THE MUCH HYPED ESCHEWING OF THE COVER-DRIVE BY THE OUT OF FORM TENDULKAR TO GRAFT HIS WAY TO A DOUBLE HUNDRED

THE MUCH HYPED ESCHEWING OF THE COVER-DRIVE BY THE OUT OF FORM TENDULKAR TO GRAFT HIS WAY TO A DOUBLE HUNDRED 

Much is made of Tendulkar's eschewing of the cover-drive during his painstakingly slow double century (241*) in the Sydney Test in 2004. Such abstinence is eulogised as superior restraint by the master batsman short on form then. But would it not be more befitting of a great batsman if he could overcome his lack of form by continuing to play the cover-drive, nonetheless? Did not his abstinence thus highlight his obvious batting shortcoming rather than his strength? While it may be seen as a restraint of sorts, it may also be viewed as the inability of a great batsman to overcome a weakness that had crept into his batting, technical or psychological, whichever, or both. Whither greatness then? Great players like Garry Sobers or Viv Richards never cut out shots from their repertoire on display for whatever purpose, even for a while. That is the true hallmark of cricketing greatness which Tendulkar obviously failed to achieve in Sydney despite the double hundred grafted at snail's pace.

Written by Sugata Bose