Forum subject -- Celebrating Sachin: The Prem Panicker column

Celebrating Sachin:
Jarrar: jarrar@lucent.com: Hi, Perhaps its first time I cent % agree with what you penned down. Earlier I never liked your style and approach towards cricket for, in my opinon, immature approch towards cricket like sending extra bowlers to England and so on ... But here I really appricitae your approch for the simple reason that I always use to think that comparison between players accross generation is simply impossible for the fact that playing conditions and game was all together different. In today's cricket you can find an array of fielders wearing Helmets and fielding close to the bats which were absent in early days and like you said a lot of new things like reverse swing, Saqi bowling from 25 yards even 3rd umpire. Basing one's argument on mere average is rediclus as one of urdu's famous writer wrote "If one of your foot is in boiling hot water and other in freezing cold ON AVERAGE YOU ARE AT EASE" JArrar

Celebrating Sachin:
Amol: : Prem, I think this is a brilliantly written piece of article. It is a fitting reposte to a highly baseless article written by Aravind.

You have clearly stated your point and refuted the false accusations. Aravinds article clearly indicates how little he knows about cricket. Any person who relies solely on statistics to judge the abilities of a player cannot be termed as a genuine cricket correspondent. An average cricket enthusiast too can compare statistics and make some glaring observations. But a cricket correspondent needs to have a lot more insight and knowledge to fully understand the situations under which the game is played and the abilities of each player.

You have done a brilliant job in this article to demonstrate how statistics can be so mis-leading. It is highly ludicrous on Aravinds part to state that Gavaskar was as good a one-day player as sachin. And what really ticked me off was the fact that he has only used the the statistics which makes sachin looks as a average player. He has failed to look at the overall picture and i believe that he has some thing personal against sachin, the way he has twisted statistics to prove that sachin is a completely over-rated player.

Very often statistics dont tell the ture picture. The players do. Ask Warne, Steve Waugh, Henry Olanga and numberous other bowlers and captains and they will tell you what the true worth of sachin is -- not some cricket correspondent who can twist numbers to convey only part of the story.

Celebrating Sachin:
Kunal: kunald@hotmail.com: Nice work Prem ...

Celebrating Sachin:
JAYAKUMAR JANAKIRAMAN: jaykumarj89@hotmail.com: What a reply !!! You just conveyed our thoughts Prem, We love u prem for your writing. But please don't publish those sort of STATISTICAL STUPID THINGS ON BIRTHDAY of OUR SACHIN , MY SACHIN, MY HEART, MY SOUL SACHIN, MY EVERYTHING SACHIN. REGARDS JAY

Celebrating Sachin:
LNarayanan: LNARASI@hotmail.com: awesome u r a young bright correspondent



Celebrating Sachin:
Kezza: themermaid@hotmail.com: Bravo Mr.P!! Putting one in their place without to much humility. But then you have that 'bright young' memory we the simple reader are merely trying to achieve. No offence intended to your readers, just an observation.

Celebrating Sachin:
Arvind Kumar: arvind.kumar@rocketmail.com: One point where I should disagree is that statistics do not necessarily reveal the true picture. This is not true. By your own article Arvind Lavakare could justify himself because he suppressed certain statistics. Statistics taken as a whole reveal the true story. Ajit Agarkar's example is a bad one for two reasons. First, you have taken his ODI stats. ODIs do not bring out the true talent. Secondly, he might at the end of his career turn out to be better than all others listed!

Celebrating Sachin:
deepak: deepak_suresh@hotmail.com: dude,your the best....i love reqading your articles..i'm studying at syracuse university..and i miss cricket being away from.. but reading your articles just takes me ,..abck..and arvind dude stick it!

Celebrating Sachin:
Satish Reddy: satishpannala@hotmail.com: Excellent Column. Rememeber Tendulkar once said ' The sight of Indian Flag in the stadium stands inspires me' But Gavaskar might not have thought about Indian Flag when he was playing on the cricket pitch, Because always his "Concentration " was some thing else.

