Match Point
World Cup 2011: The Indian cricket team is no threat

World Cup 2011: The Indian cricket team is no threat

India has an overrated batting line up and a weak bowling attack. It seems the trophy is out of their reach.

Ahmad Fuad March 16, 2011

Do you still think India are amongst the favourites for winning the Cricket World Cup 2011?

While the Indian media presents its team as the world’s best, the truth is that India are not so strong.

India lack fighters, and without them no one can emerge on top in such a big tournament. While I must admit that they have some great players and definitely provide entertainment, I cannot say that they are match winners; their players are only outstanding in favourable circumstances.

Take Sachin Tendulkar as an example. Tendulkar is a god for all the coming generations of batsmen. I am not sure if his records can be broken in even the next 100 years. But can he be called a fighter or match winner? I think not.

He repeatedly proves himself to be an individual performer instead of someone who plays for the team.

Even when he was about to cross the magical figure of 100 runs in India’s group match against South Africa, he stopped playing his natural strokes. He did not maintain the momentum of the scores and used eight deliveries to get his last two runs to complete his 99^th international hundred.

I find it strange that a world class batsman who is about to make a century is still greedy for runs but not to win the match. In other words, he plays for himself, not for the team.

His performance in this specific match revolved around his individual score and as soon as he completed his century, he started playing unreasonable strokes.

A legend like Tendulkar should have played till the end of the innings or at least till the end of the Powerplay.

Others like Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, M S Dhoni are overrated players who couldn’t even survive the whole 50 overs.

Sadly, this is not the first time this has happened as the Indian batting line-up showed the same performance against England. Their mediocre bowling side could not even restrict Bangladesh.

A Pakistan-India face off

On a side note, if Pakistan encounter India in the quarter-final or semi-final, they must remain positive and should know that the Indian batting line up cannot resist their fighters. Indian bowlers are not good enough to restrict a good batting line up below 300 runs on South Asia’s flat tracks. This is especially true under the lights when the ball gets wet after 15 overs and does not create difficulty for defiant batsmen in the second innings.

The Pakistani players need to stay calm and play their natural game. Although they do not have huge names like Tendulkar, they have the world’s best fighters: Afridi, Razzaq, Misbah, Younis, Umar Gul, Umar Akmal and Saeed Ajmal.

The greens must focus on these three points to be on top:

Play their natural game with the fighting spirit

Avoid Indian media

Avoid Indian bookies

They will be the champions - I am sure of it!

For the latest World Cup updates and opinions visit The Express Tribune Cricket.

WRITTEN BY:
Ahmad Fuad A corporate training specialist and motivational speaker. Fuad has also worked as a professional sports journalist for Daily Khabrain and has been writing bi-lingual articles for national and international journals. He played professional cricket at the Under 16 and Under 19 level.

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

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COMMENTS (87)

submissive kafir | 13 years ago | Reply Who said Pakistani's have no sense of humor? Read this article and i am LOLing non-stop!

Anonymous | 13 years ago | Reply Go READ YOUR NEWSPAPER and THEN TELL EVERYONE WHO WON WORLD CUP 2011! What a biased article! If you want to write something, I suggest you do your research first and then write about it. This is not your journal entry dear! Its always been - 'May the Best Team win,' so dont ever underestimate the strength of your opponents! Maybe Pakistan lost because they listened to your advice! haha

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vasan | 13 years ago | Reply You can eat your words now.

Sam | 13 years ago | Reply no threat indeed! :-)

Omer Dar | 13 years ago | Reply Hey friends, am a pakistani and i love my cricket team...... and i am also very much confused to read this article, i really admit that sachin is a very good batsman or i may say the best batsman because he scored 99 centuries in international cricket. i don't know why the author wrote such words about sachin, but one things for sure i really hate when people say sachin is GOD of cricket because u must not say him GOD.... my other point is that i don't know why people are still crazy for cricket even though every match is being fixed by the bookies and each and every player is involved in it. i am sure that no 1 will believe me because most of the people still thinks that its a fair game of cricket. i hope every 1 of u have heard this quotation from a great author " WORLD IS A STAGE AND WE ALL ARE ACTORS", so my friends CRICKET GROUND IS JUST LIKE A STAGE AND THEY ALL ARE ACTORS :)... INDIA WINS AGAINST PAKISTAN..... even though the income tax commissioner stated that the match has been fixed and india will loose.... ??? i hope every 1 saw that video on media.... it was actually to misguide the "PUNTERS" and make them think that india will loose so that all the people will bet against india.... and at the end the bookies fill their pockets with loads of money...... Trust me.... same will happen in india and srilanka match.... They will make u happy..... and u all will fooled as soon as you will get to know wat just happend:) rememba my words..... and one thing More..... SRILANKA WILL WIN THIS WORLD CUP...... and i will see how sachin even gets near to make a century..... :) i will comment on it tommorow at the same time inshALLAH!!! and then i am sure u will believe me :) ..................... Everything is being written..even before the world cup started..... and i want to ask one thing from all u people..... i wonder why a set batsman gets out 95% of the time when the drinks break called off......u dont trust me.... notice it in tommorows match if it happens:).... Enough Said for today will see ya tommorow for one last comment :) Peace!!!!

