Jan 18 2009
Why Sachin Tendulkar was not included before Gavaskar in the ICC rankings
We were saddened by the recent release of the ICC cricket all time great rankings when Sachin Tendulkar was not included in the top 20, and not above Gavaskar either. When you really look carefully, the reason is clear…why was Bradman rated first? Because he faced an opposition which would look like giants when compared to today’s pigmy bowlers. Bradman faced Larwood whereas Tendulkar has faced Wasim Akram among the top best. Tendulkar uses all sorts of protective gear, whereas Bradman used just his gloves! Tendulkar plays everyday his test and one day cricket thanks to the greed of the administators. Whereas Bradman played 52 tests in 20 years. Even look at Gavaskar…he faced Roberts, Croft, Garner and that silent rolls-royce Holding. At the most Tendulkar has faced Ambrose. We don’t deny Tendulkar is a great player and has a little of the style of Bradman but to put him above many with Bradman would just not be correct. Same is the case with Lara. The only objection you can have is of Hayden above Tendulkar and that was because of politics. So thats it.
Saw yesterday one of the all time great movies from Hollywood…”In the Heat of the Night”, starring a black nigger from Philadelphia (Sidney Poiter) and a white police chief ( the one and only Rod Steiger). Set in the cotton plains of Mississipi, this one reminded so much of the discrimination against blacks for centuries in America. The early morning mist in the miles of cotton fields with ordinary black women plucking the cotton from morning till night only made me gasp with wonder when we are soon going to see just another black as “The President of the United States!.” Here is freedom at its best and we salute these wonderful people of the United States for having chosen a black after all the segregation for centuries. Obama is wonderful and will prove to be a better president than even Clinton. He has begun well by saying ” George Bush is a good man but he made a few wrong choices.” I am sure meant about going to war with Iraq…but then he did make that choice. No one in his right mind would go to war with Iraq just to get rid of a madman named Saddam Hussein.Who knows Saddam could have made a deal with Bin Laden and attacked the United States. Thank God for Bush as well. Americans have come out of worse economic situations than the present one and I am sure they will again. The reason is God is on the side of the people who support Israel. Any arguments about this?
