[sam_boy]

Originally Posted by carboy

He was always an ordinary ODI player, so the lean patch in ODIs made him look really bad.

I think Sehwag answered you today

[AdrenalinJunkie]

200 came and went, I feel a 250 coming.
Sehwag - Quite simply UNBELIEVABLE !!!!

[vamsi.kona]

Sehwag is one of a kind. The most aggressive when batting and yet most docile. As barry richards recently commented its a batsmens ability to connect the ball that is more important than all the talk of footwork.

[Turbokick]

Sachin has now got the dubious record of scoring the slowest 200 in ODIs

Sehwag is a perfect brand ambassador for Adidas.

Because Impossible is 'Nothing'

[suhaas307]

Damn shouldn't have taken that afternoon nap. Went onto Facebook and then Cricinfo, and I rubbed my eyes in amazement. I thought I was seeing things, at first.

Sehwag. You have most certainly answered your critics!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

After 43 overs - Sachin Tendulkar had 186 (134 balls).
After 43 overs - Virendar Sehwag had 196 (138 balls).

Sehwag got out in the 47th over, and still managed 219. Sachin played till 50 overs and managed 200 (147 balls)! The difference?

From 44th over to 50th over, Sachin got only 13 balls to face. Only 13 balls in 7 overs !!!

This post is not to prove Sachin is better/ Sehwag is better. Just to vent out my hatred and frustration (once again) towards the man who tried to take away that moment from Sachin. I remember that moment - me and my room-mates were sitting on the floor praying for the first ODI double century, and one selfish guy just wouldnt rotate the strike back to tendulkar. Who is he?

With all due respect, he gave us the world cup with a fantastic knock! But sadly - I'll always remember him only for this one selfish game!

[ampere]

As every one says, I also realized, that many may have not seen Sobers, Viv, Kanai, the three Ws (Worrell/Weeks/walcot)
and the great West Indian lineage bat. This guy certainly is real carrier of that legacy,

The very reason, he scores is because as every one knows, he plays the bowl and not the bowler.
Also does not think about his score. A WI spirit of yore.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

After 43 overs - Sachin Tendulkar had 186 (134 balls).
After 43 overs - Virendar Sehwag had 196 (138 balls).

Sehwag got out in the 47th over, and still managed 219. Sachin played till 50 overs and managed 200 (147 balls)! The difference?

From 44th over to 50th over, Sachin got only 13 balls to face. Only 13 balls in 7 overs !!!

This post is not to prove Sachin is better/ Sehwag is better. Just to vent out my hatred and frustration (once again) towards the man who tried to take away that moment from Sachin. I remember that moment - me and my room-mates were sitting on the floor praying for the first ODI double century, and one selfish guy just wouldnt rotate the strike back to tendulkar. Who is he?

With all due respect, he gave us the world cup with a fantastic knock! But sadly - I'll always remember him only for this one selfish game!

^^

Sir,

I believe you're being a little harsh.

Let me explain.

You see, I'm a die-hard Sachin fan, and nothing will give me more pleasure (well, actually not nothing ) than a Test or ODI 100 by Sachin. And when he was just short of his 200, I wanted to give Dhoni a piece of my mind for hogging the strike. And then I realized something. 200, just like 100, is just another number. Sure, it's a landmark that reflects his performance through the years yada yada yada. But do figures and numbers really tell you the true story?

What Dhoni was trying to do that day, was win the match for us. And winning a match is always the higher priority, IMO. Landmarks and records can wait another day, and even if they don't come, it's okay.

I've realized, that these landmarks and comparisons and figures and records are killing the game slowly. Especially in India.

I believe that there are many reasons why Dhoni might have acted in that fashion that day. Could it be because Sachin himself told him to do that? Maybe Sachin wanted to catch a breath and hit the landmark-achieving runs in a calmer frame of mind. Perhaps he was tired and didn't want to be on strike? Maybe Sachin wanted the score board to continue ticking and he knew that if he was on strike, he would take a long time to get to the milestone and in the process, waste a few deliveries that could otherwise be put away?

I'm not supporting Dhoni here, but I believe that before we jump to conclusions and make allegations against our players, we need to try and analyze the situation and understand the reason for their acts. Some things are hard to explain, especially in sports. I'm sure Dhoni wasn't being selfish.

EDIT: I believe that you should remember Dhoni for his wonderful knock in the WC final, and NOT for his alleged 'selfish' act of depriving Sachin of the milestone, which he eventually achieved anyway, right?

Please don't take any offense, Sir, I do not mean any harm.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Sir,

I believe you're being a little harsh. Let me explain.

I am sorry i might be! But what I have written is what I believe!

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Could it be because Sachin himself told him to do that?

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Perhaps he was tired and didn't want to be on strike?

Could be!

But 47.4 to 49.3 - Not even a single ball was given to Sachin, who had 199 runs on the board.

Even at 49.3 - it was a call for two, except for a brilliant piece of fielding by Amla which restricted it to 1 run.

And, it looks like Dhoni decided to have a go at the bowlers himself -
Dhoni: "Once Viru got out it was important to get some runs. Dinesh and Sachin batted really well. We were eyeing 350 when they were going strong. But Sachin batted through the innings and he played really well, using the pace of the ball when he got tired. Yusuf was sent up the order and with the talent he's got, he can be a great asset to the side. I have changed my batting, but the situation demanded that kind [attacking] of innings.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

He would take a long time to get to the milestone and in the process, waste a few deliveries that could otherwise be put away?

Dhoni scored 68 out of 35 balls, while Sachin scored 32 of 19 balls (After Dhoni came out to bat).