ravi | 13 years ago | Reply @Javed: This is the worst article I have seen ever.. Dude, I hope you have forgotten the 2007 20-20 wc final and it is almost the same team playing out here in 2011 which is all set to thrash pak and rest of the world. Dont ever dare to say again that sachin is not a match winner and pls dont compare him with players like afridi as its an insult to god of cricket. We do have match winners and we will show that by winning the world cup....:)

riaz | 13 years ago | Reply hahahahaha,egg in your face

Reddy | 13 years ago | Reply Ahmed, My sincere advice to you. Please quit Journalism, you can do better writing political speeches for fanatic leaders. In political speeches truth can be twisted any which way you want. Journalism needs little bit of sincerity which is missing in you. Good Luck.

Umber Siddiqui | 13 years ago | Reply My My all the angry Indians bashing the writer!...whatever the writer has written one may not agree but its far better than the crap the Indian media is posting "Kala pathar" hahahaha hilarious ....and Failing to appreciate our team for any win. The experts at ESPN are so biased they called paks semi final win a weakness of west Indians to perform, dude you are on tv u are suppose to have an unbiased opinion as a senior player, at least appreciate the effort of the team. If they so overtly cant control their emotions ,the writer of the article is a patriot and you can expect this from any passionate pak cricket fan, i am sure there are way too many such patriots in India who are doing more retarded stuff! Its not just cricket its a battle of emotions and nerves not for the teams but for both countries! And i must say no one should be ashamed of racism and biasness when it comes to CRICKET!...Cricket we love you!

abhinav | 13 years ago | Reply Some times I really feel that Pakistani cannot rational and their most of the blogger prove it right. Being supporter of team is good but there it should not make you blind. This is just some crap passed as analysis.

abuwajeeh hashmi | 13 years ago | Reply My dear i think you have underestimated a great player like Sachin. We should never underestimate our foes and avoid bookies.The greatest fear i have about green shirts is their vulnerability to Indian media and bookies.I am sure the non vegs will prevail over veggies.Green flag will be flown in Mohali

Anurag | 13 years ago | Reply If Sachin is not a match-winner....no one is.Please bring some sense into your writing.Its badly disfigured.

Ali Umair Khan | 13 years ago | Reply i am pakistani and definetely i praise the greatness of sachin, an extremely well commited and artistic player of all time , the best thing i like about him his freshness , a man palying since 21 or so years and hitting centuries , definetely he is our arch rival , but there are some thing we should give others the credit

LOL | 13 years ago | Reply "AVOID BOOKIES" : apne team ki aukaad dikhadi!!! :D

Mahwish Hussain | 13 years ago | Reply well i agree with the author on that...Sachin no doubt is a great player, but he's best at setting his personal records, and you can never term him as a match winning player. Also he cannot be compared to the legacy and style of brian lara and inzamam, who may not have scored as much ODI runs as sachin, but they were players of class and style! Well done author..we share the same views. Praying hard for Pakistan's victory!

Let us not digress | 13 years ago | Reply This is coming from a pakistan: Ridiculous piece! You have not only shown the ugly face that even we despise when it is manifest from the other side of the border by the likes of bal thakrey and radical media pundits Totally disagree with everything u said. India is a great team. No team is perfect and if the media is over rating them, then i guess it falls upon each team's media to support it through thick n thin. shame on the author. pathetic piece of writing.

