Manjrekar, Lavakare and others

Sachin versus Bradman:
Anil Gupta: ao_gupta@hotmail.com: This article makes no sense. The only way to judge a batsman is not what the average of a person is but on how many occassions has he been instrumental in winning matches for the team.The fact that Sachin has received the maximum Man of the Match Award speaks for itself. Gavaskar was not in that league. The only cricketers are Sachin and Lara. The article is absolutely rubbish. Just a way to get people to read someones article which otherwise they would have ignored.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Pramod Krishna: pramodkrishna@hotmail.com: Excellent article!! Thanks for reminding us about the realities when we were being carried away by the hype!!



Sachin versus Bradman:
Pramod Krishna: pramodkrishna@hotmail.com: Excellent article!! Thanks for reminding us about the realities when we were being carried away by the hype!!



Sachin versus Bradman:
Anand K: Akrishnamo@aol.com: First of all happy bday to srt .. coming to the article - or should i say hatchet job? Couple of points - the don's statistical performance is so far ahead of everyone else that we should stick to gavaskar vs sachin .. and in this, mr lavakare selectively misuses statistics to prove his point. Two instances - comparing the averages of sunny and srt in the first 105 innings in 1-day cricket - he has omitted to say that while sunny always opened and had the chance to play upto 60 (not 50) overs, sachin came in at nos. 5 or 6 for the first 70 of those 105 innings!! Gavaskar had a rare intensity in saving india from many a predicament - this bald statement is made without any attempt at statistical corroboration .. in fact you will find that it was vishy who had the unique record that india never lost a test in which he scored a century .. barring the great 221 at the oval and the port of spain 404 run chase (where vishy contributed as well) and the wonderful 96 at blore i cant remember too many matchwinning/saving innings from suuny ...perhaps u cud prove me wrong ?? also it might be mr lavakare's opinion that all the wonderful innings that srt played in 1997-98 paled against vinoo mankad's performance - not having been born then, I do not know about vinoo's innings - but from the facts given i wonder how one match performance however good could eclipse srt's showing over 3 series against the aussies. Also the comparison of averages with saeed anwar, mark waugh and gary kirsten is a joke - can u please tell us how many of their performances have been matchwinners, especially solo ? Also kirsten, waugh and anwar are all openers whereas sachin has played 70 innings at 5/6 .. bit misleading again .. also u left out that little bit about how despite starting to open in his 71st match he still has more centuries than all these other regular openers with the better average - if anything their better average with lesser number of 100s should be a negative mark against them - openers who could not build up a reasonable innings into a century!!! IMHO there are three people in the world today who can destroy any attack on any wicket on their day - srt, lara and dsilva .. statistics will not tell the story any more than the number of marble slabs can define the beauty of the TAJ





Sachin versus Bradman:
Rajiv: rajivmohta@yahoo.com: Hi Sachin, Many happy returns of day. Just one wish for you "May you Break all these records" Good Luck for the WORLD CUP... Rajiv



Sachin versus Bradman:
vikram: v_godbole@hotmail.com: Arvind, It seems that you have some personal grudge against sachin 10dulkar.I agree that don is the greatest batsman to be born but how can you completely disregard the fact that tendulkar has come good so many times for india.you have compared the best innings played by Don and gavaskar to the worse played by tendulkar.How about comparing his sharjah knocks to the pathetic batting display by gavaskar in some of his innings. anyway, the article was well researched and I hope india wins the world cup to give some kind of respite to the otherwise desperate indians thank you



Sachin versus Bradman:
Richa: fundoo@hotmail.com: Mr lavakare, Backed by such fantastic attributions, I really can't argue with you, BUT...we have one sachin. Not gavaskar or Don Bradman. The least we can do is not pull him down or flaunt high statistic which are past, WHILE SACHIN IS THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE. And, I do wish sachin all the qualities you mentioned for his b'day.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Raj: siikkk@hotmail.com: Hi Arvind, Are you mad? Are you comparing with Gavaskar? Are you kidding? Gavaskar is a selfish.... Dont compare Tendulkar with Gavaskar!!! Summer has really struck you, I guess.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Rajan Nair: rajan.nair@intelligroup.com: Hi Sachin Happy Birthday. Cannot believe how young you are. Thanks for the wonderful time that you have given us on the field. You are the best thing that has happened to cricket. Take care of your back. Take it easy and win the cup for us Bye Rajan Nair



