Notwithstanding his magnificent 99 a couple of days back, there's something about Sachin's batting that has been bothering me for a while now. It's quite strange, I had thought there'd be more written on this, certainly by our 'purists' of the game but I haven't seen much literature on this in the media. The point is, I find that Sachin is playing across the line more often than is judicious. I don't know if you guys have noticed it or not, but Sachin seems to be increasingly favouring the on-side, even to balls that have been pitched on the off and middle. Because of his precocious talent, he is able to get away with it at most times. However, over the past few months, people have come to believe that if Sachin has a weakness, it is against the in-coming ball. This weakness, I believe, is because of his recent tendency of whipping straight balls onto the on-side rather than playing them straight with the full face of the bat.
For a man who plays straight so beautifully, it is a pity that he has chosen these non-percentage whip shots. If it was Azhar playing these wristy whips, it would have met with my wholehearted approval; that is Azhars natural game. But Sachins natural game is straight; besides, straight is also safer and there are plenty of runs to be had down the ground, especially as an opener when mid-off and mid-on are inside the 30-yard ring.
I also have a feeling that Sachin tends to overbalance and fall very slightly towards the off-side just at the point of delivery. If this is the case, it may make sense for him to shuffle just that little bit so he can get into a balanced shot-making position.
We all know that Sachin has a great Cricketing brain and I am not really casting any aspersions on his Cricketing acumen. I'm only wondering that there isn't more debate on this point in the media, and indeed in Cricketing circles.