A Pakistani | 13 years ago | Reply @Hammad You just proved my point Hammad. "We Pakistanis support our team with such a vigor that sometimes we forget to appreciate the finer things in Cricket". So should I hate Sachin Tendulkar because I am a Pakistani huh? Btw, did I say I don't like the Pakistani batsmen you have mentioned?. If I say Tendulkar is a match winner, does it in any way imply that the Pakistani batsmen you have mentioned are not? In fact I praised Saeed Anwar for what he did to India in the 2003 WC match and compared it to Tendukar's case. You just need to see the broader picture and follow Tendulkar's career to know how much he has contributed to his team- perhaps this is why you wont see any of the experts from the Cricketing Fraternity doubting Tendulkar's credentials as a team man and match winner. With the most number of centuries in a winning cause in ODIs, most number of Man of the Match and Series Awards, an average of over 50 while chasing in ODIs, an average of over 50 in World Cup matches and Tournament Finals and being the highest run getter in two World Cups, I don't think you can ever blame Tendulkar for not being a match winner for his side. No doubt Pakistan has some of the best match winning batsmen in their side, but then you can't compare the Pakistani bowlers with the Indian ones (I am taking no credit away from the Pakistani batsmen btw). Can you? Give India an Imran, a Wasim, a Waqar, a Shoaib, a Saqlain and I bet you wont see India lose often when Tendulkar scores a century. If only once, we Pakistanis try and think as neutrals it wont be hard to see why Tendulkar is hailed as the God of Cricket! Him being the best batsman in Cricket even after 22 long years is ample testimony to his greatness- remove the gray and you would still see the teenager within the Little Master. Remember: Appreciating someone is no sin.

Hammad | 13 years ago | Reply @ A Pakistani This is a matter of concern for me, you are a Pakistani and still you cherish sachin tendulkar and his mates' impotent centuries. inspite of having, a genuin, resilient and a die-hard batsmen in Pakistan, to name a few, Javed Miandad, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, Moin Khan and many others. Sachin Tendulkar's pile of impotent runs has no standing in front of match winning, resilient innings by the fighter batsmen, mentioned above.

ba2b | 13 years ago | Reply typical pakistani .envious of india

A Pakistani | 13 years ago | Reply The writer has portrayed the typical Pakistani view about Sachin Tendulkar- he is not a match winner. You'll hear it from the average 'Pakistani' Cricket Fan every now and then. Though this argument can simply be answered by bringing the stats in (out of his 48 centuries India has only lost 13 matches!) but I think it's time that we Pakistanis come to realize the very definition of a match winner. Are they the ones who score the last 50 odd runs in a few overs in the second innings by slogging the ball around the park? What about those who score a century in the first innings at more than run a ball? In the 2003 World Cup, Saeed Anwar scored a century in the first innings against India, only to see Pakistan lose. Does this mean Pakistan lost because of Anwar? Or did Anwar not put an effort for our team? India losing when Tendulkar scores a century could be a correlation ( that too a weak one), however, it's not a causality. One needs to check out the match details for how India lost when Sachin scored his 13 'match-losing' centuries in ODIs. By the way, Tendulkar has got more Man of the Match and Series awards than any one else in ODI Cricket's history. You don't give those to "match losers", do you? I think, perhaps, we Pakistanis support our team with such a vigor that sometimes we forget to appreciate the finer things in Cricket. What I don't understand is why these statements come out whenever Tendulkar's century is followed by the Indian defeat. Haven't they seen matches where Tendulkar has single handedly taken India to victory (remember the Coca Cola Cup against Australia in Sharjah in '98 ??). The writer remember the "eight" balls he took to make the last few runs for his century and forgets the number of balls he took for the first 90 odd runs- he ended up with a strike rate of over 100 anyways. How naive- or should I say how biased? He did slog a few after his century, but it was only natural to do given the situation of the match (1 wicket down, 38th over, power-play??). If he only cared for his century, then he would have never made the numerous 150+ scores and that legendary 200 not out! I think when they don't find a single thing against his batting, people start questioning his passion to play for his team, his discipline, his sporting-ethics and what not! The writer is from the same school- if Tendulkar scores a century, they say he bats for centuries, if he gets out in the 90s, they say, why isn't he scoring centuries, perhaps he takes too much pressure eh? Just two words for such people : Grow up! For me, and for any true cricket lover, Tendulkar's batting is a sight to behold- just like a Tiger Wood's swing, a Messi's dribble or a Federer's serve. When he comes out to bat, all else is irrelevant. As somebody puts it beautifully- With a billion people praying for his success, forget if he is a match winner or not, he is a HEART-WINNER! Lastly, I would love to know, if India had won the match against South Africa, would this suddenly have made Sachin a 'match winner'? Or would you count it on Indian bowling sometime too? Strange how you can blame the highest run scorer in the whole match, with a 100 plus strike rate, for his team's defeat..strange.