Sachin versus Bradman:
Mangesh: mangesh1@hotmail.com: Hello, The first question i would like to ask is "Whos this guy Arvind Lavakare and was he as well as the rediff staff drunk before publishing this article. How the hell can one compare Gavaskar and Sachin. I never ever remember so called little master single handedly take india to victory, but i sure remember a lot of innings where he single handedly doomed india, like the 36 odd runs he made ina 60 over game. Bloody chicken. I guess he never heard words like "Fight till the end". Any galli ka ladaka can tell you a number of instances when Sachin made the difference between victory and defeat. I wont say hes a won man team but hes a great batsman. The world agrees with it . Unless this guy, arvind [where do u find such screw ups] knows more about cricket then the rest of the world, i whould say there is no comparision between a master blaster sachin and that master borer gavaskar. Even bradman acknowledges that sachin is the worlds best batsman in the present world. U cant compare him and bradman since theyplayed entirely different kind of games. Well finally i would blame rediff for posting such a stupid article, that too on sachins birthday and when the world cup is so near. This is bound to have a very negative reaction from rediff readers. I hope such gross articles and never posted again. All the best india and happy birthday sachin. Jai Hind



Sachin versus Bradman:
jawahar: : Lavakare's comparison of Tendulkar to Bradman is true in terms of contribution definitely; and in terms of staying power to Gavaskar too. But Tendulkar's batting is atleast thrice as brilliant as Gavaskar's ever was and I daresay as much as Bradman. The other cotemporary lesser mortals you named, but for Lara, do not in any way come near Tendulkar's CONSISTENT BRILLIANCE. And it is this aspect that is so captivating for millions. Do not measure it in mundane contributions and results. That said, my idols are still ofcourse, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Balaji Ram: balaji@dset.com: I am curious to know who compared Tendulkar to bradman in the first place...Also it is interesting to note that Mr lavakare is completely oblivious to the fact that tendulkar's average after he started opening the innings is phenomenal. Personally, i would pay Rs 1000 to watch tendulkar hit a 50 rather than Gavaskar scoring a 100. Balaji



Sachin versus Bradman:
Abhee: : I guess the writer ("Dont Really Know where he came from") ... doesnt actually know the fundamnetals of cricket. Has he played cricket??



