Lavakare, Manjrekar and other subjects

The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Aussie: aussie@hotmail.com: Good article Sanjay, Bottom line is that it is only the north indians who have that killing sprit. Unfortunatly right now most of our players come from south india, who are good only in acdemics and only dream to come to US to work. You need people like KapilDev, not sissies like Dravid, Srinath, Kumble, Azhar, Joshi and Prasad.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Ramesh Thyagarajan: rt@att.com: Arvind, Excellent Article. As much as Sachin is my most favourite cricketer today, I do think that he does not utilize his talent adequately. Cricket is as much a mind-game as any other; sometimes you need to blow the bowling out of the ground, sometimes you just need to stay at the wicket until the cows come home. It is in the latter that Sachin has lacked, what was a quintessential quality in Gavaskar - loads and loads of patience. And this is the reason that he has to date bever got a double century in test cricket. Whereas his contemporary Lara has made almost double of his highest test score. Your article has come at a time when such a hype has been created by media that a person who is not familiar with the game would tend to think that Sachin is cricket. In a media world where everyone follows the beaten path, you have chosen to stand aside from the rest and write what you frankly think. Sachin is a great player, maybe the best we have now, but has not shown yet that he is the best around. I will be one of his happiest fans when the day comes when he does that, and I do hope that it is not far behind.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Prasanna: sennaboy@rocketmail.com: What's your point man? You suck as a writer. You better find a different job.. U cranky baby...



Sachin versus Bradman:
sridhar: sridhar_reddy_10@yahoo.com: I didn't understand what he is trying to say. Confusing and I would like question the timing of this article.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Vikram Prabhakar: vikram@cbis.ece.drexel.edu: MAnjrekar has untactfully used his analogy, and i am sure will hurt many pakistani feelings by his comparison. there was a feeble attempt in the last paragraph in wanting india tobecome gully cricketers, to make it sound a positive, thing, but definitely, he seems to be indicating that paks have less class. less style, but only win with a coarse angry spirit of the oppressed. Vikram.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Viswanath Krishnan: vkrish3@uic.edu: Hi rediff guys, I feel that you are just wasting space by letting sanjay write articles you can use thi sspace for somehting more useful. I definitely dont agree with what he thinks. He cannot compare pakistanis to a gully team. Indian team has to improve in alot of avenues, if they do that I am sure they can win anyteam.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
rohit: dutta.rohit@mailcity.com: Dear Sanjay, Your article is good but I like one thing the most, and that is showing the real scene of difference between colony team and gully team. you have related it correctly. Congrates for that. Rohit.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
rohit: dutta.rohit@mailcity.com: Dear Sanjay, Your article is good but I like one thing the most, and that is showing the real scene of difference between colony team and gully team. you have related it correctly with the two teams. Congrates for that. Rohit.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Subhash Kari: karisubh@egr.msu.edu: Let me first wish a very happy birthday to Sachin! Now to respond to Arvind Lavkares amazing compilation of stats and a not so amazing analysis. First of all he should have noted that when Sachin played an equivalent number of games in one day international (compared to SMG) he was probably under 21 which was the age when SMG made his debut. It seems to me that Mr. LAvakre wants to hold Sachin responsible for every defeat that India was handed. What else does this mean? How many matches has INDIA won w/o Sachin? Come up with thatnumber and you'll realize his importance to the team. The 98 Sahara cup, and the recent two series will vouch for that fact. As far as beating England is concerned I'm sure even MP would beat them in Sharjah. That we did not win both matches any convincingly only proves your theory wrong. Remember that Sachin scored 523 runs in the last world cup and still India lost, so obviously you cannot expect Sachin alone to work wonders in every match. Still there are times that he has turned the match on its head by his deceptive bowling. I have seen clips from Bradmans innings telecasted during his famous interview, and I could see how the fielding in that age was. PUt a Jonty amongst those and Bradman could well forget scoring 300odd runs in a day. As far as his avg of 99+ is concerned, remember that during the bodyline it was just 54+. Thus against quality fast bowling Bradman is not very different from say Sobers, or Gavaskar or Tendulkar. Any batsman matures around 28 years of age, Sachin is still two short of that figure. Wait till he turns 28... Lastly when you make a detailed comparison of Gavaskars innings to Sachins plaese also take into account the number of runs scored during those huge innings, When Sachin scored 177 against the Australians at Banglore he made the top score at that venue, overtaking 172 by SMG, and mind you he scored those runs in less than half the time that SMG took. No wonder we hardly won any match when Sunil played well. And when reminding us of the blunder that Sachin made when he played a 'rash' (shows your ignorance about cricket...if that had been a six you would have praised him to glory...) shot, please also remind us about the shot that SMG played when INdia were chsing 446 to win and SMG got out at mid on for 221. But I don't blame him at all, because I understand the nuances of cricket and you don't.



