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A raging debate

Technique and craft have to be perfected to suit the era, writes Makarand Waingankar

One ongoing debate among former international cricketers and connoisseurs of the game in Mumbai is about the different styles of play between Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar.

One an opener, the other a middle order batsman. Both living legends.

An interesting point in the debate is that Gavaskar not only played without a helmet and opened the innings but also faced ferocious fast bowlers who were permitted to bowl an entire over of bouncers.

The opposition knew that once he was gone, not too many runs could be put on the board, so unreliable was the middle order. That was the pressure under which he had to perform all the time.

Not many of present generation are aware that as a teenager Gavaskar was as aggressive as Tendulkar. On numerous occasions he scored a century before lunch and a double hundred before tea. Once he entered the international arena, he changed his approach.

Run machine

If Gavaskar was a run machine, Tendulkar used the bat like an AK-47. When former Mumbai Test players saw Tendulkar play a Test at 15, they were all convinced that because of his peculiar bottom hand grip he would be sorted out by professional international bowlers. However, Tendulkar was not prepared to be a slave of any technique.

But is Tendulkar the same? He insists that he can’t be what he was 15 years ago, yet Kapil Dev disagrees. “It’s a mindset,” says Kapil.

Before the New Zealand series Kapil had said: “If Tendulkar decides to play attacking cricket, he will realise that he can play the way he was doing 15 years ago. Bowlers then will have to think of containing him and not how to get him out.”

Kapil made another observation when talking about Gavaskar and Tendulkar.

“It was a victory for India when Gavaskar ensured a draw. I doubt Gavaskar would have curbed his strokeplay if he had the same backing of a good batting line-up that Tendulkar has. Why should then Tendulkar play like Gavaskar when the present batting line-up is quite good?”

Pertinent point

The debate touches a very important point whether Tendulkar, if he had been in Gavaskar’s place would have curbed his natural instinct?

Going by the history of Tendulkar’s knocks under pressure, he would have adapted to those situations, but a gifted Tendulkar would have had to curb his stroke-making knowing fully well that there was no solid batting order.

At the fag end of his career, Gavaskar exhibited his repertoire of strokes especially against the West Indies at Delhi in 1983 while scoring his 29th century and later at Nagpur against New Zealand in the 1987 World Cup match.

Gavaskar was concentration personified but when it mattered he played some lovely shots in front of the wicket. Tendulkar showed that experience is a virtue that helps read situations.

The enjoyment that one sees on his face while implementing the plans comes naturally to him, as was seen in the recent series.

It is unfair to conclude that one style is necessarily better than the other, for the craft and technique has to be continually perfected to suit the era and the kind of cricket that is played.

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