Sachin versus Bradman:
Kiron George: dallastiger_eyes@hotmail.com: WELL START OF WITH WISHING SACHIN HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND BEST OF LUCK AND HOPE YOUR DREAMS AND HOPES COME TRUE!!!! And the rest is to ARVIND LAVAKARE, Two facts for you Didn't the Don say Sachin reminded him of himself??? BUT the DON will always be the DON, Sir Donald Bradman will be the greatest Batsman , until some one else can end their career with the average of 99.94 or 100+. he had both the mental power and ability to play cricket at a level so far unmatched, cause of the amount of times he has scored Big Scores, and big means 200+, and this he did with the simplest easy and comfort. To this Lara seems the only one doing it with ease when in form. To see The Don in clips is stylish, cause the way he plays is Class and stylish to the maximum, he plays the hard shots and pulls them of with ease and makes it look like a "WALK IN THE PARK!". That is where Sachin comes close and infact similiar to an extent, but better than Lara. Staying power it is more of a mental thing, the grit to feight it out and no matter what don't give up!!!! There S.Gavaskar was king, and todays Steve Waugh rules. That is where Sachin has lost out but then give him time to mature and playing a hell of ODI does not help for once test temperment either. I mean the Don never had to play 30 ODI's in a season and travel all over the world. To make things worse he didn't have the pressures of the new age cricket on him. Can you sir Arvind deny the pressures are different, or was it similiar in the days of the Don. And yes more often then not when Sachin fails the team fails, you could only point out a handful of incidents when the team won, but for the whole of the pervious season when Sachin has held and blazed his willow, the Indian team has tasted success, how many Finals has India won lately after getting to it??? So do the other key players perform or not??? well me for one can say the Indian team is more than one Sachin Tendulkar, we have so much talent. But we do not have 11 players who believe in their own capabilities, Sachin and Ajay are the few, who are characters who make things happen for India, Inspire the team, by batting it out, leading them properly, creating things, instead of waiting back and crying!!! It takes one peice of outstanding work by any player be it feilding, batting, or bowling to change a match on its head, ask Wasim Akram after the Sharajah finals. So excuse to Sachin it is not the old times, Cricket is about ODI's too, not just tests and the Indian cricket team and board prefer ODI's why Arvind??? Money may be??? Huh??? And the olden cricketers had lenghty breaks, 2-3 months before another tour started,how many times those it happen nowdays?? So that is no excuse if you are a good player you can perform on any settings huh??? So why hasn't S.Gavaskar got more than 1 hundred to his name ???? he has 36 in tests and has played a handful of ODIs. looking at his stats, he was worth atleast a good 5 hundreds more??? But then HE COULDN"T DRILL HIS WAY TOO A HUNDRED OF SOME 300 BALLS in ODIs could he. That is the power of staying power, in tests you could play like the man, take some 400-500 balls to make a hundred. Couldn't you??? I would like to make a quite inquiry to Prem first and Arvind next, wouldn't it be labled as playing for yourself and not the country???? How many times has S.Gavaskar made a hundred under 200 balls??? Okay he pull off the hottest win in the history of test cricket for India, the win over West Indies. But the man played in a manner that was selfish, how many times did india win a test when Gavaskar made a contribution??? and how many times have we drew. I would bet Drew. I would rather a player scored a hundred of some 200 balls rather than bat two to one and a half days. Please wouldn't he have known the fact that it would have helped the cause of the team if he scored faster, or didn't he have what it takes to pick up the tempo??? Could explain his one hundred in ODI's. So NO YARD STICKS to compare anyone cause the stick could break!!! Sunil Gavaskar, is Sunil Gavaskar. Sachin is Sachin and has still time on his side to prove himself. And the DON, is the Don. Let them be.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Ramadurai Rajagopal: rrajagop@cs.wright.edu: Hats off!!!! Hats off to Mr. Lavakare .... Thats an excellent article .. Great analysis of numbers and a great criticism of an all time great! I do not know if the author did write this from his heart ... But, well, he should have thought how bad Sachin would be feeling if he reads this article! No one can deny the fact that pretty much all of India's hopes about the world cup lie on Sachin's shoulders. His cynicism about Sachin getting out(IRRESPONSIBLY!) is staggering ... Then what should he talk about those 4 batsmen who just needed to score 16 runs and who got out meekly after Sachin's exit? Everyone would like to see the Indian team winning (even) in Sachin's absence. The way the author has picked a few of his low scoring matches that India has won should certainly deserve some acknowledgement. He's done a bit too much research. As about comparison with Bradman, Sunny ... Well, all these people are all time greats. they have their own style and standards. Just the averages are not enough grounds to compare Batsmen. The way the runs were scored, the situation the team was in should also be taken into account. Anyways, Mr.Lavakare, that was a great piece of work, can be compared to the 'Satanic Verses' ... But for heavens sake, please no more articles like these until the world cup is over!!!! Ram



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
siva kumar: skumar@es.com: Sanjay, This was a excellent article. You are 100% right.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Srinivasa Rao Munagala: abhishikth@hotmail.com: Sachin, You can do it. Just do it. Our best wishes are with you.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Bala: lbalas@yahoo.com: Give your very best both to the game and to your family and dear ones!! Good luck



Sachin versus Bradman:
kamalavannan: kamalavannan@hotmail.com: Hi, I strongly condemn the article of arvind lavakare.He has given the stastics of all the matches which india has won without tendulkar's knock.Why dont he give the figures of matches won by india purely with the help of Tendulkar.i also condemn him for comparing kirsten with sachin..which in my words is a comparision between a CAT & ELEPHANT. -kamal



Sachin versus Bradman:
Om Sivanesan: Om.Sivanesan@Concert.com: A very good and true opinion from Arvind Lavakare. But as an Indian, I hope this motivates the current Little Master into replying with his bat (& ball) in this world cup. Also, why hasn't the author mentioned anything about "The Original Little Master's" infamous innings in one of the World Cups (the year escapes me)?!



Sachin versus Bradman:
Murali: murali_sr@hotmail.com: Wish you a very happy birthday. have a healthy great year! Murali





Sachin versus Bradman:
S.R: : All Gavaskar did was to bore us to death with his batting. What Tendulkar provides us is exciting cricket (leave the insignificant statistics out of th game). Hope you realise that. Many happy returns of the day to Tendulkar on his B'day.