Even under the stress of reaching a milestone in cricketing history - Sachin almost matched Dhoni in strike rate! Now, imagine what would have been the case had he got a few balls to spare after completing 200.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

but I believe that before we jump to conclusions and make allegations against our players, we need to try and analyze the situation and understand the reason for their acts. Some things are hard to explain, especially in sports. I'm sure Dhoni wasn't being selfish.

EDIT: I believe that you should remember Dhoni for his wonderful knock in the WC final, and NOT for his alleged 'selfish' act of depriving Sachin of the milestone, which he eventually achieved anyway, right?

Please don't take any offense, Sir, I do not mean any harm.

We may never be able to understand what happened that day. But my opinion was not from a sudden realisation. Whatever reasoning I do, i end up with the same conclusion. Sad - because I have to admit - he is one of the best captains in Indian cricket - ever.

PS - No 'sir', please!

[Fordmanchau]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

I believe that there are many reasons why Dhoni might have acted in that fashion that day. Could it be because Sachin himself told him to do that? Maybe Sachin wanted to catch a breath and hit the landmark-achieving runs in a calmer frame of mind. Perhaps he was tired and didn't want to be on strike? Maybe Sachin wanted the score board to continue ticking and he knew that if he was on strike, he would take a long time to get to the milestone and in the process, waste a few deliveries that could otherwise be put away?

Whatever may be the reason, the logic says that the batsmen who has been playing through the innings, will have his eyes set and will know better how the pitch is behaving. Moreover, he would have played all the bowlers through the innings and can guess better how the bowler will improvise. So , by all means Sachin should have got more strike, even if he was tired, all the more so when he was so close to a historic landmark.
If he would have been tired either he will put a ball to boundary or rotate the strike and take singles, but he had to face more balls.

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I am sorry i might be! But what I have written is what I believe!
But 47.4 to 49.3 - Not even a single ball was given to Sachin, who had 199 runs on the board.
Dhoni scored 68 out of 35 balls, while Sachin scored 32 of 19 balls (After Dhoni came out to bat).

Thanks Crazy driver for putting up these stats. I never looked at this angle. I suppose I was too happy for Sachin to look at any other way. I am only too glad that Sachin got to this landmark before Sehwag.
But then there's no doubting anyone's talent.

Both of them are our jewels to cherish.

[harry10]

Sehwag is phenomenal.
However i will rate Sachin's innings better not cos i am a big fan but cos it came against the attack which had steyn and morkel in it who are rated top class bowlers. And SA fielding is top notch.
We can safely assume if it was against SA the catch which was dropped at 170 would had not happened.
Having said that only sehwag could have broke the record and somehow i believe he wont stop here.

The best thing is we have him now in form and hungry which augurs very well for the trip to Aus as that is where who scores what really matters!

[Swanand Inamdar]

Chris Gayle's tweet couldnt have said it better - "This is child abuse"!.
No, I aint arguing that Sehwag's innings was better than Sachin's.

After all, Sehwag is the first human to reach a double ton in ODI's. The first one to get there was the God of cricket himself!

P.S: I, for one am happy, that it was an Indian who broke Sachin's record. And an Indian, who considers Sachin his role model at that!

[Warhound]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

After 43 overs - Sachin Tendulkar had 186 (134 balls).
After 43 overs - Virendar Sehwag had 196 (138 balls).

Sehwag got out in the 47th over, and still managed 219. Sachin played till 50 overs and managed 200 (147 balls)! The difference?

From 44th over to 50th over, Sachin got only 13 balls to face. Only 13 balls in 7 overs !!!

This post is not to prove Sachin is better/ Sehwag is better. Just to vent out my hatred and frustration (once again) towards the man who tried to take away that moment from Sachin. I remember that moment - me and my room-mates were sitting on the floor praying for the first ODI double century, and one selfish guy just wouldnt rotate the strike back to tendulkar. Who is he?

With all due respect, he gave us the world cup with a fantastic knock! But sadly - I'll always remember him only for this one selfish game!

Boss you are dead wrong on this one.

Towards the end of the game, Sachin was sapped of all energy in his body. With so few wickets lost, it was a strategy to give maximum strike to Dhoni (and others that came after him) while sachin calmly rotated the strike. He did not want to get out trying to accelerate and in turn miss out his double.

Look at it from the above perspective. What would you do if you were in his place ?! If you took max strike and slowed the RR, you would be blamed for being selfish in order to get double. He did what was right for India, and in turn got his milestone as well.

[srishiva]

Maybe the opinions here show something about Indian cricket fans and not the players themselves.
Great innings by Sehwag. Hope to see a great test innings in Australia.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

This post is not to prove Sachin is better/ Sehwag is better. Just to vent out my hatred and frustration (once again) towards the man who tried to take away that moment from Sachin. I remember that moment - me and my room-mates were sitting on the floor praying for the first ODI double century, and one selfish guy just wouldnt rotate the strike back to tendulkar. Who is he?

It is this sad taste of the Indian cricket fan that has put so much pressure on Sachin and it will not stop until he retires from Cricket. Dhoni played a brilliant innings that day as good as the one he played in the WC final, if not for that innings, there would have been so much pressure on sachin to get the score close to 400 and he could have got out trying more. IMHO, it was Dhoni's calm approach that allowed sachin to get the 200 with ease.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

And then I realized something. 200, just like 100, is just another number. Sure, it's a landmark that reflects his performance through the years yada yada yada. But do figures and numbers really tell you the true story?

What Dhoni was trying to do that day, was win the match for us. And winning a match is always the higher priority, IMO. Landmarks and records can wait another day, and even if they don't come, it's okay.

I've realized, that these landmarks and comparisons and figures and records are killing the game slowly. Especially in India.

+ 10000 to that.