Someone with a mind. | 13 years ago | Reply @THE Author. Hmmmm why am I not surprised by your biased view? Of course your nationality is enough to consider this null and void. We don't write this crap, so please restrain from unwarranted hooliganism.

bilal raja | 13 years ago | Reply i m pakistani and i know tendulkar and indian bating is world class they have ability to score but i have a question to all indian indian vs bangldesh india score 370 and ban score 283. throughout wc ban never reach 200 exept india means idia is weak boling side now 2nd match ind vs eng india score 337. inspite of so big score eng tie this game means weak bolling Ind Vs SA india score 297 which SA chase Ireland Vs India ireland score 207 still good score from ireland which is chase by india . so i think india have one tendulkar and if they have 3 more player like tendulkar they can easily beaten .

SL fan | 13 years ago | Reply @Blunt!: I agree somewhat with the article. As a Sri Lankan fan from early days I like Sachin to score a century against us. He takes so many balls to earn it and let the others to collapse. So we know we can win the match. SL FAN

Faraz shaikh | 13 years ago | Reply and WAt can sachin do huh he iZ nothing against Pakistan bowling... and u indianzZ cant relie on only one player if he got Out wat would ur team will do...huh....??? indianzZ r nothing against Pak team...

Faraz shaikh | 13 years ago | Reply after the gr8 efforts in 2007 Pakistan that waz just lost by winning but in 2009 in 20-20 wc they agian come back and givezZ their every effort and they just stand on their victory..... not this only, in thzZ 2011 wc dey r wid da highest points in both groupzZ and ishaAllah dey will win... and nobody can beat them even india.... Pakistannnn.... Zindabad.....

Arif | 13 years ago | Reply why are you guys touchy about tendulkar. he is one of the greatest batsmen ever. ahmed said the same but he is not match winner and this is something very obvious. can anyone tell me how many matches, he has won for the team.

cricket | 13 years ago | Reply come on..... ........ game is not depends on our thinking...................

Shahzeb Ahmad | 13 years ago | Reply Indian. Pakistan then won the other World T20 and India didnt even reach the finals. Pathetic, is the correct word for ur team.

muhammad danish | 13 years ago | Reply fact of the matter is that sachin is by far the greatest .Being patriotic is one thing but to defame and raising questions about sachins potential for the sake of your compatriots is silly by the way mr author we are not in a battle field so better get a life

Danish S. | 13 years ago | Reply I think the author wrote this article just to stir up some controversy and see how many enraged comments he gets from the indian readership or perhaps he wrote it sarcastically, who knows. But one thing is for sure, this piece has no merit whatsoever!

prashant | 13 years ago | Reply You better shut your mouth and worrry abuot your team. indians are the best. and while talking about weak players you forgot to mention kamran and co. and you better wish you lose in quarters. because if you reach semis or finals you will meet india and dont think you can stand another big match fiasco. i hope you havnt forgotten t 20 final. Pathatic pakistan

amritpalsingh | 13 years ago | Reply just one player had sipirt to play for his motherland one and only Navjot singh SIDHU. if we look his carrier background he had out planty of time between 90 to 100 because he never thought he need to make his personal century.

amritpalsingh | 13 years ago | Reply when ever tendulkar perform well india lost almost 95 percent. i don,t know why is it bad luck for indians or what. i have no doubt about that nobody can break his individual record but on the reverse india had lost whenever Tendulkar knock. So he we can,t say him a match winner or fighter just say him a good player.

Mohammed - Indian | 13 years ago | Reply Hi Author – Please grow up for God’s sake. go ask wasim sir and imran sir how they felt to bowl to Sachin. Ask Afridi how important is sachin’s wicket if they want to establish a win against india if they happen to meet in CWC 2011. Go ask your own pakistani fans how much they are afraid of Sachin in their next possible encounter with India. If you still dont get an answer, Your conscience would tell you the greatness of Sachin so listen to it for a minute. Well, Atleast if you have one :-)))) The same comments with some important corrections..Because, You seem to be real dumb..