Celebrating Sachin:
chetan: cpr25@hotmail.com: Cricket is very funny game and it is not just playing with bat and ball, but there are many aspects to it and thats reason even though after 6 world cup in last 25 yrs we don't have single team beside West Indies who have won the cup twice. So let's look at the winning team each time, West Indies first of all and the winner was sheer brilliance of last man of the team who scored nearly 90 runs between them to win in Semis against Pakistan and Other performance being Great Viv who had 3 run out's to win the game for them. Then in Prudential when India was required to win to reach the semis it was Kapil, later in Reliance we all know how Steve Waugh kept his nerves while fielding and bowling, Benson and Hedges were Pakistan team was loosing to every one and from no where Javed being side hero of the team encouraged Inzamam to play brilliant inning and win the cup. And who can forget how Indian team collapsed to Srilanka. I hope u must have guessed what made them the winner and certainly most noticeable aspect is when U perform, at what level counts and when your team needs most from u, then your average, brilliance and other cricketing jargons in now days Tamasha Matches which are mostly held on flat wicket. So lets talk of Tendulkar, brilliant batsman, good fielder and some time can turn his arms around, any team would like to have such a player in the team. We had him too in 92 when Botham was bowling to him how nervous he was looking and we know the rest, now u will say he was young & learning but then he was wearing India Cap and his learning process could not get the cup for the Indian team. Then against Srilanka at Eden when India was doing so well THANKS ! to brilliant inning of Tendulakar and then a rash shot result India lost the game. So what ? if Kapil, Robert, Viv, Steve .... would say I have done my job then these team would have never won the CUP. In cricket other aspect is if u are doing well see that u do it properly and don't leave the rest for others. After all we know what happened when he was made the Captain of Indian team now I know all the brilliant players are not good captain and neither the reverse is true, if u have one in the team u are lucky. But my argument is can he withstand the pressure, which is required to win the WORLD CUP. Since we all know when India bats first they win and when it comes to chase we loose and there are many examples in Tamasha matches where we required to score 327 and how he played. So does it mean he can only bat when he is not under pressure i.e. to bat first and in Tamasha Matches. What happened when we lost Test Series against Zimbabvae, Newzealand and later with Pakistan, I hope u have guessed. I can go on & on, so lets conclude the discussion first of all Cricket is team game, winning is important but when and how shoud not be forgotten since all this hero's of my will be remembered because 5 to 10 character i.e. name of there Mother Land will be written on the WORLD CUP for ever and there country man would not forgot those glory days they saw due to them.

There is lot to cricket about how u score, different Techniques, conditions....luck and if u want to debate about that we will do and see other heroes of mine who have proved themselves at the highest level and someone is still in process of proving after playing nearly 200 matches. I like the way Tenlya batted against Australia but can he inscribe our country name on the cup.

Celebrating Sachin:
Vipul Lalka: vklalka@hotmail.com: A GREAT article by Mr. Prem Panicker. I was very angry after reading the article written by Arvind. This is an excellent retort to that ...no1 could have done it better. Hats off to u Prem.

A suggestion ...I think u should send this article to Sachin and let him know that there are many of us Indians who still support him and believe in him ....so as to set records straight ..if in any case he had been reading that article written on his birthday !!

To end ..I hope Sachin himself replies to Arvind's article ..not on paper ...but on the field ...during the World Cup !! Vipul Lalka.

Celebrating Sachin:
Prakash Patil: prakash_patil@hotmail.com: Hi Prem, I really admired this article of your's, believe me this is one of the greatest article i have ever read. On the other day when i read your friend Arvind's article i felt how people take pride in criticising others greatness which they could never achieve in their lifetime. Regards, Prakash

Celebrating Sachin:
suresh: schandra@callsciences.com: Prem, Brilliant piece! nailed it right on the head of Arvind. Hope he understands, what it means to have a Tendulkar playing for India and what it means for us to be living (and watching) in the same era as Tendulkar. Thanks much for demolishing Arvind's statistical hideout. We owe you one, for your rebuttel 'Engal vayitril Paal vaarthadharku' - Suresh

Celebrating Sachin:
Krishna Kumar: kumkri@hotmail.com: I think that the article is distatseful. Would rather hear peoples views out here, than use it as a medium to settle some personal scores.

Celebrating Sachin:
Madan: Madan.Gunti@mci.com: Very good!How can you be an Indian and pick on the Great Sachin? And that too on his 26th birthday? He is not just a cricketer but India's treasure. So try to preserve that. That is the least thing he needs to do if he wants to be in India or say that he is an Indian. Hey, Aravind take care or people will take care of you.

Celebrating Sachin:
Murali Nandula: nmukri@hotmail.com: so cooooool!

Celebrating Sachin:
Sreekanth: schallam@bindview.com:

Dear Prem, I am always being a reader of your articles, and a big fan of Sachin. The day that Arvind fellow put his article, I almost felt like hitting him on his face. Especially after I read his claim to select that particular day (Sachin's birth day). But I felt more civilized not to write all my feelings to him directly, and wanted to request YOU to answer that article. Also I wanted to ask Rediff editors to CHECK and STOP putting such bullshit articles. Even Sanjay Manjrekar's (Gully cricketters) article is not up to his credibility.

