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Tendulkar should bat like Lara: Akram

Tuesday November 28 2006 19:44
Agencies

PORT ELIZABETH: Legendary Pakistan bowler Wasim Akram has suggested Sachin Tendulkar to show the same aggressive approach to his batting as West Indies' great Brian Lara.

The former left-arm speedster said now that Tendulkar had nothing to prove, he should take bowlers to task by his attacking strokeplay.

\"I have been watching Sachin. He has achieved everything. Now he should be toying around the bowling like Lara does. People say he has responsibility but so has Lara,\" he said after India's massive defeat in the third cricket one-dayer in which Tendulkar scored 2.

\"Sachin should come out and play his shots, especially in one-day cricket. When he goes back in his shell, leaving deliveries outside the off stump, then the bowler gets to him. When Lara comes, it is totally opposite. He looks for two or three balls and he then starts playing everywhere.\"

Akram, here as part of the TV commentary team, said he had noticed that Tendulkar had lately become conscious about adopting the correct technique. \"Tendulkar, I have noticed in the last year or two that he is very conscious when he comes out to bat. He wants to be proper, leaves the ball around,\" Akram said.

Akram compared Tendulkar's aggressive batting in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa to his present form to drive home his contention about a certain tentativeness in the approach of the Mumbai batsman.

\"I remember the game in Centurion during the last World Cup when Sachin was in a mood to dominate. If I bowled up he would come on the front foot, I pitch short and he would be punching it through. That's when I get worried,\" Akram said.

\"When Abdul Razzaq dropped him, I told him he has dropped the match not Tendulkar. I knew what the wicket was doing, there was no swing and he wanted to punch every delivery. But when he is defending and blocking every delivery, I know that unless I bowl a really bad one, I would be on top of him.\"

Akram was highly critical of India's performance so far on the current tour and suggested the inclusion V V S Laxman and Sourav Ganguly in the team. \"Your batting is looking below average, they are looking out of it. For the first time in last five years, the year since I retired, I am seeing an Indian batting line-up below par,\" Akram said.

\"Everybody looks average. They are not even coming behind the ball. Your team is inexperienced, bowling too. It appears in shambles. Five years ago we used to say winning against India in India is impossible. It is totally opposite now. Your batsmen never used to get out,\" he said.

\"There is no aggression, no passion. Body language is not positive. It seems they are praying 'allah kare tour khatm ho' (god willing may the tour end early),\" he said.

Akram said the selectors should have followed the horses for courses philosophy and brought in Laxman and Ganguly for such an important tour.

\"You have dropped key players, Ganguly and Laxman are missing. Please ignore them if somebody is better than them. But if you want the World Cup, this is the tour to practice and experiment,\" he said.

Akram lashed out against the Indian medium-fast bowlers including Irfan Pathan who was once his protégé.

\"Look at your bowlers. Agarkar is average, so is Irfan. Munaf Patel looks like 124 and not 24 years old to me. The way he was bowling the second spell in the second game, somebody should tell him with such performance he would be dropped,\" Akram said.

He said Pathan's action \"has gone bad\" and he is not using his front arm at all. \"His action has gone bad. He is not using his front arm at all. He is not pivoting and coming sideways. He has three or four major issues with his bowling. It can only be told by a bowling coach,\" Akram said.

He said Indian coach Greg Chappell can only show Pathan certain things about bowling. \"But somebody has to tell him the finer points,\" he said.

Akram appeared disappointed that Pathan did not come up to him seek his advice to improve his bowling. \"I am here but he hasn't come up to me. If I am struggling, I will go up to anyone. I spoke to Marshall, Hadlee, Kapil everyone,\" he said, adding that \"Irfan wouldn't learn unless and until he asks people around. I am not going to go to him.\"

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Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"

Quote:

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Originally posted by shankaracharya

Tendulkar should bat like Lara: Akram

Tuesday November 28 2006 19:44
Agencies

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Mumbai Maazi Ladki ...

Quote:

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Originally posted by shankaracharya

Tendulkar should bat like Lara: Akram

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So much for the support from Sachin for this guy

Quote:

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Originally posted by desi in ottawa

Quote:

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Originally posted by shankaracharya

Tendulkar should bat like Lara: Akram

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Huh! this is coming from a match fixer.

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Faced 3 balls and scored 1 run.

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Shiv Sena Chief supports Greg Chappell

Wednesday November 29 2006 19:23
UNI

MUMBAI: Indian cricket coach Greg Chappell, who is facing sharp criticism for the Indian team’s poor performance in South Africa, got support from unexpected quarters on Wednesday as Shiv Sena Chief Balasaheb Thackeray said the Aussie could not be blamed for cricketers’ non-performance.

In his party mouthpiece saamna this morning, the Sena Chief wrote nobody would expect a better performance from unreliable cricket players of India.

Buffaloes!
That's what Bal Thackeray has labelled our cricketers after their dismal performances


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Coach Greg Chappell got support from unexpected quarters as Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said Chappell could not be blamed for our 'buffalo' cricketers.
In his party mouthpiece Saamna this morning, Thackeray says that it was easier to get Vedic scripts read by a buffalo than to get our unreliable buffaloes (cricketers) to perform on the field.
"There is absolute anarchy in our cricket. Our team goes all over the world, and almost always come back defeated… it is difficult for even an astrologer to predict which of them will shine and which shining star will turn into a shooting star. They are so unpredictable, what can Chappell do about it," Thackeray asks.
Chappell has come in for sharp criticism after the team's disastrous performance in South Africa and the recent Champions Trophy in India. Parliamentarians were further enraged when Chappell declared that he didn't pay heed to criticism from MPs since that was the job they were paid for.
Endorsements also come in for criticism from the Sena chief. "They are so caught up with their advertisements that give them huge money that they don't care whether India wins or not. They are assured of their hafta," he adds.



“ There is absolute anarchy in our cricket. Our team goes all over the world, and almost always comes back defeated. It is difficult for even an astrologer to predict which of them will shine and which shining star will turn into a shooting star. They are so unpredictable, what can Chappell do about it,” Thackeray asked.

Chappell has come in for sharp criticism after the team’s disastrous performance in South Africa and the recent champions trophy tournament held in India and even MPs went on criticising the Indian cricket coach.

Parliamentarians were further enraged when Chappell reportedly said that he didn’t pay heed to criticism from MPs since that was the job they were paid for. Thackeray also criticised the players for their various endorsements.

“ They are so caught up with their advertisements which give them huge money that they don’t care whether India wins or not. They are assured of their Hafta,” the Sena supremo said .

Thackeray said being a die-hard cricket fan for a long time, he felt the criticism on Chappell was unnecessary.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Speech by Thomas Friedman of The New York Times....

"When we were young kids growing up in America, we were told to eat our
vegetables at dinner and not leave them. Mothers said, 'think of the
starving children in India and finish the dinner.' And now I tell my
children: 'Finish your maths homework. Think of the children in India
who would make you starve, if you don't.'"