J | 13 years ago | Reply I can only laugh after reading this article. India is the top team alongwith South Africa these days in cricket. Just accept it. I do not know why are people so obssessed with India. Reality Check: How many Pakistani batsmen have scored a century in this WC? On the other hand, Tendulkar has scored two centuries at a strike rate better than 100. What more do you want? You want him to bat 50 overs in every match? ET: You are doing nothing good by publishing these childish articles in your blogs.

ghosh | 13 years ago | Reply I am indian, and I completely agree with this article. I have been following Indian cricket for many years now, and whenever Tendulkar scores a century, India looses. I had read a statistic once, where India won only about 60% of the matches when Tendulkar scored a century. For comparison, India won about 80% of the matches when Ganguly scored a century, and there was a time when India won 11 of the 12 games when Yuvraj had scored a 50. Clearly Tendulkar is not a match winner.

Khan | 13 years ago | Reply the article is a pin under Indians butt, isn't it??? but i am still wondering why not a single Sachin's inning could make it to Wisden's top 100 list.

Soman | 13 years ago | Reply @admin of this blog. Why do you accept this type of article. Do you still wanna traffic from this silly type of thinking. Go to hell and promote your blog with this silly unknown author.

kumaresan | 13 years ago | Reply I would like to say that Indian players are great fighters especially under pressure. I'm damn sure that they will lash out these kind of criticism !!!. You can watch their fighting action from next match ;)

Soman | 13 years ago | Reply How dare you say? sachin never ever think to play himself. You better shut the mouth and dont think to write this type of useless article. Now we are clever. Your brainstorming technique will never work out here. Dont let us scold you.

Ratheesh | 13 years ago | Reply I am laughing not even Pak players, but people like you are in an upfront fear taking India on upcoming matches lol :))))))

soumya | 13 years ago | Reply This somehow reminds me of the 1999 world cup match between India and Pak where high on success Wasim Akram commented that they are taking this match as a Practice match .. :P :P and they lost a practice match to team India and went on lose the Finals as well ... :) this article suggests the same over confidence .... :)

Indian | 13 years ago | Reply @Hitendra: Hey Man, you spoke my mind :))) @Mateen: Yes, India won the world cup T 20 by BEATING Pakistan!!!

soumya | 13 years ago | Reply @Fakir Ullah Cavish Khan (Pak cricket fan): I appreciate your reply

soumya | 13 years ago | Reply LOL funnies thing I have ever read here .. . dude, what do you even know about Sachin... you just cannot doubt that man's integrity if you do I am certain you know nothing nor about Sachin neither about Cricket ... I would have still appreciated this article if you wouldn't have compared Indian team with PAkistan that to with such indicators your Boom Boom Afridi is no match winner either, Kamram akmal and that umar guy are so pedestrian that they don't even deserve to play this game at an international level. worry about Pakistan... India will manage its team they certainly don't need you advice. Save them for Pakistani cricketers who are known for their love for wine, women and bookies contradicting to their pious religious image ...

Indian | 13 years ago | Reply @Shahzeb Ahmad: Hey dude, it doesn't matter, whether its Pakistani site or Indian site, see the comments you will get the answer - who has a upper hand Pakistanis or Indians? Dude, first of all, my aim is not to provoke any Pakistanis deliberately. This article is such a dumb biased one, which prompted me to make such comments.....

vasan | 13 years ago | Reply I agree. On current form, India is not a contender.

Saurav Mansinghka | 13 years ago | Reply @Sanmeet Singh: well said dear..you are thousand times better than this ignorant writer

Hitendra | 13 years ago | Reply @Mateen: Man, India won the world cupt T 20 by BEATING Pakistan!!!

Saurav Mansinghka | 13 years ago | Reply Hi All I can say is it pains my heart to read an article like this, This is the worst article ever I read on the indian batting...You are doubting if saching is playing for the team..this is hilarious..you got to look at the overall strik rate and not the time when he was nearing 100..didnt that 100 got added to team total..did india loose match because of his strike rate???? get a life dude.. Quit writing...you dnt deserve to be a writer..go and watch saas bahu serials..it was beacause of him that we were able to tie one match and better our run rate to pip england if its needed...he hit 8 sixes...could any other player do that..not even sehwag.. teaching sachin batting is showing candle to the sun..get lost

Asfandyar Gilani | 13 years ago | Reply Very disappointing article... Sachin always does his bit... its the others who have to chip in

Sathish Reddy | 13 years ago | Reply This is an absolutely brilliant article for its reverse symmetry. The author is a professional, who writes absolute crap, exuding immaturity and bias. The readers ( Pakistani ) fiercely nationalistic, have exhibited great balance of opinion and understanding of the game irrespective of the the player in question. We have these kind of nuts inside our borders too, but it is when we dont fall in line blindly and take a stand for ourselves, that we make a difference. Make a difference Fuad.

