Posts Tagged ‘Sachin Tendulkar’

Tendulkar’s New Hair Style!!

When everyday used to be a Bad Hair Day!

Twenty years ago, who could have said that this boy will one day be talked about… in the media… the Page 3 that is… with the country’s top hair experts raving about his hair style!! But here we are….

Sachin's Stylish New Mop

The experts are raving about the ‘new, heavily waxed’, rextured new hair style that Tendulkar was sporting while in the stands at Wimbledon. Stylist Sapna Bhavani is loving Sachin’s new hair do so much that she exclaims “I cannot believe how good Sachin looks!”

Why Yuvraj’s exclusion was only good for him and the side

After Krish Shrikkant & Co. decided to leave out the supremely talented but out-of-form Yuvraj Singh out of the Indian team for the Asia Cup 2010, Suneer Chowdhary argues why the decision was good both for the struggling batsman as well as the team.

The Indian seniors are back. After a reasonably ‘long’ hiatus from international cricket, they will be back to doing what they do best. Well, almost all of them, that is. There will be no Sachin Tendulkar. And no Yuvraj Singh.

Tendulkar’s exclusion is understandable. The more candles that he is blowing, the more difficult it would be getting for him to blow the candles on his next birthday. And the Indians not only need him for the World Cup, but also for the transition period after that, as was recognizable in the recently concluded tri-series.

What goes in Tendulkar’s favour is that his absence only allows Gautam Gambhir to bat his favourite position along with Virender Sehwag, and on paper, does not make a huge difference to the side’s balance.

And if Tendulkar’s absence in the team announced for the Asia Cup is understandable , Yuvraj’s was almost desirable. For his sake. For his team’s sake. For his team’s future’s sake.

For the last couple of years, Yuvraj’s trysts with injuries have been of the scandalous proportions. There has barely been a series or two when he has been fully fit or has not got injured, and each time he has made a comeback to the side, it has looked like he could have allowed himself some more time off the field.

Now, no cricketer wants to remain away from the action for a long time, but it does not help the team if the player plays with a niggle or is half-fit enough to affect his other departments of the game. With Yuvraj, the latter was true in almost every series that he has played in the last few months.

The struggle has been even more palpable, and had it been for a more independent set of commentators in the games covering India, by now, all hell would have broken loose with regards to Yuvraj’s movements in the outfield. One probably needs to be as blind as a bat, to overlook Yuvraj’s lack of being Yuvraj of the old!

What has pronounced the death knell is that in the last half a year, he averages ten runs per innings lesser than his career average, while the IPL and World T20 scores have been next to negligible. A player can survive amidst rumours about anything if he is scoring the runs, or he could look fit, and athletic on the field of play and probably get a long rope if he is a proven customer but not getting the runs. For one to not score the runs and look as ugly on the field as a duck trying to play football, something had to give.

And that is only the on-field story. One is not yet privy about his off-field shenanigans, but if some of the stories are to be believed, then, it only reduces the awe associated with his exclusion. If there was any in the first place.

The rest of the side is on predictable lines, with most of the senior batsmen making a comeback. What has not happened is for the selectors to go back to any one of the likes of RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma or a Munaf Patel; which is an excellent move, given that none of them deserved a look-in.

Irfan Pathan could have been afforded an opportunity as a medium-pace, slow off-cutter, bowler who can bat at the number seven position, but with the World Cup to be played in India, a thoroughbred spinner in Ravindra Jadeja was probably thought of as a better option. No regrets there.

The question that remains is whether this team can win the Asia Cup. The bowling, to me, will be the key, and in the Powerplay overs. That, to me, will be the distinguishing factor.

A Mango Called Sachin

Padmashri recepient and mango expert Kallimullah Khan of Mallihabad has come up with yet another tribute to the God of Cricket. Khan has come up with a brand new variety of ‘mango‘  and has named it Sachin after the master blaster.

Mallihabad is a region near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh famous for its luscious mangoes. This new hybrid variety named after Sachin Tendulkar is a mix of the famous Chausa and another breed of mango known as the Gudada Shah.

Watch this NDTV video for more info on Sachin and his mangoes:

Will Sachin Tendulkar play? | IPL 2010 Final Preview

Indian Premier League Twenty20 Championship | Match: Final – Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Mumbai Indian (MI) | Date: Sunday, 25th April 2010 | Venue: D.Y. Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai | Watch the Live Cricket Streaming of the IPL 2010 final from 8:05 pm on Youtube. Or you can watch the live telecast on Set Max.

Amidst non-stop and exciting off-field action, the most talked about Twenty20 tournament of the world – the IPL 2010 comes to a close today later tonight as as far as the cricket part of it is concerned. Mumbai Indians will take on the Chennai Super Kings to decide who gets the new IPL crown.

But the big question being asked for the last few days is: Will Sachin Tendulkar Play?

Tendulkar damaged the webbing of his hand while trying to complete a catch in the semi-final against RCB. He had to take multiple stitches and was initially to grip the bat.

However since then, the Mumbai Indians have kept further news on Sachin Tendulkar’s playing or not playing the IPL final a tightly guarded secret. Even as we are only less than 200 minutes remain for the game to begin, we still don’t know whether Sachin will play or not.

In such scenarios, I have always used the betting sites to provide me with a clue. With so much money riding on a cricket match, they always seem to be much better informed than the rest of the world.

All the leading online betting websites – Will Hill, Ladbrokes, Bet 365 and Betfair predicted the outcomes of the two semi-final correctly. So what do they think of the chances of Sachin Tendulkar playing tonight?

On William Hill, the odds being offered are ‘even’ for a CSK but only 80 paise for a Mumbai victory. The odds on Bet365 are exactly the same. Ladbrokes goes a step further and is offering an odd of 11/10 on CSK while only 4/6 on Mumbai.

In Tendulkar’s absence the odds would change dramatically and the favourite would get swapped. So it is clear that as of now, when the match is to start in about 2 hours from now, they all think that Sachin Tendulkar is going to play.

Further, Sachin Tendulkar is not a part of the India team for the Twenty20 World Cup in West Indies so even if the injury gets a bit aggravated, he can take the risk. Of course, if the risk is too grave, that may change the situation.

On the other side of the fence, CSK captain MS Dhoni might be toying with the idea of dropping Matthew Hayden from the XI tonight. Hayden has been a complete failure this time; in the semi-final he was dropped twice before he was finally dismissed, and all this happened within a space of 9 balls. So it may not be a bad idea to leave the Aussie strongman out.

Another interesting thing to watch out for tonight would be the toss. Though batting first has been the preferred decision of most captains after winning the toss, I suspect they might be tempted to reverse this decision after what they have witnessed in the 2nd semi-final and in the 3rd place play-off yesterday.