The opinions that Sachin Tendulkar should be dropped from the indian cricket are getting hotter these days. We know in the last two years, he has been in an out with injuries, and is nowhere near is best. But is Sachin that bad that he should be dropped? Lets look at the figures.

Following is the stat of the Indian Batsman who have played at least 5 games in the 2006/2007 season including the 3rd ODI in chennai against the West Indies.

Mat Runs HS BatAv 100 50
Tendulkar 14 480 141* 36.92 1 3
Dravid 12 358 63 32.54 0 4
Dhoni 13 336 62* 30.54 0 3
Karthik 6 113 63 22.60 0 1
Pathan 8 148 64 21.14 0 1
Raina 10 131 34 16.37 0 0
Yuvraj 5 64 27* 16.00 0 0
Kaif 6 80 30 16.00 0 0
Sehwag 10 148 65 14.80 0 1

Clearly, Sachin tops in run, highest score, and century. Only Dravid has scored one more half century than Sachin, but Dravid's average is less. So after he came back from injury, Sachin has been the best from the Indian team although he is running through bad form.

Then how can people shout that Sachin should be dropped from the team?

Now lets look at the current world's greatest batsmen in the 2006/2007 season:

Mat Runs HS BatAv 100 50
Tendulkar 14 480 141* 36.92 1 3
Ponting 14 460 111 38.33 1 5
Lara 19 472 87 33.71 0 3
Gilchrist 11 298 92 27.09 0 3
Hayden 8 324 117 46.28 1 1
Hussey 14 392 109* 98.00 1 1
Gibbs 9 225 93* 32.14 0 2
Kallis 11 332 119* 36.88 1 1
Strauss 8 210 56 26.25 0 2
Yousuf 5 153 71 51.00 0 1

Ricky ponting is the talk of the show thesedays has performed marginally better than Sachin in average but his total run score is less than sachin in the same no of matches. So Ponting's better average is only because of not-outs. Lara's case is even worse bothe in runs and average. Why dont people talk about Lara and Ponting being dropped when they havent performed as well as sachin?

Hussey's average is 98 in the last 14 games but his total score is 392 while Sachin's is 480 in the same no of matches. So Hussey has remained not-out more often as he comes towards the end.

See the stats guys. Sachin is going through the worst form of his life, but he has scored more runs than anyone of Ponting, Lara, Youhana, Kallis, or Hussey.

But we still love to say that Lara and Ponting are far better as batsman than Sachin. Totally wrong!! Sachin has been named Man of the Match 51 times, which is the highest by any player. The second is Jayasurya, about 40 times and Lara 30 times.

Sachin is not my favourite batsman ( I am a fan of Kallis), but I must confess Sachin is the most thrilling to watch. But we still love to say that he isnt a match winner, and is a choker. This is because we expect him to hit century in every other match, go after renouned bowlers every over. Somewhere inside, we think he is the God of Cricket , and we want him to perform like that.

Sachin vrs other Indian Batsman

How can one even think about dropping Sachin?He has lots to offer.He is great batsman.

Sachin vrs other great batsman

Not necessarily expectations have to meet at every single occasion. A year or two of rough patches do not alter someone's aptitude. He has performed well in the past and hopefully will continue to do so in coming days. He has been to the caribbeans numerous time and has done well. A blend of experienced and vibrant players are key factors that lead to the winning seat!

Hopefully the matches will provide excitement and nail-biting finishes! Indians victory will be icing on the cake! :-)

the one man game........... if they dropped sachin, other palyers will be hopeless

Answer to the question raised is a big NO.

The stats show he's performed well amongst Indian Batsmen, and also amongst the batsmen from around the world. He is going thru a lean patch that has lasted a long time. But dropping him will not solve India's problems....

I am a huge fan of Sachin, and like CC said I want him to get runs every game, but I know Im asking too much but what i can say is he should be a key player to watch during the WC. More scintillating innings like the one against Pakis in the last WC ....

Oh, how i miss watching cricket !

freak_alien, we are in the same boat apparently!