Hina | 13 years ago | Reply Blunt has written some thing better than writer..

A Chowdhury | 13 years ago | Reply Author - If you have said that Sachin is not a match savior, I would have understood. Like Michael Bevan of Australia can be called a match savior. But, Sachin cannot be hold responsible for his India's lost. Moreover, if Sachin maintains more than average strike rate all throughout the match then I don't mind if he slows down for his century for an over or two.

Kannan | 13 years ago | Reply This is the most silliest article/blog that I have ever seen... Just see India's record for 2-3 yrs. Yes.. India is not playing full strength in Pace attack.. They are missing Praveen Kumar.. But still they have not played Ashwin.. so we have not seen the full attack. Pakistan players are playing ok but their batting is a very week. They will be exiting from world cup shortly.. Dhoni is a great captain.. and he will come good on the right time... Just wait and watch.

anonymous | 13 years ago | Reply what do u mean sachin is not playing for the team????? he is doing his best for the team..scoring 111 in the match is not enuf fr u???? and this guy is supporting pakistan..let me see hw many guys in afridi team will score 111 and still field like a 25 year old in second innings.. afridi himself is a big hype..he can score 3 sixes in 3 balls only to get out on the fourth ball. Pakistan has talent.Tendulkar has attitude.Attitude beats talent....ur talent will not take u anywer

Mateen | 13 years ago | Reply I just read some stupied comments that india had won T20 world cup 2007. Keep one thing in mind that pakistan had also won 2009 T20 world cup, and qualified in T20 semi final three times since the T20 world cup started.

Khan | 13 years ago | Reply authors point is valid... not even a single innings of Sachin is listed in wisden's top 100 list, thats how cricket experts rate his performances...... hes a big scorer but not a match winner. even Afridi has won more matches for pakistan then Sachin for india.

Sanmeet Singh | 13 years ago | Reply Usually I read articles and go about my day not really bothered by how stupid some of these are. But today, I couldnt help myself and decided to comment for the first time! Not only is this article completely wrong and baseless, but it makes me want to go find this guy and make him watch the 99 centuries sachin tendulkar has hit in his career. I am not going to sit here and even try to explain why sachin is the best cricket player in the world because that would be disrespecting his greatness. What I am completely dumbfounded by is how dare you compare indian cricket with pakistani cricket. Indian cricket team's bad days are ten times better than pakistan cricket's teams great days. Watch yourself buddy, you are lucky you are not making such comments on TV, especially in india. I suggest this Fuad guy just stops analyzing the indian cricket team and watch how we win the world cup. jai hind

Raj | 13 years ago | Reply Pakistan should not be afraid of India, Pakistan should be afraid of herself. After reading about Raymond Davis' release, one thing is certain, Pakistanis paise ke liye kucch bhi kare ga..My advise to Dhoni is to send Pathan and Yuvraj as openers, and send BLANK CHEQUES to the parents of all the Pakistani cricketers.

Waleed | 13 years ago | Reply Woah 2 Nayabs.. lOl. Anyhow, @ Javed: well, your Own News channels claim that Sachin's century is unlucky at times. it's a myth basically, that whenever Sachin bats well, India looses. What's the use of a century which doesn't help? @ Indian: and that's where your mentality gets stuck, can't even imagine of going beyond Pak-Bashing can you?

Said Chaudhry | 13 years ago | Reply So it's tendulkars fault he doesnt score enough runs to cover for Indias poor bowling? You could've made this article a lot less dubious if you concentrated on India's bowling letting them down rather than blaming Sachin; he does more for India than any other batsman. It should be a crime to have your star score a century and the bowlers not being able to back it up with a strong performance. India's chances are dim but because of their weak bowling. Their batting is probably the best in the world, IMO.

Shahzeb Ahmad | 13 years ago | Reply @Indian: Dude control. You are forgetting that this is a Pakistani website. 2007 T20 cup, Pfft. Next year you people didnt even come to the finals. You think your team is so great, then ur sadly mistaken. Sachin I agree, is a phenomenal batsman but most of the others are sadly alot overrated. Your team also has lot of pressure because of home crowd. If I were you, I wouldnt be messing around on websites and really be worrying.

parvez | 13 years ago | Reply You must have finished watching the Australia / Canada match and being bored you said lets do some masti and you came up with this. Looking at it from that angle it was not bad.

