The omission of Sachin Tendulkar from a list of rankings has triggered controversy in the cricket circle. The ICC had employed statistician David Kendix for coming up with a system that quantified performances. But now, it has found itself in the midst of a media storm.

But ICC has to make two things clear. First, these rankings are not new, but are at least five years old. Why did ICC brought it out at this time when Matthew Hayden, who is in the Top 20, decided to quit from cricket. The timing of this ranking seems suspicious. And another question is regarding the merit. The rankings do not aim to assess a player’s overall career. It makes it

clear that the rankings do not say that Hayden’s presence in the Top 20 mean he is a better player than Tendulkar. Then what is the meaning of these rankings.

The ICC rankings just give an indication of how players peaked during their careers. But it fails to give a full picture of those players’ level of consistency or longevity in the game. Even ICC authorities admit that.

The rankings just are a measurement of the peaks in a player’s career. ICC explains that it does not mean he should necessarily be considered better than a player who hovered around the 850-point mark for his entire career. When the likes of Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Wally Hammond and Greg Chappell do not make the cut, all it means is that they did not have as purple a patch as those in the top 20.

ICC themselves put it that the ‘best-ever ratings’ are effectively snapshots of greatness. While judging a player’s greatness over his career, his entire graph will have to be looked at.

If Tendulkar fails to figure out in the Top 20, it’s doesn’t mean that he is a bad player. After all no one can take away 28,851 international runs and 83 centuries.

Bookmark It

 Del.icio.us    digg  
 Facebook    Google Bookmarks    Stumble It    Technorati    Yahoo! My Web  
Hide Sites

Former Indian cricket skipper Sourav Ganguly is known for his timely shots. His hallmark was the perfect timing which led India to numerous wins. The stylish left-hander’s choice of time to quit was also excellent, feels former Indian players.
According to former captain Bishan Singh Bedi, Ganguly is a ‘legend’ of the game. Remember, Bedi was a bitter critic of Dada for long time.

Bedi said that he would like to celebrate his retirement, rather than mourn over it because of his enormous contribution to Indian cricket.

Bedi finds Ganguly a great player, a legend of the game who hung up his boots. He added that he is not surprised since such a possibility was doing the rounds. It looked very much on the cards. Ganguly became a forerunner among the senior players and he went on his own terms. The former Indian spinner even has requested all to treat senior players with lot more respect.

Bishan Singh Bedi feels that the senior players including Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are great cricketers “and requires lot more compassion and respect. They should not be ridiculed.

The chief selector of BCCI K Srikkanth said that Ganguly had a talk with him and fellow selector Narendra Hirwani before announcing his decision to quit.

He said that in the chat, he said that he felt it is time for him to go. Every now and then, the axe was on him and he said, and Ganguly never wanted to play under any pressure. Srikkanth said that he prayed for Ganguly to score more runs as he deserved a magnificent farewell. Players like Sourav Ganguly deserve to go out on a winning note. He even added that Ganguly falls into the list of most aggressive batsmen ever Indian side had and it is very difficult to replace him.

Bookmark It

 Del.icio.us    digg  
 Facebook    Google Bookmarks    Stumble It    Technorati    Yahoo! My Web  
Hide Sites