what tend to restrict cricket to a few islands.

by beamer Sat 16 Nov 2013, 10:18

WI were invited at short notice to provide pushover opposition for Tendulkar's last Tests... one warm-up game, a second string attack, they were never likely to put up much of a fight. They're poor but not as bad as they showed here... a few other non-Asian sides may not have put up much more of a fight coming in off this preparation.

by Merlin Sat 16 Nov 2013, 10:41

tricycle wrote:
Merlin wrote:The farce is over.
Cricket is all the poorer for it having taken place.
There must be no more excuses or harping back to those "good old days of WIndies cricket" . . .
WIndies must now be a strong candidate for dropping into the second tier. . . and the sooner the better.

It begs the question : What in fact did the Bannies beat?

Answer : Nothing.

PS : SRT chose his farewell match perfectly !
The same team/farce England beat pre 2009 Ashes series? Nah, it can't have been a farce back then, it took place in England, no?

Not saying this wasn't a farce, it most certainly was. But ****** hell if you weren't all over that series like a syphilis rash back then.....

So you agree the WIndies are tosh!
I made a comment elsewhere that the WIndies have been in terminal decline for a decade now . . .

So pray tell, what exactly is the point you are trying to make?

by beamer Sat 16 Nov 2013, 11:03

They need to revive their great fast bowling tradition, someone should tell that Usain Bolt and his sidekicks to get themselves off the track and get a cricket ball in their hands as soon as possible...

...before the drug testers get their act together in Jamaica that is.

by embee Sat 16 Nov 2013, 11:24

someone I know on Facebook wrote:With a heavy heart and tears in my eyes.. ..watching Tendulkar's last moments on a cricket field as a legendary batsman.. .. I salute Sachin for his commitment, dedication, enthusiasm(for almost 25 years), sacrifices, consistency(in performing under immense pressure of Indian fans), style, humbleness and many more endless qualities.. .. .. your straight drives, awesome use wrists while playing on leg side, back foot punches, picture perfect defense and everything else that you did on the field of cricket will be missed.. .. thank you for all the entertainment.. .. my life would definitely have been incomplete without your presence.. .. you are not only a role model, you are an inspiration and the essence of many of us being what we are.. .. #thankyouSachin #alltrueSachinFansTagged

by tricycle Sat 16 Nov 2013, 11:34

Merlin wrote:
tricycle wrote:
Merlin wrote:The farce is over.
Cricket is all the poorer for it having taken place.
There must be no more excuses or harping back to those "good old days of WIndies cricket" . . .
WIndies must now be a strong candidate for dropping into the second tier. . . and the sooner the better.

It begs the question : What in fact did the Bannies beat?

Answer : Nothing.

PS : SRT chose his farewell match perfectly !
The same team/farce England beat pre 2009 Ashes series? Nah, it can't have been a farce back then, it took place in England, no?

Not saying this wasn't a farce, it most certainly was. But ****** hell if you weren't all over that series like a syphilis rash back then.....
So you agree the WIndies are tosh!
I made a comment elsewhere that the WIndies have been in terminal decline for a decade now . . .

So pray tell, what exactly is the point you are trying to make?

Just the continual bullshit made me more inclined to snap at a post, the postscript helped along the way. Apologies if I did come off as a twat... Anyway, it was played quite nicely in the media that Tendulkar was nudged out.

As for West Indies, one thing they definitely need to change is their captain. They've outgrown Sammy, who's done decently, but is just occupying a bowler or a batsman's spot. That said, despite the exceptionally poor performance here, even Australia were shit when they toured, and West Indies did seem to plateau under Sammy (even if it was a rather low plateau) as opposed to the perpetual drop. So, while crap, they are a bit better than this series showed imo.

by buckSH Sat 16 Nov 2013, 13:22

WI are team that depend a lot on the team combination and who turns up. They are not as bad as this series makes it seem. Rampaul, Narine, McLane, Dwayne Smith & Shillingford may have performed much better than this attack.

Being such a walkover reduced the farewell to a farce and reverberated throughout the 2-test series. But in the end the great man gave his farewell note and the farce faded into irrelevance and limelight was back on the great man.

There was a time period in cricket in Malcolm Speed was in charge and he was busy nitpicking in same fashion as Merlin here and it was directed solely at certain countries of ICC. The IPL was formed as a result of the bickering of that period. In the end such an attitude will just finish the game in due course.

by beamer Sat 16 Nov 2013, 13:30

I had to check whether Tendulkar played in the ICC World XI "Test" - turns out he didn't, so won't have his record number of caps downgraded to 199 (like Chuckali will lose his 800 wicket milestone) when the ICC see sense and downgrade that game like its 1970s equivalent.

by Lara Lara Laughs Sat 16 Nov 2013, 19:25

TECHNIQUE! OH LORD THE TECHNIQUE AND DECENCY!

Nearly cried at that speech to be honest. As with all goodbyes to greats, it reminds us of our own years gone by as much as the retiree's. 24 years at the top. Ridiculous.

Goodbye Mr Tendulkar, you were brilliant in every way.

by Batman Sat 16 Nov 2013, 21:00

Nothing can beta the sheer pompousness and arrogance of Shastri and his cockiness. he asked the WI captain at presentation that 'What were the positives in this series for WI. I know there aren't many..."

WTF? If he knows there were none why bother with such a degrading question and once he decided there were none worth mentioning what was the poor guy to say in answer? Shastri lucky he wasn't punched in the face.

by skully Sat 16 Nov 2013, 21:23

Great speech at the end by SRT. An ornament to the game. Congrats on a fabulous career.

by Nath Sat 16 Nov 2013, 21:51

so how do we fix Windies cricket? Or do we just chop them from Tests and let them play ODIs and T20s to their hearts content?

by beamer Sat 16 Nov 2013, 22:37

Shillingford and perhaps more surprisingly Samuels reported for chucking... that's their one positive for the series wiped out then!

Maybe that's how to revive WI cricket, allow them to use baseball pitching...

by Nath Sat 16 Nov 2013, 22:44

beamer wrote:Shillingford and perhaps more surprisingly Samuels reported for chucking... that's their one positive for the series wiped out then!

been reported in the past. remember the kerfuffle in the Big Bash also?

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