Sports News

Sachin Tendulkar's revelation: A marketing gimmick or a revenge against 'Multan Declaration'?

Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar has made the headlines, this time not for any feat but a controversy that his autobiography has sparked off. In his soon-to-be-released autobiography Playing It My Way, Tendulkar alleged that Greg Chappel, a former Australian all-rounder who became the coach of the Indian cricket team in 2005, had suggested him to take over as the captain from Rahul Dravid and through it they could dominate Indian cricket for years.

 Tendulkar has opened a can of worms: For Indian cricket's betterment or his book? Tendulkar's controversial claims have opened a can of worms. Soon after, Chappel himself rejected the allegations, former cricketer VVS Laxman and veteran players Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan backed Tendulkar while Rahul Dravid hit back at another former captain Sourav Ganguly over the latter's claim that he had conceded to the fact that Chappel was beyond his control. 

Sachin Tendulkar has done his stature no good by making these claims now It is saddening to see the former greats of Indian cricket re-engaging themselves in a controversy which had once affected the sports for the bad. Was it entirely necessary for Tendulkar to reopen the wounds of a bygone era? 

Has he answered other questions that make his fans more curious in the book as he has done on an issue which is subject to one's perception? What is the proof that Tendulkar is right in his stand now? Is he taking his readers for granted? Tendulkar has made a serious claim

 Why was he silent about Chappel's sinister design all these years? Autobiographies are vulnerable to subjective opinions and can never be a sound basis to judge history. If Chappel had hatched a mega plan to ruin Indian cricket and wanted to make Tendulkar a part of it, why didn't the latter, who always said the country comes first for him, react at the appropriate time? Why did he hide the 'truth' all these years? For his own selfish gains? Tendulkar's captaincy record was pathetic

 Chappel wanted to make use of a poor captain? The second question that arises: Why would Chappel suggest Tendulkar to take over the captaincy back? Even though Dravid's captaincy record was ordinary, still it ranks better when compared to that of the Master Blaster (In test matches, both captained in 25 games but while Dravid led to 8 wins, Tendulkar only 4; in one-day matches, Dravid's team won 42 out of 79 games while Tendulkar's just 23 out of 73).

 So, if Chappel was indeed thinking of backing Tendulkar as the captain (who had left the top job twice by then), he was doing it with a sinister plan of harming Indian cricket. Again, why didn't Tendulkar escalate the issue just after coming to know about it? 

He was perhaps too busy climbing his Everest of tons then that he forgot to take care of the team as its senior-most member. Still we call him a team man? Tendulkar's move has boomeranged. Tendulkar could have backed Ganguly who was fighting it alone against Chappel then A third question arises about Tendulkar's commitment towards the captain under whom India reasserted itself in world cricket. 

Sourav Ganguly had taken over the reins of Indian cricket at a time when the match-fixing scandal had left it shamed. In the next few years, it was under Ganguly's leadership that India achieved some great cricketing feats, both at home and abroad, including drawing a test series with the mighty Australia and beating Pakistan on their home turf.

 It was during the test match in Melbourne Down Under in 2004 that Ganguly didn't hesitate to shield an out-of-form Tendulkar and went out to bat before him in the second innings. Yet the 'God' didn't bless the captain when the latter had an open fight with the Australian coach in 2005.

 A firm stand shown by Tendulkar could have answered several questions at that point of time. Now, why is saying all this? A marketing gimmick as many Bollywood directors do by trying to shock and surprise the audience before the release of their new creation? Or is it a tactical revenge against Dravid for the 'Multan Declaration' of 2004? Or may be Tendulkar found a way to avenge the declaration that stand-in Dravid made in Multan in Pakistan in 2004 when he was just six short of a double century. 

A sportsman is known to be strong in psychological games and Tendulkar might have involved Dravid's name in his revelations on Chappel just to show to the world that he was still a better captain material than the Wall and the Australian coach tried to make use of that, albeit in a negative way.

 Whatever it is, Tendulkar has undoubtedly played it his way in his autobiography. And as the name suggests, it is exclusively his way and there is no reason to take it as a universal truth. The irony though is that Tendulkar made a mistake he hardly did in his playing days, i.e., courting a controversy. But that was the story of a sportsman. Now, may be it's time for a politician's story to unfold.

Real Madrid 1 Liverpool 0, match report: Brendan Rodgers's new-look side hit by Karim Benzema

Five minutes after the final whistle confirmed a defeat inevitable the moment the team-sheets were handed in, 4,500 Liverpool fans launched into one of their favourite songs: “In Istanbul, we won it five times.” 

Liverpool possess such a famous heritage in Europe because they traditionally played with ambition, belief and defiance, played with full-strength sides. They trampled on such a fabled lore last night. 

The history of Liverpool in Europe does not contain many episodes of fielding weakened sides, of leaving their leading lights in the dark, hidden in the back of a luxury dug-out until gradually introduced three-quarters into the game. Liverpool actually looked a threat when Steven Gerrard, Raheem Sterling and Philippe Coutinho came on. Surprise, surprise, as one of Merseyside’s most celebrated characters would say. 

When Gerrard finally arrived, Real fans demonstrated their respect with warm applause. They recognise class. It seemed similarly strange to start Sterling against Middlesbrough in the Capital One Cup but not against Real Madrid in the Champions League, although the teenager eventually came on with Gerrard. 

