John Buchanan, ex-Australian coach and sacked Kolkata Knight Riders coach has made a scathing remark against Sachin Tendulkar and has charged that the Bombay bomber is unfit for the Twenty20 format of the game as he is neither inventive nor is he fearless. Whilst the sacked coach does not cast doubt on the talismanic Indian’s greatness in Test cricket or in ODI in his newly released book “The Future of Cricket: The Rise of Twenty20″.
Buchanan writes—“Tendulkar has been lauded, and rightly so, as one of the very top batsmen in the history of cricket…But is he an effective T20 player at this stage of his career? In the position he plays — as an opener of No. 3 — the T20 game requires not only the finesse and skills he has, but also the power and domination, an ability to take the bowlers on while being creative. You have to be inventive and fearless. And I don’t see those qualities as part of Sachin’s make-up at this stage of his career. Sachin Tendulkar is still a great player but not in this arena of T20.”
Buchanan also questioned the batting display of other senior players such as Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and called their strokemaking at the IPL as ’subdued.”
“…homegrown heroes such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman…were expected to influence, and on some occasions single-handedly win, IPL matches. Yet their subdued performances highlight that Test match temperament does not necessarily ensure prolonged success in the T20 game,” Buchanan said. He in fact writes down that the fab four were miserable at the shortest format of the game. “I was constantly battling with the fact that I believed he (Ganguly) — along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman — was not suited to T20 cricket,” he wrote.
“The same could be said about Rahul Dravid. Dravid is a great representative of Indian cricket, a team man, humble, a well-spoken gentleman. But unfortunately he could not score a single run in the early rounds of the IPL, and in my opinion, is not suited to this form of the game. I am certain Dravid’s performances were also affected by the off-field drama created by his franchise owner Vijay Mallya,” he said.
About Laxman, Buchanan said “he is not up to pace”. He compared Ganguly to Australian legend Ian Chappell and said, “Ganguly showed that Indian cricket could stand up for itself. He is similar in that way to Ian Chappell who stood up for what he believed and was not afraid to take on the administration,” he said.
Buchanan called his relationship with Ganguly as cordial. He calls Harbhajan Singh as a cricketer who camouflaged his actions. The Sardar has hit back at the Aussie.
“I am not surprised at this. Infact, anything coming out of Australia does not surprise me anymore. It just shows how much they love me and keep thinking about me in their minds and hearts. This is not the first time an Australian has showered his praise on me and I am pretty certain he won’t be the last one either. What surprises (offends) me are the well crafted and framed comments on proven legends like Mr Gavaskar and Sachin by someone whose coaching credentials were doubted by the acclaimed and most respected Aussie legend leg spinner (Shane Warne). The coaching credentials were tested waters again at an IPL team this year,” wrote the Sardar from Jallandhar, who has taken more than 300 wickets in Test cricket. He even hit out at the way the book was being marketed by the Aussie. “There used to be a time when action used to speak louder than words but now its vice-versa. Words draw more attention that action. At times, I wonder why all these things appear just before the launch of the book. Good luck to them,” the wily offie wrote.
While Buchanan will be busy plotting Australia’s downfall at the ongoing Ashes series that commenced at Cardiff, he has ensured that his nose-diving popularity went to ‘Ashes’ in India. Oops, Buchanan does it again!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I think the whole comments things is taken out of context and blown out of proportion and i think Bucha must be commenting about people like Gavaskar. Also wonder from where do Buchanan get wierd ideas like multiple captains
Dear Rahul,
guess you should read the updated post of what else Buchanan has written…..in his book!