Nayab | 13 years ago | Reply I disagree with the author here,India does have high classed batsmen,you can not rule Sachin Tendulker,Sehwag,Gambhir or even Yusuf Pathan out of any game,These batsmen can be match winners on there respective days.. On the other hand, Indian bowling has not been that impressive,Except Zaheer Khan everyone has not been up to the mark of international standards. And Pakistan has to work on there batting,they can not rely on Misbah in every match, But we do have worlds best pacers,and for me that evens both the teams (Pakistan and India) out :) lets hope for a Pakistan vs India game,I'm sure it will be the best match of this world cup!

Waseem baber | 13 years ago | Reply I have never read anything this dumb before!!

Dr. Amyn Malik | 13 years ago | Reply My dear author, I suggest you do some research for it is a common misconception that Sachin Tendulkar hundreds don't lead to Indian wins. In ODIs, India has won around 75% of the matches that Tendulkar has scored 100s in. I agree that Misbah and Younis can be classed as fighters but Umar Akmal, a fighter? That is not palatable, at least to me!

Ashutosh | 13 years ago | Reply May the best team win ! It is a game at the end. In an unlikely situation, if India gets out of the world cup at any stage, then the Indians well have no option but to cheer Pakistan. They had done in past and will do it in future too. However, after the less than expected performance had taken the confidence out of Indian team. This is the most important ingredient for a India win !

Shahzeb Ahmad | 13 years ago | Reply Nicely written but by my perspective Sir Sachin Tendulkar can change the game in any way. "Sachin is to cricket what Beatles are to music" so you should never underestimate him. What Pakistan needs is to bowl first and take early wickets, grabbing both the opening wickets of Sachin and Sehwag as Sehwag is an agressive player and can be easily beaten by a good delivery for stumps. Then Pakistan can restrict them for 250 as most of the other players are over-rated as you suggested. A daily Express Tribune reader, Shahzeb Ahmad

Fakir Ullah Cavish Khan (Pak cricket fan) | 13 years ago | Reply Buddy, even if I am to buy in to your ludicrous theory that Sachin Tendulkar is not a match-winner, I amused by your other casual, matter-of-fact statements: 1. Yuraj is overrated. 2. Dhoni is overrated. 3. Umar Akmal is a "fighter" What is the matter with you? And by the way, you seem to have forgotten that other Indian opener - what was his name again... oh yea, Sehwag. (Don't give me that BS that they only perform in conditions suited to them - that is the case with most teams in the world in most sports in the world.) Don't forget all those fantastic centuries against Aus in Aus. Yes, Pakistan can beat India. But devaluing the Indian batting machine is an insult not only to that team, but to cricket itself. Don't conflate the two issues. I appreciate that you're passionate about our team, but don't make us Pakistani cricket fans look like retards with such stupid views.

Omer | 13 years ago | Reply Brother Kindly check out the stats out of 49 hundreds only 13 of them end in a loosing cause. Sachin is baap of cricket. Respect.

Imran | 13 years ago | Reply Agree with Indian- The author should do some research before writing!

Javed | 13 years ago | Reply @Ahmed Baksh

Sachin is a fighter but sometimes you have to wonder why does India lose so many matches where Tendulkar hits a big score. Come on look at this world cup

Yes dude, in the match vs South Africa, Sachin did score 100+ still Team India lost...So? Is it his fault? The writer says Sachin is not a match winner, he should probably realize that cricket is a Team Game. Sachin cannot go and score 500 runs to make sure his team wins. India's bowling attack is not so great and there are other factors like mediocre fielding, hence India lost.!

Indian | 13 years ago | Reply @Ahmed Baksh: Obviously 'NO' Out of 48 times when Sachin scored a Century, India won 33 times....!!!!

