Manjrekar, Lavakare and others

The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
ravi Kumar: rkumar5315@aol.com: I fully agree with Sanjay. In order to bring this about there should very clear signals from the selectors to the aspiring cricketers that performance and Only performance will count . No matter what your name or past record may be. We need not only talent but talent mixed with a burning desire to win each and every game. the people of tIndia are very emotional about cricket and any body messes with cricket including the selectors and the cricket board , heads must roll and the sword must be wielded. It is not just a game any more. It is india's poor millions only source of some cheer in their drab lives. Wake up all of you who play for India and those who manage the affairs. If you dont you are worse than the traitors and should be hanged by your neck in public square.



The Harsha Bhogle interview:
Nagendra: nnis@hotmail.com: How can one look at Kurasiya in one innings of 47 in any way undermine the experience of Kambli?



Sachin versus Bradman:
Nikhil lad: nabadu@hotmail.com: Statistics are wrong way of judging Sachin. He has scored max. centuries for us(more than anybody) in the finals of the tournaments, won maximum MOM in the finals of the tournament. His percentage of performing in the big matches is much more than anybody else in the current team. So he deserves the hype that is given to him. Surely 11 players are needed to win a match but he has been surely the MOST contributing performer in our victories of late. Without him, the team batting lacks domination. Nikhil.



Sachin versus Bradman:
tushar: tushar@hotmail.com: Its good to know statistics for they do reveal interesting facts. Yes, Sachin is no Don. He is no Vivian Richards. Nor is he even Sunny. Cricketers from different eras should not be compared for the simple reason that you would never know how they would fare against the opposition of a different era. I am pretty sure the Don would never have had the Test average of 99.94 had he been playing today. But yes, he would still have managed the highest. Because great people have an uncanny ability to adjust and adapt. Though I would dearly love to see him faring against Holding, Roberts, Garner, Marshall on a single day, over after over. Like Sunny. An issue which people ignore while compiling statistics. The quality of the opposition and composition of the squad to which the person belonged. Thats why a Kapil Dev , a Richard Hadlee or Allan Border should be held in higher esteem than they usually are for their achievements have come at times of little or no support from their teammates. The best way, in my opinion, to evaluate players is to allow their peers of their era to comment. And leave it at that. An attempt to compare Sir Donald Bradman, Sunil Gavaskar, Sachin Tendulkar usually ends up in endless discussion.



The Dean Jones column:
Vikram Prabhakar: vikram@cbis.ece.drexel.edu: Very nice!



Sachin versus Bradman:
venki: venki@nsgdata.com: Don't allow this person to write on Rediff in future. His analytical skills are hopeless and based on just statistics. I hope Mr Arvind will stop writing about cricket.



Sachin versus Bradman:
julloo: julloo@hotmail.com: C'mon, give us a break. If you are going solely by the statistics, I will say Micheal Bevan is the best one day bat in the world. The best ever and what not. Look at his average 62.09 or something for ODIs. Isn't that great?



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Ashok munkerjee: ssci@gate.net: I think Pakistan team is more talented,I dont think India can ever beat Pakistan cause of Wasim & Shoaib...and that crazy ,Afridi ,Inzaman,And Ijaz...every bat of Pak is Tendlukar..what we should do is to make combined team of indo-pak...I bet that will bring the World cup and the rest in Subcontinent..



Sachin versus Bradman:
Sendhil Raj: rensrs@aol.com: Thank God Arvind is nowhere near the Indian Team. Sachin should be miles away from him. I think he is the epitome of sarcasm and pessimism. No one can compare players of different generations as playing conditions and opposition is different. Did Gavaskar and Bradman play tests as infrequently as Sachin or did they play ODI's as frequently. Other than the Ashes and South Africa did Bradman have any other challenge. Nowadays a match in front of 50,000+ crowd and millions of TV viewers is a challenge against any team. Is Shane Warne the Best Spinner in the world? If yes, he thinks that Sachin is the greatest batsman he has bowled to. Is he wrong and Arvind right. Does Lara have the consistency that Sachin has. Ask any world class bowler who in todays cricket is the most dangerous batsman to bowl to. Name one batsman who can turn around a match like Sachin can. Does Arvind know under what physican condition Sachin scored those runs in Chennai.
This comment from me will be among the millions that Arvind will recieve for this article. I think he should stop writing about cricket if not he should atleast stop writing about Sachin. Nobody can get a worser birthday present than this. The timing of this article is pathetic. Arvind should probably tour with thae Pakistan, SA or Australia team. If they get this kind of encouragement then India's chances of winning the world cup will more than double. I cant believe that Rediff can publish this article on Sachin's birthday on the eve of the world cup. I pray that Sachin does not have a PC and in case he has he does not go to this website ever again.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Selva: gselvakumar@hotmail.com: I just now finished reading this column. I can't see any sense in your comparison of statistics. I can just see that you have taken very great pains in collecting the statistics when India had won without the help of Tendulkar(because that's quite a few among a lot of matches). Did u ever try to check out the contribution of Tendulkar as a bowler and a fielder during your scavenging of statistics? Sachin Tendulkar is in the process of developing into a great guy. I accept your point, that the media might have hyped too much about him but that does not mean that this fellow is something short of Bradman. Tendulkar is not only a good batsmen, but he is also a great fielder and a bowler. I wish to state one point very clear about myself. I like the way Tendulkar plays but I am not a fanatic. Just because everybody talks very high of him, there is no necessity for you to degrade his class by stating lowly qualified words like, "HIS ONE DAY SHOWING IS NOT EARTH-SHAKINGLY DIFFERENT FROM SAEED ANWAR". In this statement, it sounds as if you have assumed that Saeed Anwar is like one of the 'TOM, DICK and HARRY' batsmen. Regarding your comparison of Tendulkar and Bradman is just senseless because their era of playing is completely different. I accept your point of telling that Bradman didn't have too much of guards and had to face great bowlers like Larwood. Did you ever think about the tensions that this fellow had played with so many tensions at such a small age of being moved as a number 4 batsmen, opener, first down, etc. Did you ever think of how the BCCI made a fool of him by appointing him as the captain if & only if he does not open the innnings. How can you compare these two players? Just because his average is less than the best guys(as how youu call it), doesn't mean that he is short of anybody. If at all he is short of somebody in the game of cricket, he is short only in his physical height.....

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