Virat Kohli: Sachin Tendulkar makes massive confession about Indian captain ahead of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales
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The Virat Kohli-led Indian Cricket team has departed for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 in England and Wales on Tuesday. That Kohli would be the most vital cog in the Indian wheel for their World Cup campaign, is a given. But, batting legend and part of India’s 2011 World Cup triumph, Sachin Tendulkar dismisses the fact regarding India’s over-reliance on their skipper- Virat Kohli.
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Having perhaps realized the importance of an all-round team effort, which led him achieve his all-time dream, the cricketing legend exclaimed that Kohli will indeed require the help of his teammates to lift the World Cup for the 3rd time in history.
“Without team support, you can’t do much”- Tendulkar
In an interview with PTI, the legend was asked if Kohli will carry the same burden like he did, specifically during the 1996, 1999 and 2003 editions. The Master Blaster in reply said,”“I think you will always have a couple of individuals stepping up every game but without team support, you can’t do much. Just because of one individual, you can’t win a tournament. No way. Unless, others chip in at every crucial stage. If that doesn’t happen, there will be disappointment.
Sachin had earlier cleared the air over the much debatable India’s no.4 spot for the World Cup.
He however, has different issue. Tendulkar is worried regarding how the bowlers have completely been taken outside the equation in white-ball cricket, with little or no reverse swing for the fast bowlers at their disposal. He thus opined that the earlier balance (which was present during his times) has shifted towards the batsmen.
In reference to the recently concluded England vs Pakistan ODI series, where both the teams were regularly posting totals in excess of 340, Tendulkar said,”It’s become one sided with introduction of two new balls and flat pitches have made lives of bowlers much more difficult. One team is scoring 350 and the other is chasing down inside 45 overs.”
“When we played and there was one new ball, it would start reversing from 28th or 30th over. Some teams could get it to reverse even earlier. At the death, the ball would go soft, even get discoloured. These were challenges that batsmen faced. But now the ball remains hard and the bats are getting better,” lamented Tendulkar.
“The ball is staying hard. I mean when was the last time you saw reverse swing in ODIs?” he further questioned.
On Kuldeep and Chahal
Even though the legend felt that the balance has shifted towards the batsmen, he feels that the two Indian wrist spinners will be an asset for India during the World Cup. There is a rather popular notion that once the batsmen start reading a spinner well, his potency starts diminishing. To this, the master gave the consummate example of the legendary spinner, Muttiah Murlidharan.
“Let’s understand this. There are a number of bowlers who have been read well by batters but yet they end up getting a lot of wickets. Agreed the Aussies read them (Kuldeep and Chahal in the India vs Australia home series) well, but does that mean they wouldn’t be committing mistakes or can’t be forced to commit mistakes”, Sachin said.
“Murali basically bowled two deliveries – traditional off-breaks and doosra. It’s not that batsmen never read Murali but he still ended up getting wickets,” the 46-year-old said.
The maestro further asserted that an error of judgement can happen to the best in the business. And it requires only a difference of a couple of inches for the bat to middle the ball, and for it to take an edge.
“There is a thing called error in judgement and that can happen with best of batsmen. You may think ball would turn four inches but there is eight-inch turn. The distance between middling the ball and edging it is a mere deviation of less than two inches. Even when you know that an outswinger had been bowled, you still edge it,” he said.