Indian | 13 years ago | Reply You forget to mention Kamran Akmal in the Fighters List???? "Indeed, behind every successful batsmen there is a Kamran Akmal :DDD" So we Indians, depend allot on him :DDDD And about Afridi, he is not a fighter, he is a ball tamper and ball biter :O and the I agree with the others in the list, razzaq, Gul, U.Akmal etc, they are good players and yes good fighters.. But we too have our own fighters, think You'd forgotten the 2007 20-20 World Cup final :))))

Ahmed Baksh | 13 years ago | Reply This would be the last time we will get to play Sachin. I dont agree with the writer and i think Sachin is a fighter but sometimes you have to wonder why does India lose so many matches where Tendulkar hits a big score. Come on look at this world cup

Indian | 13 years ago | Reply @Nayab: Don't worry, Indians will fight hard and destroy the opposition when it comes against Pakistan, as they did in 2003 WC and all the other WC Ind-Pak matches. SO once after crashing pakistan, they will get back their confident and keep going as the real Indian Team....

Cricfan | 13 years ago | Reply A guy with an iota of common sense could write better... Go and find a better way to strike nationalism. Demeaning other teams/players would not fetch you anything. Win the cup and I'm sure everyone would appreciate that.

Javed | 13 years ago | Reply @Nayab - Mind reading the article again? The author does not seem to agree that Sachin is a match winner. Someone needs to hammer the fact into his head that, All Sachin can do is bat well, which he did, even if he got slow towards his century(which he didnt), So wot? Even then his strike rate was way above 100, Wot more do you ask now? Also he fields well! Obviously you do not expect him to bowl and take wickets now, do you? So naive for the author to think otherwise

Javed | 13 years ago | Reply Badly written! Disappointing...

Ravindra Adhav | 13 years ago | Reply This is not a good observation. If this is really true then I would say you are great observer of cricket than Imran, Wasim and all who say their teams should inspire from Sachin.

Nayab | 13 years ago | Reply A very Well written article Indeed!!.. The Poor thing (Sachin) tries very hard BUT even his century doesn't help. Plus, I've been noticing their body language, they all look so dull and tired. i wonder why.

Junaid | 13 years ago | Reply Lol like the ending Avoid Indian bookies :p

Ishan | 13 years ago | Reply @The Author - Going by all your previous posts, I can definitely conclude one fall amongst the ranks of many who are just India bashers! You write all Bull**t! Thanks

SaneGuy | 13 years ago | Reply About the Author :-

A corporate training specialist and motivational speaker. Fuad has also worked as a professional sports journalist for Daily Khabrain and has been writing bi-lingual articles for national and international journals. > He played professional cricket at the Under 16 and Under 19 level.

Perhaps your jealous of the fact that you were not competent enough to play for Pakistan! It clearly shows in your article, the way you criticize one of the Greatest Batsmen ever in the History of cricket and label all the blame for Team India's loss against him. Please Get a Life!

sachin kumar | 13 years ago | Reply jis indian team ki batting line up ko aap weak keh rahe hain na wo pakistani bowlers ke chakke chuda sakta hai aur sahi samay aane par chudaega.aur rahi baat bowling ki wo india ki weak link hai par what was done to pakistani bowlers by new zealand batsmen that is well known.inspite of india's weak bowling attack they still hv 2 bowlers which are world class bowlers (ZAHEER KHAN AND HARBHAJAN SINGH).and i beleive zaheer is one of the best options any captain wud lik to give the ball to in depth overs.and beleive me there are couple of express fast bowlers in the indian domestic circuit who r knocking the doors of indian cricket team and may be soon would be a part of this team and strengthen its bowling attack.

Blunt! | 13 years ago | Reply @The Author - What a pathetic article!

Take Sachin Tendulkar as an example. Tendulkar is a god for all the coming generations of batsmen. I am not sure if his records can be broken in even the next 100 years. But can he be called a fighter or match winner? I think not.

What do you expect of HIM? Bat well? Well, I am sure he already does that. Field well? Oh com'on hes one of the most enthusiastic out there... Wot else?! Perhaps you know better and can give him some advice on 'How to play for a Team'

Even when he was about to cross the magical figure of 100 runs in India’s group match against South Africa, he stopped playing his natural stroke

So you suggest its because of HIM that India lost that match? For God's sake, please never in your life analyze a cricket match. Its Hilarious! (in a sad way ofc) Clearly one of the most pathetic writings that I've come across on ET! Pakistan clearly has one of the best bowling attacks, so how do you remember the last few overs with your match against Newzealand? Does that ring a bell.. The world of Cricket has never and will never produce someone who can match the might of Sachin Tendulkar.... 50 years down the lane...How many present Pakistani cricketers would be spoken of? Tendulkar is a name that will be there whenever cricket is talked about! So kindly shut up and grow Up!

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