Happy watching! :-)

As much i want to concur with the saying form is temporary and class is permanent, hence sachin needs time to pounce back as most of the great players always do consistently, i have got a feeling that he's been around for one too many years and perhaps has completely worn out physically! :P. gone are the days when indian team used to be sachin's one man show. there are far better players doing net practice who deserve exposure to the international level. let them be given some chance.

one of the reasons why indian bowling department struggled to deliver few years back and even now was veterans like kapil da (jiska jawab nahin :P) did not leave his spot for youngsters even after being worn out completely due to years of cricket. sachin is a great player but i am afraid he does not have years of cricket left to be played as he's been struggling physically. it may be better for the veteran to save his stamina for retirement planning before it's too late.

again, feel free to disagree. :P

As a batsman, Sachin became the highest scorer in the world cup 95. In 99, he came back from his father's death ceremony, and still played well. In 2003, he was superb again, the only batsman to stannd out so clear. Where were Lara, Ponting all those times?
I would excuse Sachin even if he doesnt play that well in this world cup. He will still be the best batsman to me. But even if Sachin doesnt play well, he will probably be better than the rest, or at least most of them.

If players have an attitude of scaring the hell out of batsmen without any success, the team is bound to have a poor performance in the bowling department. Regarding Sachin, no one can deny that he has been a world-class batsman depsite having roller-coaster rides in the past few years! Btw, noone can be a perfectionist all life!

Sachin is the great player of all time --->alright, given, agreed!!!! :p

but why are his fans try to shy away with the fact that he is a human being after all. spending 16 consecutive years playing cricket as a main batsman require a lot - physically. sachin's injuries (tennis elbow, back pain etc.) for the last few years show that he is not in his best form physically. even if he plays, he will not be able to play more than a year. he is coming close to his end. the more he plays, the faster his end will approach. i would be more than happy to see players like him playing in the center but there are constraints that life and nature (biology) has defined and even gods (like tendlya) has to go through it.

kya yaar, love garne bhandaima blind hune ta haina ni. i got retired after 4 years of cricketing career :P..that's the spirit. let others get a chance.:P

LooTe

Loote bro,
I totally agree with you but sometimes thats the name of the game. And for your statement of there being someone better practicing in nets, I beg to differ. I dont see anyone being as good as sachin even in his bad days. Atleast not someone who is practicing in the nets in the Indian training camp. :)

I hope he has more than a year in him man. Life would be sad without Sachin's battng. ;)

Freak bro,
youngsters need to be given chance to play in the real pitch against international teams. that's how talent generates and gets spotted. players like sachin comes once in a century perhaps. that does not mean one can ask too much from them, beyond their capacity. sachin may well play for a year or so, but he will not be in the best of his form. it's no use to retire after you are completely exhausted. kapil did the same mistake. he was seriously after breaking hadlee's record of 431 wickets and spent at least next to useless (for the team) extra year in which time youngsters could have been spotted and nurtured.

LooTe

I do not think it's about nodding your head when others ask you to do so. It is rather accepting the contributions that these world class players have made.

Loote Sir - I guess no need to explain further that "he is a human after all". You said it all yourself. :-) If there were players of Sachin's calibre (How I wish there were!) in the net, we would see flurries in the scoring! :-)

LooTe Bro,
Stats show that Sachin is still a better performer than other Indian Batsman. How can you say goodbye to him?
If I were the selector, I would field the best team based on performance. Sachin has slowed down, but not to that extent that he doesnt get selected based on performance.

all i am saying is not because of his stat, but because of his condition. he's still got some juice to deliver for his team. consistently? -- i doubt.

secondly, indian team is in a good enough position to play without him and perform well enough as a team. sometimes you've got to experiment. you have to risk in order to achieve. dravid, ganguly et al. are getting older as well. if i were an indian team supporter, i would want more yougsters playing and delivering before oldies disappear one by one from the team.

LooTe

He he... the problem is that I am a sachin supporter, not an n Indian team supporter...

Loote Sir - you do not want to have all rookies in your team either, do you? Just a curiosity! Hopefully, Sachin will come out with firing guns to answer all the doubts that people have!