Sachin Tendulkar retirement: Shane Warne pays rich tribute to batting legend

Legendary Australian spinner Shane Warne has paid rich tribute to Sachin Tendulkar terming him the "best batsman" of his generation and said that there won't be another player like the retiring Indian great in years to come.

"Sachin Tendulkar was the best batsman of my generation and it will be a privilege to be in Mumbai this week to commentate on the first two days of his final Test," Warne, who is expected to be present in Mumbai for the iconic batsman's 200th and final Test match, said,

Warne, the second highest wicket-taker in the history of Test cricket, had many interesting duels with the Indian legend and feels that Tendulkar was the "best in all conditions against all types of bowling" and also possessed a wonderful temperament.

"The pressure he was under from the India public was immense but he handled himself on and off the field in a way that was respected by all," Warne wrote in his column for the Daily Telegraph.

Tendulkar, who is all set to become the first man to play 200 Test matches, has almost all the records in his kitty, including highest number of runs in both Tests and ODIs as well as 100 international centuries. But for Warne, Tendulkar's feats can't merely be measured by a few numbers.

"There will not be another Sachin Tendulkar. I always teach young players that cricket is not about averages even if it is a stats-based game. It is about how and when you score runs or take wickets. The great players deliver when the team is up against it and statistics do not tell you the truth about such things. Sachin is far more than a man with great numbers to boast about," Warne wrote.

Warne termed the phase between 1994 and 2000 as the best years of Tendulkar in international cricket.

"His best years were between 1994 and 2000 when he was just brilliant. He is still a very good player but it is hard to compare the Sachin of today to the man of 15 years ago."

"In the mid-1990s, he was phenomenal against the quicks and spin. He judged the length of a ball so quickly, which enabled him to have a lot more time to play the right shot or let it go."

According to Warne, Tendulkar kept the basics of batting pretty simple.

"Sachin also kept it very simple. He was still at the crease so, if it was pitched, up he drove it, if it was short, he pulled it. It was his judgment of length and clarity in his head with shot selection that made him so dominant against all opposition bowlers in all sorts of conditions." Warne wrote.

As per Warne's assessment, next to Tendulkar would be West Indian Brian Lara, who according to the leggie was "more destructive than Sachin".

"Second on my list would be Brian Lara. We all used to love watching Lara bat except when you had a ball in your hand and he was probably more destructive than Sachin. A third pool of players would include Jacques Kallis, Graham Gooch, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh and Kevin Pietersen but there is a fair distance between those guys and Lara and Tendulkar."

For Warne, the two stand-out Tendulkar innings were his 155 on a difficult Chennai track in 1998 and 241 in Sydney in 2003-04 when he didn't hit a single cover drive for almost 10 hours.

"I saw Sachin play some great innings but two stand out. In the 1998 Test in Chennai I dismissed him fifth ball in the first innings. In the second, he hit me for six second or third ball and went on to make 155 in tough conditions to set up India to win the Test.

"Six years later at the Sydney Cricket Ground he made 241, his first Test double-century. I was injured at the time so was commentating but I had a great view of his innings from the box. He had been dismissed a few times in that series by Australia bowling full and wide. He nicked off to slip and the keeper and went into the Sydney Test on the back of scores of 0, 1, 37, 0 and 44."

Warne recalled how Tendulkar curbed his natural instinct to play a cover drive.

"He [Tendulkar] decided he would respond by not playing a cover drive. Now the cover drive is a fairly large part of a batsman?s armoury. When bowlers are pitching it up and trying to swing it you tend to play a lot of cover drives, but he did not play a single one in more than 10 hours at the crease. It summed up his mental strength."

Warne, who has 708 wickets from 145 Tests, said that it was quite flattering he alongwith Tendulkar was considered as the best batsman and bowler of that generation.

"A lot of people have said, quite flatteringly, that we are the best batter and bowler of our generation. It is nice to be in that company but it is even more special that away from it all we have got to know each other and his friendship is important to me and something I respect."

Enjoying Mark Knopfler's guitar tunes with earphones plugged at Tendulkar's residence was a "fascinating experience" for him.

Warne was sporting in admitting that most of their duels was won by Tendulkar.

"We had a lot of battles on the field and generally he won. I got him out three times in 12 Tests and most of the time it felt like his testimonial whenever he played against Australia because he would just make another hundred.

"One of my favourite dismissals was getting him out with a straight one that he failed to pick in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne in 1999. He padded up and I had him lbw which was very satisfying, but generally he was on top."

One of the most cherished moments for Warne was being invited along with Tendulkar to Sir Don's 90th birthday.

