India can’t afford to lose veteran trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman at one go, opines former New Zealand cricket great Richard Hadlee. “You can’t be talking about Tendulkar, Laxman and Dravid’s retirement. You can’t afford to lose all these players in one go. You need to see the young players go through,” Hadlee said, writes The Hindu.
Batting for Tendulkar, Hadlee said the Master Blaster still has some cricket left with him, but was of the view that the champion batsman was under pressure to get the historical 100th international hundred. “When you are in search of a major milestone, like I was trying to beat Ian Botham’s world record of maximum Test wickets, it creates a lot of pressure. I am sure Tendulkar might be feeling the same way,” he said, adding, “I remember people talking about Tendulkar’s retirement during 2007 World Cup in the West Indies, but he went on to amass runs for the next five years,” said Hadlee.
Meanwhile Ravi Shastri in his column in The Times Of India writes that India should also not shy away from backing young talents. “It doesn’t matter if, in the process, they lose a series or two. “We have also had a peek at the boys who could be stars in the 2015 World Cup. India have an exciting youngster in Virat Kohli, who is now beginning to dominate. Rohit Sharma can’t be held back for long, though he has to tighten his game: at times he seems to be too casual and loose,” writes Shastri.
Praising the temperament of new IPL’s million dollar man Ravindra Jadeja, The Times Of India writes that as a number-eight batsman, Jadeja can work the gaps, run hard and play the big shots when necessary, while as a left-arm spinner he is a handy asset. “His fielding is exceptional too. Given that he enjoys the skipper's confidence, Jadeja could continue to be that vital link for India both with ball and bat. India will be hoping Jadeja will be keen to prove a point in the day-night game against Michael Clarke's men on Sunday. He had had a poor first game against the Aussies after all, going for 41 runs in just 2.4 overs,” writes TOI.
All the newspapers have carried the article that resting Sachin Tendulkar from India's next ODI tri-series match against Australia could end up hurting the beleaguered team. Stating stats, the newspapers write that in the last 22 years, India has won only five matches against the hosts in Australia and Tendulkar has always featured prominently in all those victories.
In 1991-92, during his visit to these shores, India beat Australia by a staggering margin of 107 at WACA, Perth. Tendulkar was then the second top scorer with 36 off 65 balls. In 2003-04, India beat Australia by 19 runs at Gabba. Tendulkar this time weighed in with 86 runs off 95 balls with eight fours. India's next three wins came all in one golden summer of 2007-08 series. It began in Melbourne where India, chasing a relatively modest total of 159, won with five wickets to spare. Tendulkar top scored with 44 from 54 balls with three fours. India then won two straight finals to claim their first-ever one-day series in Australia. In the first finals in Sydney, Tendulkar slammed 117 off 120 balls with 10 fours to allow India to canter home with six wickets to spare.
