The Great Accumulator

India has just won the Third Test in Sri Lanka, levelling the series and thus redeeming some of its reputation as a number one ranked Test team. It was yet another opportunity for Sachin to lead India to victory. Alas, it was not to be! Instead it was VVS and Suresh Raina who remained unbeaten.

This is yet another instance when Sachin has failed to address the valid criticism that he is an all time great batsman, the all time highest run-getter and century maker, yet of all the opportunities presented to him to take India past the winning run, he has not converted them with the regularity that he converts his fifties to hundreds.

This is not to say that he is not a great player; he is. This not to say that he has not won for India; he has; after all, he has won the most MoM in the history of cricket - they could not all be losing causes. Many have been to steer India to victory.

Yet, yet, yet. If proportions were a criteria, then the greatness that Sachin has attained as an accumulator of centuries and of runs is leagues ahead of the reputation he has, and it seems now, that he will have (for he has far few seasons left to redress the balance), as a finisher of games. This quality too is an essential component of greatness. A great batsman also carries the the great responsibility to steer his team to victory. And if Sachin has been the undisputed great batsman of this era (he has!),  then he has decidedly not been a great finisher.

This is a fact that we must accept and also regret. Regret because, at least in my books, its a flaw that keeps Sachin away from the mantle of true greatness. Just as a truly great batsman scores the most runs and centuries for his team in his career, and he is given every opportunity to score these runs and centuries, so too must a truly great batsman ensure that it is he and not lesser batsmen who take the team past the winning run. Sachin does not make this cut.

I put this down to a flaw in the character. Perhaps luck also has a part to play. Perhaps he tries too hard? Perhaps he feels the burden more heavily than the others. After all, for example, had VVS failed today, people would not have written an article as I am now, decrying the fickleness of VVS. Instead all I remember is that VVS stood up and won us as he did in the Kolkata match. For me he is the low profile hero, a genius batsman, who has flaws but is incandescent at times, and who more times than not, stands up with his team and gives it his all. I am protective about VVS, I am more forgiving.

For Sachin, I expect him be there when India wins, carrying his bat through, not succumbing despite every difficulty. I am less forgiving. It may seem unfair. But that is the flip side of being the greatest batsman of the era. Sachin should have stood up more often, he should have been there taking his team to victory more often. In this, Sachin has been a disappointment.