The Dean Jones column:
K.V.Ramana: ramana_k_v@hotmail.com: I agree to what Dean Jones says. India can win the World Cup provided it improves fielding and Simpson is the best to get India focussed in the game and win.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Selva: gselvakumar@hotmail.com: To The Editors Of This Website! Please edit the columns and check for some high quality material to be put into your website instead of cheap ones before publishing it. Don't check the names of the columnists but check the quality of their columns. I'm referring to the Sanjay Manjrekar(inappropriate words, attitude, etc) column and the Arvind Lavakare column(inappropriate assumptions). I hope that proper actions are taken in the future.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Rajashekar Gudur: grsreddy@iname.com: Sanjay, was my favourate and remained as good guy, has explained the problem correctly and forgot to mention how to motivate the existing team which has been selected thru a tough procedure! by the board contained very good cricketers. It is only the mindframe that is causing to loose against PAK. We are not playing to win, instead we are palying to 'not to loose'. Lacking professionalism in play, but not in putting LOGOS on all over the body... If I am not showing prof.. in my job I am getting fired on the same day..no matter how good I am in skills..



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
Rajashekar Gudur: grsreddy@iname.com: Sanjay, was my favourate and remained as good guy, has explained the problem correctly and forgot to mention how to motivate the existing team which has been selected thru a tough procedure! by the board contained very good cricketers. It is only the mindframe that is causing to loose against PAK. We are not playing to win, instead we are palying to 'not to loose'. Lacking professionalism in play, but not in putting LOGOS on all over the body... If I am not showing prof.. in my job I am getting fired on the same day..no matter how good I am in skills..



Sachin versus Bradman:
: : Sir, Interesting article but very harsh. I am not sure how this is going to help anyone. Constructive criticism is one thing but this article simply brings down the morale of any Indian cricket follower. You basically just told us that our best player is not as great as everyone thinks. Even if this is true, what good does this article do. It does not offer any constructive critisim at all except maybe a prayer for divine intervention. I am not really sure why you seem so bitter at Sachin, perhaps you could do a better job out there in middle of the field.



Tendulkar the only one?:
SRA: sra123@yahoo.com: Sounds optimistic. Tell us one occassion where Dravid single handedly won a match for India. I guess it will be same even in England where he will be an occassional performer. This is a simple and straight forward articel which any body can write. I don't think this deserve a place in rediff.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Sanjay Mishra: skm69@hotmail.com: Sachin, Score a one-day double-century in WorldCup99. That is the only Birthday wish we can think of. You are the only one who can give a birthday gift to yourself, we can only wish.



The Sanjay Manjrekar column:
N.Ravichandran: nravichandran@hotmail.com: Sorry Sanjay, No gully or underprivilaged Pak team playing colony Indian team here. Both teams are full of talented guys, both are however erratic. Indians being more erratic than Pakis, that's all. Indians can lose to any team, however inferior that team may be. (eg. Our losses to Newzealand downunder). What we need is more consistency. Gangulys and Dravids sticking around, Azhars & Jadejas building up the innings, around the one and only maestro Sachin.



Sachin versus Bradman:
ramaswamy: ramaswamy@rocketmail.com: Hi Arvind, Your article does not lack statistics but lack common sense. You are trying to establish about the integrity of tendulkar, but when u analyse statistics you should also analyse other aspects like Man of the match or series, which your so called gavaskar as for my knowledge never got one in one day, Yeah i guess ur talking about endurance to stay in the crease for 60 overs and hit 30 odd runs ha ha. There are other aspects in considering a player extra ordinary from ordinary and obviously ur report lacks that aspect, so when u write similar articles spend ur time on everything and come to conclusion and not act in haste balaji ramaswamy