"Sir Donald Bradman paid him the ultimate compliment. On his 90th birthday, he asked to meet two cricketers, Sachin and myself. We went to his house in Adelaide together and shared a special day. We were both a bit shy and quiet when we met Sir Don but treasure the few hours we had with the great man talking about the modern game and how he used to prepare."

"He [Sir Don] told us the biggest improvement in the modern game was fielding and he said his preparation was going to the office for a few hours before walking down to the Adelaide Oval for a few throw downs. It is a bit different to hydration tests and three hours of warm-ups before the game these days."

"Before we left, I remember he said to Sachin that he loved the way he batted and of all modern players he reminded him the most of himself. You can?t get a greater accolade than that," Warne concluded.

HowZat - Real-action cricket game

HowZat is the world’s first free real-action cricket game, that’s multiplayer, and combines managerial features with real-cricketing ability. As a batsman, you have access to over 19 cricketing shots, and when bowling, you get to use our innovative swing/spin meter to trick the batsman out! Seriously, we should patent that thing.

HowZat fuses real cricket action with manager functionality, enabling players to set up, evolve and play with their own team right within your browser, with no installation required. Batting teams enjoy 20 shots for a realistic simulation of the game, while the bowling side can chose from a variety of deliveries. Players improve their teams over time by earning ‘Points’. Users are even offered the option to customize their player names, team uniforms to any color they wish.

Batting
Timing & Shot Selection is everything!

You may use every little cricketing trick in the book to outplay your opponent. When batting, Timing and Shot selection are the most important factors determining how your batsman will perform.

Choose your shot before the ball is delivered

Keep the arrow keys pressed down to choose your shot. For example, holding down the Down and Right key will select the Cover drive.

Play along the ground or take a risk and loft it!

Screenshot

Use Z or X to time your shot. Using Z will execute a normal grounded shot. X will attempt a riskier lofted shot.

Don’t forget to run between the wickets!

Make runs by scoring boundaries, or run with Space bar. Look at the batting meter to see your batsmen run.

Plan out your batting order

When a batsman you control gets out, the popup window gives you a chance to change your batting order.

Let your batsmen improve by winning points!

Once you’ve accumulated Points through your wins, or by inviting friends to play, head over to the Manage team page to make your batsmen better. Their shots will now be hit harder and go further!

Bowling

Bowl to your field!

The most important thing you need to know about bowling is that you should always bowl to your field. You can choose your field setting at the beginning of each over.
Set the pointer, and then choose the delivery

Set the pointer where you want to deliver the bowl with the Up Down Left Right keys. Lock it in place with the Z key.
Trick the batsman by mixing it up

Use the Bowling meter to your advantage. Our innovative meter melds Speed with Swing/Spin into one package, remember to mix it up.
Try new bowling strategies

In the 5 over game, each player can only bowl one over. Change your default bowlers at the end of the over and develop new strategies. In the shorter game, anything is possible – try an off spinner to open your bowling!

Management

No points = Bad team! Use points wisely.

You can only go so far playing the game and not upgrading your players. Each time you win a match (and sometimes even when you lose!), you’re awarded some Points. You can use these Points to upgrade individuals in your team to become better players.

Adjust skill sets strategically

Each player (except the Wicketkeeper) has two separate skill sets, based on their role in the team, specifically, Batting and Bowling.

Try new bowling strategies

Each Team is composed of a mixture of Batsmen, Bowlers, All Rounders (Max 2) and a Wicketkeeper. Restrictions are set on how good a bowler your batsman can become – to keep things realistic!

Customize players to add depth to your team

On the Manage team page, you can click on individual players to add points to them, or just change other attributes like their name or playing style.

Establish your team’s identity

Click the Team Settings tab to customize the look and feel of your team. Change your logo, colors or name – you’re Player, Captain, Coach and Manager!

Try new bowling strategies

Who is the fastest bowler India has ever produced?

Who is the fastest bowler India has ever produced? You dont beleive. but its True..

It is the one and only Javagal Srinath..

Srinath's success against the Proteas had continued with a successful return tour of South Africa, where he took another 18 wickets in just 3 games - and to the shock of the South African press topped Allan Donald and a young Lance Klusener consistently on the speed guns averaging in the low 150 kmph range. In fact he made headlines at home by having one particular ball clock 156 kmph, i.e. just a notch or so below the magical figure of 100 miles per hour. It wasn't the only time Srinath outdid the bigger names on the speed radars - in 1998, he was clocking 148 kmh in comparison to the Aussie pace spearhead of the time, Glenn McGrath, who didn't top 141 kmh.