Thanks for such a wonderful article. Hope that Arvind will release and say something 'sorry' kind of words for the millions of Sachin fans.

Good luck to Sachin!! (There is no need to say special wishes to Indian team)

Thanks again.

Celebrating Sachin:
Ashish Garg: ag253@cus.cam.ac.uk: No words for praising for such a wondefl article, a correct reply reply to Arvind lavkare's article which was the worst article i ever read in my life.. So Dear Arvind, its not statistics which count, its something else which you have to start realizing. ashish garg

Celebrating Sachin:
sulabh: sulabhs@hotmail.com: Prem hats off to u, what a wonderfully written piece. I fully agree with u when u say that how can u compare players of two different eras. it is just impossible. keep up the good work.

Celebrating Sachin:
Jayaraman Krishnamoorthy: kjayaram@yahoo.com: Prem For I once I am seing a good review from you. Good luck & this is the kind of reply I expect from people to Arvind who has no clue of what he is talking and has no rights to write anymore articles. To me he his an insane person who deserves no right to contribute any article anymore. Jay

Celebrating Sachin:
Ramesh: venkatramesh1@hotmail.com: Good one.

Celebrating Sachin:
Anbuselvam: paselvam@hotmail.com: This article is very interesting and analysing all the aspects. well done.

Celebrating Sachin:
pathak: ppathak@rhsmith.umd.edu: a befitting reply prem, i am an mba student and know statistics. sachin's class overshadows statistics (remember the law of averages that he has so often demolished) i think articles like 'bursting the bubble' are good in a way, we shameless indians should be forced to bring down our expectations of this genius and let him live a better life style or should we, you say

Celebrating Sachin:
vinod: pathsys@aol.com: The articulate Panicker has done a great job of describing Tendulkar's greatness. As he forcefully states,we have to go beyond statistics.

Sachin's single handed determination & grit is remarkable in a country which lacks heroes, role models & specially great athletes.

I think if Tendulkar does not exist, we have to invent him. Let us all root for this young genius as he fights valiantly to keep the Indian flag flying, with his superlative and often solo performances.

Hopefully, someday India will transform itself from a nation of spectators to competitive sportsmen. A nation of 900 million can certainly do better.

Celebrating Sachin:
naresh@hotmail.com: : Prem Probably your best article. Keep up the great work. We need more articles like these that do not bit*h about selectorial policies. regards naresh

Sarveta: sarvetaj@improvsys.com: Prem,

I did not get to see many of the great Sachin's performances. I did not get to see most of these statistics of sachin. But by reading this artical, I felt as if I was there, I feel the rush of my blood by the events you described in the very flowing language you employ.

I am extremely happy to have some one like you to describe the events on the fields and off the fields, the currents in our crowd, and in the cricket elits.

Great to hear(read) about the prode of our people (very much needed now a days).

Appreciate your writing. Hope you will find time and energy to continue your work, which, I feel is also extremely important.

-Sarveta

Celebrating Sachin:
Vasanth: chaganti@wans.net: Prem, Brilliant article! What more can I say! Vasanth.

Celebrating Sachin:
K.Misra: kmisra@aol.com: Wow! This is really good stuff.

Celebrating Sachin:
Sumeet Gupta: sugupta@hotmail.com: Mr. Panicker,

For once I must admit that you wrote a gem of a reply and comments that reflect a sound understanding of the game.I for one has aleays been a strong critic of your articles.However I must congratulate you this time around on writing a masterpiece. It was just the kind of responce that was needed to have gone into the head of Mr. lavakare. I had written a similar kind of reply to the man's article, however it did not get published for some reason.My article in guest column for the world cup could also not find a place at rediff. Anyway let me congratulate you once more on writing a good article and hope that you carry on the work such as this specifically.(I am sorry to say but your previous articles have been awful).

Celebrating Sachin:
Baskaran: kbaskaran@hotmail.com: Excellent article. Especially, statistics is like a miniskirt, loaded with meanings. And not the least, what Sachin gave us in that Sharjah tounament. I'm proud of you, Prem.