Sachin versus Bradman:
SKK: skk123@mailcity.com: nice article but I interested in knowing couple of things. Lot of people talk about players not using protective gear during bradman era! But I rarely see anyone mention how fast the bowlers were during that time!! Can anyone tell me quantitatively the average speed of fast bowlers during that time??? I mean how fast Larwood, Voce etc bowled!! Also the author tries to compare economy rates of bowlers of that era with the current. But he doesnt say anything about the strike rates of batsmen of that era??



Sachin versus Bradman:
VijaR: bigthought@aol.com: R u paid by anyone for writing such a story ?



Sachin versus Bradman:
Avijit Chattopadhyay: avijit_c@hotmail.com: Hi , Fantastic numbers and statistics which reveal that Sachin as lot to do . But the numbers do not tell everything. The popularity which he has got is not because he is a good batsman only , but I think its because of the great style he gets those runs in today's version of cricket. He is a real time entertainment as long as he is at the wicket. I would always love to watch Sachin if I am offered options of watching Sunil Gavaskar , Bradman, Lara or Kirsten . He is very dynamic and loves to override the bowlers always. Even Gavaskar told once that Sachin gets himself out when he tries extraordinary out of him, remember what he does is already extraordinary to others.Anyway this kind of article always good and I liked it. Thanks, Avijit



Sachin versus Bradman:
jeevan : jeevanb@hotmail.com: I think u worked hard to get all these startagies.but i think this is the not time publish this .hope after seing this he stills gets power or fell



Sachin versus Bradman:
C. Satyanarayan: x_satya@ugsolutions.com: Hi Sachin, Wish you a very happy birthday. If you have read this article, I am sure you will work to silence such critics, to whom statistics are a measure of a players ability. Regards, Satya



Sachin versus Bradman:
palaniappan: palaniappanc@hotmail.com: This is one of the best article written so far in this special column on worldcup. I would like to thank the author for bring forward the true picture of the comparision Please, let the media, allow Sachin to play his natural game. Above all i also agree that Sachin is one gem of the player we have, but still Sunil and Bradman deserve there respect. Thanks.



Sachin versus Bradman:
John Mathew: jmathew@oeb.harvard.edu: For starters, many, many happy returns, Sachin. And Mr. Lavakare, does criticism get so low down as to calumniate an individual who fought off back-spasms to get India as far as he did in Madras? Do you choose to remember a shot in fatigue rather than the great-heartedness of a gladiatorial knock? I willingly concede your take on both Sir Bradman and Sunny Gavaskar, but to be so ungracious in your comment concerning the Madras outing ill behoves you, Sir. Especially when you jolly well know the circumstances under which he fought and still merrily proceed to fault him. With due respect, that is unconscionable. Sincerely yours, John Mathew



Sachin versus Bradman:
LSK: lskumar@hotmail.com: happy birthday, dear sachin.

Sachin versus Bradman:
shyam gadam: Shyamgadam@yahoo.com: Until now gavaskar is certainly the greatest batsman but sachin will be the greatest by the time he retires.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Kannan: nvs@iname.com: Well, nice statistics. For one, Tendulkar I guess has not paraded around claiming to be a bigger batsman that the Don and Sunny. Two, the above article has not taken into picture the number of matches we lost despite a tendulkar-only contribution. Well, the reason why we get into these arguments at all is because of the attitude (or lack of it) shown by the other 10 members of the team. Take for instance the 1996 World Cup. In that match against Australia, he scored 90 plus. And then we lost. Couldn't the others shore up the team? And what about that semifinal. He scored 65 plus. And then the rest of the team managed a score even lesser than that. There are umpteen instances of these happenings. And Chennai. Shame on someone if they blame Sachin or Mongia alone for that defeat. 16 runs with four wickets in hand. Pray, please tell me what our tail did, despite having a state opening batsman in there. I am not trying to stand by Sachin here. At times. even I have wondered why he is so over-rated. But the real question is , can India survive the World Cup without him. No. Is he indispensable to the team? Yes. Why? Ask the other 10. Happy Birthday, Sachin.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Sudharshan Vembutty: svembu1@tiger.lsu.edu: I think this is one of the stupidest articles that i've ever read. The writer has expressed his ideas in order to be different from the rest. It ould be realy foolish to compare greatness on the basis of averages. That shows the lack of knowledge of the game on the part of the writer. Sachin's average till 1995 was 34.17 only because he was bating lower in the order and remember that it takes a stellar performance to push it up to 42 odd after starting to open. I hope you prevent such ignorant columnists from writing in the future.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Rajesh: rajesh_tagroe@hotmail.com: Happy birthday Sachin I love you!!