"Sir" Tendulkar

1. First Cricketer who score first 200* in ODI
2 Highest Run scorer in the ODI 17598*
3 Most runs in a calendar year 1894
4 Highest Run scorer in the test 13447
5 Most number of hundreds in the ODI 46
6 Most hundreds in a calendar year 9
7 Most number of nineties in the ODI 18
8 Most number Dismissed for 99 3
9 Most number of man of the matches(60) in the ODI’s
10 Most number of 100’s in test’s 47
11 Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI’s
12 Most number of Fifties and fifty+ in ODI’s 93 & 139
13 Most hundreds against one team Aus 9 Sri 8
14 Best average for man of the matches in ODI’s
15 First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI
16 First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI
17 He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)
18 Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup
19 Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16
20 Most number of runs in the 2003 world cup 673 runs in 2003 Cricket World Cup, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup
21 He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
22. Most fours in ODI 1927
23 He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.
24 He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so
25 He is thus far the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest sporting honor
26 In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar as d No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player
27. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.
28 he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli,
29. Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts
30 In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire
31 Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them.
32. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI’s 7 times
33. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI’s most by any batsman
34. He is the highest earning cricketer in the world
35 He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match. Out of his 56 man of the match awards only 5 times India has lost.
36 Tendulkar most number man of match awards(10) against Australia
37. In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.
38. In December 2006, he was named “Sports person of the Year
39. The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi
among others.
40. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket
41. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket:79 centuries
42. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+Twenty20s), as of 30 June 2007 he had accumulated almost 26,000 runs overall.
43. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 8227 runs
44. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record
45. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999
46. Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches – a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
47. Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998
48. Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (46 Centuries and 93 Fifties)(as of 18th Nov, 2007)
49. The only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 and 15,000 run marks IN ODI.
50. Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (200* against SA at Gwaliyor in 2010).
51. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.
52. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs
53. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds
54. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185
55. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world
56. When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century
57. Tendulkar’s record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record
58. Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side
59. Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations.[7] He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten
60. Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs – 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the only
other Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs
61. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.
62. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara’s (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home
63. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings
64. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches
65. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.
66. Tendulkar is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), Shane Warne (145 Tests) have appeared in more
games than Tendulkar
67. Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches(144) for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances).
68. First to 25,000 international runs
69. Tendulkar’s 25,016 runs in international cricket include 14,537 runs in ODI’s, 10,469 Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.
70. On December 10, 2005, Tendulkar made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar’s record of 34 centuries to become the man
with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.
71. Tendulkar is the only player who has 150 wkts and more than 15000 runs in ODI
72. Tendulkar is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests
73. Only batsman to have 100 hundreds in the first class cricket
74. In August of 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the “Greatest Sportsman” of the country in the sport personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee News.

Sehwag storms to fifth spot in ICC rankings

Virender Sehwag on Wednesday squalled into the top five of the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen by virtue of his superlative double-century against Sri Lanka in the third Test in Mumbai.

Sehwag's 293, which turned out to be the cornerstone of his side's victory that ultimately gave India the number-one position in the ICC Test Championship table for the first time, has rocketed him 14 places to the fifth position which he shares with Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf.

Sehwag's Delhi teammate Gautam Gambhir leads the batting table with Sri Lanka duo of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara placed at second and third spot respectively.

It is the first time since October 2006 that Sehwag has returned to the top five.

From the Mumbai Test alone, the 31-year-old Delhi dasher has gained 91 points which makes him one of the six batsmen above the 800-point mark.

It has been an outstanding and memorable series for Sehwag who not only scored 491 runs in four innings but also gained 16 places in the batting table after starting the series on the 21st position.

Also moving in the right direction are the Indian pair of Rahul Dravid (16th) - up by two places - and VVS Laxman (19th), who improved his position by a rung.

Australia vice-captain Michael Clarke, who scored 71 and 61 not out against West Indies has also climbed one position to fourth spot but captain Ricky Ponting has dropped out of the top 10 for the first time since October 2002.

India maestro Sachin Tendulkar has also conceded two spots and now sits at 18th position after scoring 53 in the Mumbai Test.

India fast bowler Zaheer Khan, who took match figures of 6-142 in the Mumbai Test, has also gained a valuable place which has now put him inside the top 10 bowlers' chart.

The list is still headed by South Africa fast bowler Dale Steyn with Australia's Mitchell Johnson second and Muttiah Muralitharan of Sri Lanka third.

Meanwhile, Australia needs to beat the West Indies in the third and final Test starting in Perth from 16 December if they want to end 2009 in third position.