Celebrating Sachin:
Girish: girishps@ee.gatech.edu: Hi Prem, A well written article!!! I have to, but admit, that you have really brought out the points in a very nice and emotional fashion. As a person who has been watching cricket for the past 15 years, I cannot recall even a single innings of Gavaskar as powerful and magnificient as the Tendulkar innings which you have just decribed. Infact, it was one of those rare moments when I felt proud being an Indian (other occasions which I can quickly recollect being the Indian wins against Pakistan last world cup and in Sharjah, where we bowled them out for 87 runs) Cheers Girish

Celebrating Sachin:
Mohan: trmrao@pune.tcs.co.in: Hi Prem! When I saw the article by Arvind, I did not know how to answer to that ridiculous article. That's why I didn't write anything on that article. Thanks for providing him with the answer I wanted to.

Celebrating Sachin:
Puneet Pahuja: pupahuja@hotmail.com: Prem, This article that you have written about Tendulkar brings a tear to my eye because as you said he gave us our pride back. After all, even though we are a country of a billion people, somehow heroes are hard to come by and he sure is a HERO. Thanks and keep up the good work. I share your passion Puneet

Celebrating Sachin:
RanaRansher: ashish@akula.com: Prem

I get your point, but I don't think you need to go into the sort of details you are, to prove that Arvind Lavakare really had no point. He needs to check out the PriceWaterHouseCoopers rating system, which seems to be the 'best' statistical method of judjing greats. More than anything, I think Bradman is becoming a bigger legend day by day. I have never seen Bradman play. I am sure he was never facing the kind of bowlers today. ODI's weren't even around. Also Arvind Lavakare needs to look at SRT's performance in spurts. FOr example, has he bothered to look at a year by year performamce. There are years where he is INCREDIBLE !! (9 centuries in ODI's) Same argument applies to doing a Gavaskar vs SRT. Different mould of players. One had more patience and application and the other IMHO more raw talent, skill and aggression. SRT is the greatest batsman EVER !!!!!!!!!! Tremendous cricket brain. He bowls 3-in-1 and is a brilliant fielder.

Celebrating Sachin:
Patric: pbenzi@hotmail.com: Superb. That's the word which can describe this beautiful article written by you. It is sad that people start searching for stats having something already in mind. Mr. Arvind should have also checked how many man of the match (MOM) awards Gavaskar won in ODIs and how many Tendulkar won. That would have shown him the truth. But, you can't help it sometimes. When they don't want to see the truth, they are not going to see it. It is sad that Arvind had taken someone like Tendulkar who gave - still gives - us so much pride for such a ride. And, dear Mr. Panicker, well done.

Celebrating Sachin:
Kiran: kiran@eforex.com: Excellent article...Prem! Keep it up. You have made evryone realize the importance of Sachin. Thanks!!

Celebrating Sachin:
kiran Modak: kiran.modak@cgu.edu: well done Prem You have put things in perspective hey dont forget the man bowls with a skill level that can compare with most slow bowlers around i think if sachin decided to concentrate and become a bowler rather than a batsmen he would be a world beater just like he is today with the bat

Celebrating Sachin:
Sajith Kumar: sajithg@aol.com: Prem, That was a wonderful article and you have proved that " Statistics proves everything but the Truth" and not only that it is a need of people Patriotic to expose people who are NOT!!! No wonder we were ruled by British for over 200 years... If there are people like Arvind... It will happen again... He is trying to prove that... In malayalam you have a saying... when you translate.. The jasmine in your front yard has no smell.... Rediff should ban people like Arvind from writing articles.. I am not saying critic ing is bad..but there is a limit to it. People like Arvind should be nipped at the bud itself... Keep up the Good Work.... Regards....Sajith

Celebrating Sachin:
Sidhant Jhaver: sidhant@cornell.edu: Prem, that was your greatest piece of work!!! I am touched. Thank you for bringing back the passion and pride into the hearts of cricket fans (in India)!! we definitely need more of your insights. this is the kind of stuff the whole world likes - positive criticism! I wish you all the best and hope you continue doing good for cricket!

Celebrating Sachin:
Ram : rmurthy73@hotmail.com: Hi Prem I thought of sending a mail with the same statistics, when i read the column about SACHIN on his birthday. I thank u for replying in the right way. Only thing i wan't to add is, if entire world feels SACHIN as great batsman we being an indian should be proud of that rather than finding failures of that person. Ram

Celebrating Sachin:
raghu ram yayi: ramyaram@hotmail.com: Good job. Actually I wanted to write arvind but I did not have so called statistics with me to counter argue with him. Only I knew is sachin one of the greatest batsman made me stand on my toes by hitting sixer after sixer , four after four and centuries after centuries

The ugly part of his article is comparing sachin with gavaskar.man...I can't help him.