Sachin versus Bradman:
Nagarjuna: NChimata@yahoo.com: Very good analysis backed by statistics. I wish Sachin a Happy Birthday and all these traits to take India through in this World Cup.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Deepam Mishra: dmishra@sarnoff.com: Dear Mr. Lavakare As asinine as your comparisons sound, I give you the benefit of having Tendulkar's best interests in mind in writing this blasphemous article. The first thing I and any cricket lover will notice is that you are a mere statistician trying to throw life in numbers when there exists none. You can certainly get a spin-doctor's job with one of our esteemed politicians but Sports Columnist - nah, I would rather make Rabri Devi one!! Without too much of casuistry trying to reveal the truth behind your failed attempt at cricket erudition, let me point out only some salient items. No doubt Don was great and Gavaskar too, but to understand these people at their level, you got to be one of them. A petty journalist, banging his head with numbers and fingers on typewriters can but make a fool of himself. My honest suggestion - stick to political commentary where no one knows enough to judge you and your wisdom. Your poor attempts at imagery and alliteration apart, you have made some very poor comparisons. You have highlighted 4 innings in 3 years in which Tendulkar did not stand up to India's needs, conveniently ignoring how many games were played in those years and how many of those were won by Tendulkar single-handedly. Again, the statistical parrot that you are, you would probably see only Tendulkar's role with the bat. But ask Ganguly or even Azhar, how many times others kept their cool largely because of Tendulkar's presence on the crease. India's three wins in recent months (under Jadeja) came more because of India's bowlers or because of the other side's failure and NOT because of any real spectacular batting effort (Dravid- Ramesh innings being a rare exception which, Indian viewers know, is as rare to see as this ludicrous article of yours). Talking of staying power, Gavaskar's world revolved around that unlike today when ODIs with their frequency and mass appeal have relegated Test cricket to the background. How many high profile tests does Tendulkar play these days in which he can polish and practice the art? Here is the most ridiculous thing of all. You talked about Gavaskar's average in ODI being better in the same number of matches than Tendulkar's. Viewer's well remember those frustrating images of Gavaskar at the crease for full 60 overs making yet 34! Dear Mr. Lavakare, did you forget that there is something like strike rate in ODI which makes all the difference? Maybe the statistics software you used showed that as an errant data-point so you conveniently deleted it!! I do not want to waste any more of my time heaping accolades at you. You did well to dig out all those stats of Bradman and Gavaskar. They made interesting reading and established their place in Tendulkar's League. Last but not the least, such "responsible journalism" at the eve of India's world cup tour, when scribes in Pakistan and S.Africa are busy pumping up their players' biceps, calls for a serious action against you. I recommend to the Rediff staff to hold all your wise commentaries till the Cup's over and Tendulkar has made them frivolous reading anyway! best regards and good luck in politics Deepam Mishra



Sachin versus Bradman:
Anand S Divekar: ananddivekar@yahoo.com: Hi Sachin, Many , many happy returns of the day !! I am sure we will win the World Cup in England.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Ram Mummidi: mummidi@yahoo.com: Well I like the entire compilation of statistics comparing Tendulkar with the peers in the Cricket. But I think you missed one important statistics which I think is key when it comes to Tendulkar i.e. his strike rate. I think with his high strike rate definetly there is a amount of risk involved and he has a done a tremendous job so far. Happy B'day and Kudos to him. He is one of the best, may not be the best in the world.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Ramesh BV: rameshbv@yahoo.com: Excellently composed article with all supporting statistics. I personally comply with all of your comments. I simply vote for you. "Truth always is bitter".



Sachin versus Bradman:
Meeta mahajan: meeta4@bellatlantic.net: Dear, chi.sachin, Happy Birthday! and please bring the world cup 99 at home. God bless you all.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Jaydeep Khedkar: jkhedk1@tiger.lsu.edu: F I do not understand whom the writer wishes to target, is it sachin or MTV.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Jaydeep Khedkar: jkhedk1@tiger.lsu.edu: F I do not understand whom the writer wishes to target, is it sachin or MTV.

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