Sachin versus Bradman:
Raj Sundararaman: trajs@tus.ssi1.com: The author just seems to be interested in statistics. Yes, If you see statistic-wise SRT seems only comparable to SMG. But how many match winning ODI innings has Gavaskr played? How many times was he declared the Man of the Match? How many times did his innings in ODIs leave the opposing bowlers demoralized and awe-struck? Even in tests, I think SRT is superior to SMG. I think that SMG always played with an eye on statitics and records? How many of Gavaskar's centuries came in dead test matches ? SRT doesnt need to have the staying power that SMG possessed, because SRT can score much much faster than SMG ever did. - Raj.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Vijay: vijaybalki@hotmail.com: That is a very interesting column I have read in a long time. It is real suprise that a Indian is writing such a article, but the truth lives there. The columnist is true, to the fact that Tendulkar is really found wanting mostly in high-pressure situations. I would still rate him a second best in India alone , but not any where in the list in the world class batsmen. The only player from India who can be compared to the world level was Kapil Dev, the simple reason being he won the world cup single handedly in that one match against Zimbabwe. Many critics may disagree with me, but I still believe that he is the only legend in history of cricket form India and if Tendulkar wants to be in that list, he should get the cup to India. He might have won lot of tournaments for India, but not the best one. There is no gift any one can give to a player on his birthday, other than the world cup. So if Tendulakar wants a gift , he can get the best for himself. Wishing him and the Indian team all the best in the cup campaign.



Sachin versus Bradman:
Venkataramanan L S: vidyavenkat@hotmail.com: It is indeed a thought provoking article by Mr Arvind Lavakare. Sure we in India have been going GAGA..... about Tendlya, I had always beleived that he is found wanting when it is needed most. This is the best Exhibit of the statistics to prove that Tendlya is not really the great player he is made out to be. He is so restless and can't curb himself, I would agree that from a player like say Krishnamachari Srikkanth or KapilDev or even javagal Srinath but not Tendlya. It is high time somebody faxed this article to him and make him realise what he should be doing instead of thinking he is enough to see us through in the World Cup HAPPY BIRTHDAY TENDLYA, MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH PATIENCE AND SUCCESS IN FUTURE. Once again Kudos to Mr Arvind



Sachin versus Bradman:
umesh: soni@mailexcite.com: Well to begin with i am a sacchin fan. But what i am writing is not based on fellings for sachin, but the stupidity of this columnists. To begin with arvind you dont pick out one date and see how many runs did sachin scored on that day. If you go by that, then there are only couple of instance when Ajaj Jadeja played good innings ( not that he is a bad player ) . What about loseruddin ( oops Azaruddinh ) . His score card reads like my telephone number ( 2,5,7,9). So just because you write some thing against sachin, you will hope that people will read your article. Not that sachin is the greates human being, but yes indian cricket relies on him. SO learn some thing first



Sachin versus Bradman:
Venkataramanan L S: vidyavenkat@hotmail.com: It is indeed a thought provoking article by Mr Arvind Lavakare. Sure we in India have been going GAGA..... about Tendlya, I had always beleived that he is found wanting when it is needed most. This is the best Exhibit of the statistics to prove that Tendlya is not really the great player he is made out to be. He is so restless and can't curb himself, I would agree that from a player like say Krishnamachari Srikkanth or KapilDev or even javagal Srinath but not Tendlya. It is high time somebody faxed this article to him and make him realise what he should be doing instead of thinking he is enough to see us through in the World Cup HAPPY BIRTHDAY TENDLYA, MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH PATIENCE AND SUCCESS IN FUTURE. Once again Kudos to Mr Arvind



Sachin versus Bradman:
kaushik: kau@bigfoot.com: It might be interesting to find out how many matches India has won because of gavaskar's batting compared that of Sachin's. That could be done by counting the number of times India won after Sachin or Gavaskar scored more than 50 (may it should be 36 for Sunny - remeber the 36 in 60 overs !!)



Sachin versus Bradman:
Sudeshna Ghosh: ghosh@email.unc.edu: Hi Sachin, Happy Birthday!!



Sachin versus Bradman:
Mangesh Kulkarni: mangesh@altair.com: Dear Sachin, Many many Happy returns of the day. Kiss some Ass in the worldcup!!! Goodluck. --Mangesh



Sachin versus Bradman:
Aditya Natu: natuap@centum.utulsa.edu: This guy Arvind apparently has some sort of grouse against Sachin...he almost attacks him as if all these claims of greatness have been made by Sachin himself. Arvind should note that it is the media which has been whipping up all these comparisons...I would say that these comparisons don't make any sense. Firstly, the players being compared are from different eras..so one can't decide who is better. Secondly, the batsman being compared play with different styles. Tendulkar's approach is all out attack...and at most times he has to shoulder that burden alone (however much one may point instances when India has won without Tendul's contribution...everyone knows how important even his presence is!) On the other hand Gavaskar used to focus on staying...that was his style. So we need to forget these comparisons, that Tendulkar, is the most gifted and best among the contemporary players...and lets hope that he wins for us more matches than not...I think that's enough burden on his shoulders...the weight of 900 million people!!

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