Any way where are guys working?Just free lance journalists??

I am working in detroit.

bye raghu.

Celebrating Sachin:
sanju: sanju_kna@hotmail.com: Hey Prem , Excellent article , ur right in all the way sayin that its wrong to compare two greats . But u know what its really sickenin when people start arguin whether sachin or bradman is great - i hope all cricket fans especially indians(who blindly think sachin is the greatest of all times) read ur article . And also i probably might agree on Arvind in one point - sachin is not so much reliable - for instance take Bevan - even if australia r 5 wickets down they can rely i would say 75-80% time count on Bevan to get them to a decent score - india cant rely on sachin like that - he produces some good brilliant innings but not all the time .

Anyways ur article was excellent - and was fun to read . Keep writin

Sanju

Celebrating Sachin:
Vidyadhar: vidash@hotmail.com: This is a wonderful article in favour of India's most accomplished batsman of all times. Sachin is greatest and would rank among top 20 sportsmen of this century along with basketball legend Michael Jordan.

Celebrating Sachin:
Anand J Raju: anandjag@hotmail.com: Too good an article about Sachin, the undisputed king of international cricket. Good job Prem, Anand J

Celebrating Sachin:
Rajesh Chokhani: rsc@odetics.com: Well said.

Celebrating Sachin:
Thulasiram: sthulasiram@hotmail.com: I appreciate the pain you had taken to prove your point. I think this should make Arvind think everytime he starts writing a article. Once again , my wishes to you Prem

Celebrating Sachin:
Pradeep : sj7272@yahoo.com: Prem I can just say one thing that I am having tears in my eyes after reading ur article, U know what Prem I think we need JERKS like Arvind in this World, bcos if they dont write BULLSHIT than Greats like U will not come up with something really Great!!!!!!!!!!!!. Prem for me Tendulkar is a Cricketing GOD, so lets talk of Ganguly, u know I never had high regards for him bcos I had seen his batting when he debutted in onedays, and if u remember that he had not impressed atall and after he staged comeback at that time also I never liked him BUT everything changed after that CocalCOla Cup in Dhaka, Man!!!!!!!!!!!! Ganges played best innings of his life, even Shahid Afridi mentioned in one of the interviews that Ganges century was the best he has seen, my point is that u should remember the player for what he did and what he is doing for the country. Thanks for the article Prem and lets pray to God for India's win in the world cup irrespective of whether Tendulkar makes big scores or not the bottomline is INDIA'S WIN.

Celebrating Sachin:
K.S.Pon Umapathy: umapathypon@rediffmail.com: Great Prem..That fellow needed a little reminding of things ..The things he had written in his article were the notions of a man full of contradictions and misconception..I Shall tell u something...the fellow really does'nt know the basic nuances of the game or HE IS AN EXTREMEKY JEALOUS CREATURE which is a danger to our society..

Celebrating Sachin:
Rajesh: rajeshonline@yahoo.com: Arvind has a point. But, your counter-point is Dominating. Well-done !!

Celebrating Sachin:
Manoj Mathew: manoj_mathew@intuit.com: Prem, That was a superb demolition article that should shatter all of Arvind's stupid statistical conclusions.

Celebrating Sachin:
Vineet venugopal: vinetev@umr.edu: Hi prem , Well done !! I mean ... tendulkar isthe pride of our nation .. Very few countries can have the guts to boast that they have the best player in the world and even fewer countries can have players from other countries talking about a player form the opposition being the best player ... In our country where we are wrecked by elections and corrupt politicians .. he is the only person who gives us a breather out of the routine ... ...

Celebrating Sachin:
mandeep sirohi: mandeep_sirohi@hotmail.com: A fitting reply indeed..! hats off to Prem.

Celebrating Sachin:
Mandeep: mandeep_sirohi@hotmail.com: A fitting reply indeed..! hats off to Prem. Mandeep Sirohi

Celebrating Sachin:
Sriram: sriramj@hotmail.com: Prem, And that same passion flows in your cricket writing too man. All my life I have seen what cricket journalism "can" be; the past two years I have seen what it "should" be. Hail Sachin Hail Prem :-))

Celebrating Sachin:
Sriram Gopalan: sriram.g@usa.net: Ever since I read Arvind's article, I had a strange feeling in my heart. I knew that there was something wrong in the whole concept, the whole thing that he was attempting to do. Now, I know. Thank you, Prem - for putting the feelings of millions of Indians , including me, in words. The last few lines almost brought tears ot my eyes. The best piece of sports writing in many years. Thanks again, Prem.

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