In the interests of fairness it also needs stating that Liverpool fans sang loudly in support of Brendan Rodgers, who rested his A-list in preparation for Saturday’s Premier League game with Chelsea. (Chelsea play away in Europe 24 hours later than Liverpool, having a complicated journey home, and then travel north; do the maths). 

Rodgers has many fine qualities, and is a worthy leader, but his gamble here failed. Liverpool lost. Rodgers can dress it up any way he likes, rightly praising Kolo Touré, lauding Alberto Moreno, pointing out that they restricted the champions of Europe to only one goal, and managing to halt the prolific spree of Cristiano Ronaldo, who had scored in his previous 11 games in La Liga and the Champions League. But these are minor details, like saying the bull looked OK as the matador closed in for the kill. Liverpool still lost. They managed one shot on target in 90 minutes. They lost. 

For all their understandable support for Rodgers, it seemed wounding to the Liverpool fans who flocked to Madrid, including a young girl from Syria with her home-made 'You’ll Never Walk Alone’ banner. They love the European Cup with a passion, got into the ground early to hang up all their flags, proclaiming themselves 'European Royalty’ and then found Gerrard, Sterling, Jordan Henderson, Philippe Coutinho, Glen Johnson and Mario Balotelli on the bench. 

Only if a full-strength, refreshed Liverpool defeat Chelsea to gain three valuable Premier League points will Rodgers be able to claim some form of vindication. Only if they qualify to the knock-out stage, which they will if beating Ludogorets away and Basel at home, will Rodgers have got away with his game of risk in Castille. 

But even then what happened at the Bernabeu was not in the club’s traditions. The concept of damage limitation should not be in their psyche. Liverpool are the club of Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness and Gerrard, a club synonymous with being winners in Europe. They are a club who spent five years trying to get back into the Champions League, celebrating when Rodgers steered them into the promised land, craving fixtures like Real Madrid in the Bernabeu. So why not have a go? 

Liverpool’s best performer was goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who made vital saves and must have bruised knuckles from all his punching out of free-kicks and shots. 

Joe Allen and Fabio Borini kicked off, the Italian taking up the lone striker’s role with the Welshman in support through the middle flanked by Lazar Markovic and the left-sided Adam Lallana. Emre Can and Lucas anchored midfield. They were mainly on the back foot in a first half that saw Real have 13 attempts on goal, six of them on target. 

Liverpool’s resistance was broken after 27 minutes. There was an air of inevitability about it. Real had been so imperious in their previous 11 games, all wins, amassing 46 goals, that the momentum continued, a tide of white washing over the men in red. Yet Liverpool were never embarrassed. They fought hard in defeat. 

Until Benzema exploited lax marking by Touré, Liverpool had been doing well, composed and compact, intercepting the ball, surviving occasional scares. They were still hugely indebted to Mignolet, who had to be alert after three minutes when James Rodríguez let fly. 

Six minutes later, Martin Skrtel miscontrolled the ball, gifting Benzema a chance to run down the inside-left channel. The Frenchman played the ball back to Ronaldo, who let the ball run across him before connecting very deliberately with his right foot. Mignolet again excelled, stretching out his right hand and tipping the ball over. 

On it came, these waves of hurt. Javi Manquillo was nutmegged by the magnificent Marcelo, who was rampaging down the left as usual. On it went, Touré stopping a Rodríguez run, Skrtel blocking a Toni Kroos shot and Lallana dispossessing Luka Modric, who was dictating the flow of the game. 

Mignolet continued to keep the European champions at bay for 27 minutes, pushing away Ronaldo’s left-footed shot, after the Portuguese dribbled past Markovic and Manquillo. These did not even scratch Real’s armour. The European champions stayed patient in the utter belief that they would score. After 26 minutes, Gerrard and Henderson came out to warm up, and were so unused to it that they had to return for bibs. As they began to stretch their legs down the touchline, running towards the applauding Liverpool fans, Real were cutting their defence apart. 

Isco found the overlapping Marcelo, who delivered his cross too quickly for Manquillo to react. Liverpool were badly caught out. Believing Benzema was offside, Liverpool’s defence switched off, allowing Real’s No 9 to slide in and score at the far post. Touré was culpable, simply paying insufficient attention to Benzema. 

Real would have made it more by the break but for Mignolet, who dealt well with a fizzing Ronaldo free-kick that moved right late. Mignolet punched it out. Ronaldo stood there, hands on his hips, looking disgusted that he had been denied the goal that would have equaled Raul’s Champions League scoring record of 71. 

Dogged before the break, Liverpool played with more fluency in the second half. After 55 minutes, they even registered their first shot on target but Iker Casillas dealt comfortably with Moreno’s shot. Lallana then shot wide before a Borini free-kick was deflected wide. 

Carlo Ancelotti sought to pep up his attack, sending on Gareth Bale for Rodríguez. After 68 minutes, Rodgers unleashed Sterling for Markovic and Gerrard for Lucas. After Bale hit the bar from Marcelo’s cross, Rodgers twisted again, sending on Coutinho for Can. 

Moreno blotted a good display with seven minutes left when he was caught out by Bale’s run, bringing the flying Welshman down just before he entered the box. With the position far right of centre, the left-footed Bale took responsibility, whipping in a free-kick that Mignolet punched out. Gerrard, Coutinho and Sterling gave Liverpool hope but it was too late.